The people behind Real Pro Wrestling are hoping they can find an audience for a kind of professional wrestling people have never seen.
Real.
Which means not fake.
Which is the only kind of professional wrestling people know.
Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Sting, Rock, Triple H — flashy guys with flashy names and wildly entertaining personalities.
Just one thing — it’s not wrestling. It’s closer to a Broadway show than it is wrestling.
And there are guys out there who, after they finish their college careers, want to keep wrestling.
For real.
At least that’s the premise behind Real Pro Wrestling, which has former Olympic champion Dan Gable as one of its chief spokesmen.
RPW is just concluding its first season. There are eight teams of seven wrestlers each. They are located in California (Claw), Chicago (Groove), Iowa (Stalkers), Minnesota (Freeze), New York (Outrage), Oklahoma (Slam), Pennsylvania (Hammer) and Texas (Shooters).
The wrestlers have normal names. Eric Akin isn’t Eric the Magnificent. He’s Eric Akin of the Texas Shooters.
Former Oklahoma State All-American Daniel Cormier isn’t Dangerous Dan.
This stuff is real. And it’s televised on Fox Sports Net and PAX.
Toby Willis, a former college wrestler and the league’s founder, knew he had to get a TV deal and, against all odds, went out and got one.
And getting a “name “like Gable to promote his league was another takedown.
“Hopefully, we have just taken one step in what will be a whole series of steps that will lead to something that is pretty rewarding at the end, “said Gable, an assistant athletic director at Iowa, his alma mater. “There have been people who have tried this before, but it’s been hit and miss. These people are really committed to the sport. And they have some resources.”
Ratings are so-so, as you might expect. But people are watching. And there will be a second season.
The first season has consisted of a 10-week tournament, with matches taped at a futuristic studio/arena in Los Angeles, designed to be reminiscent of the old Colosseum in Rome. Gable said plans call for eventual home-and-home competition within the league.
“If we try to depend on a gate of 5,000 to 10,000 people, then it’s not going to make it, “Gable said. “We have to get to a point where we can have 500 people come and watch a match between Iowa and Minnesota and it would still be a hit because television is behind it. And money is behind it.”
Crowds, he said, have to be given a chance to grow.
Real Pro Wrestling has to find its niche audience and hope it’s big enough to interest potential wrestlers to give it a chance.
“It’s all real on the mat, “said Cormier, an NCAA runner-up at Oklahoma State in 2001. “We go out there and we wrestle. But we’re also trying to have a little fun. We’ll do some trash-talking here and there. You’ve got to keep it loose and have fun.”
Most of the wrestlers in RPW would have had to walk away from the sport when they were done collegiately. Now they have an avenue.
Gable said there are around 250,000 high school wrestlers in a given year. That drops off to 8,000 in college.
“That next drop-off is where you see Real Pro Wrestling help fill a void, “Gable said. “If we’re able to establish this league we’re going to get more people involved.”
Gable said there are also professional wrestling leagues in other countries, including Iran, Germany and Russia. He envisions a time when the sport becomes global.
And this is Dan Gable speaking, folks. He has been known to make a few of his dreams come true.
“I bought into this thing right away, “he said. “And really, what I bought into is the people who are involved. The sport of wrestling has the potential to be a great product at the professional level. These people are good people and they’re in this thing for the long run.”
Reach Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz at 268-6597 or [email protected].
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