Dan Gable was just in from a walk while vacationing at his northern Minnesota cabin. He was also in the area to help put on a wrestling camp for the local youth and high school wrestling programs and to promote wrestling in the area.
That’s something Gable has taken pride in since his competitive and coaching days have been complete. The greatest ambassador of the sport “the owner of three NCAA individual titles and a 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist (among his many, many great accomplishments), 21 NCAA titles and 15 Big Ten titles as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes “still has time to, and still enjoys promoting the sport that has defined his life and him as a person.
This time though, he was talking pro wrestling. Real Pro Wrestling, that is. The inaugural season wrapped up earlier this summer, and the foundation has been laid for a second season that could be even bigger and better.
Gable believes that will happen, because of the hard-working people behind it all.
“The thing I enjoyed the most was the vision, the creation, and the work ethic of people like RPW CEO Toby Willis and RPW Exec. VP Matt Case,” says Gable. “Success in wrestling is all about commitment. What more commitment can these guys show? Toby’s house burned down, they lost tapes, but they still moved ahead. You have to admire that determination.”
Willis and Case are two former Northwestern wrestlers who created the concept of Real Pro Wrestling. RPW generated a total of 2.5 million household impressions (1.2 million on PAX and 1.3 on Fox Sports Net) in the inaugural season. On May 15th, 472,000 persons watched the RealProWrestling finale on PAX, a 48 percent increase in viewers from the premiere. Total household viewing stayed relatively steady with an average of 150,000 households tuning in weekly. The top markets for RealProWrestling on PAX included: West Palm Beach, San Antonio, Kansas City, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and Oklahoma City. Top regions for the Fox Sports Network included the Northwest, Detroit, North and Midwest.
Gable asks, “Where else other than the NCAA tournament have we had over 400,000 fans of wrestling sit down and watch our sport on TV?”
With season one complete, a new comic book about to be released featuring RPW characters, and negotiations for RPW to expand to Europe, and the possibility of a dual meet season in the works, the future appears to be bright.
Gable says the continued success of RPW will depend on the ability to market the wrestlers to the casual wrestling, promoting them off the mat “as they did this year by showing personal biography’s of the competitors and their away from the sport. It’s similar to the Olympics, where many casual fans become enthralled by the personal stories, battles, and goals of the individual, not necessarily the sport they are competing in.
But at the same time, Gable says, RPW needs to continue to provide a way for top-level wrestlers to compete at a high level, and for the first-time ever, get paid for it.
“Doug Schwab (RPW 145 pound champion and a member of the Iowa Stalkers, the inaugural team champions) probably made more in the days he spent filming the RPW season than he will in an entire season as a coach,” says Gable (Schwab is also an assistant coach at Virginia Tech). “I think it’s great for the sport that guys can earn money doing this.”
Gable also thinks it will help American wrestling as a whole. Many of the top international competitors competed “and succeeded – in RPW. RPW champions who also won their weight class at the World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa in June and will compete in the 2005 World Championships in Budapest, Hungry in late September include Sammie Henson (121-pounder, Pennsylvania Hammer), Joe Williams (163-pounder, Chicago Groove), Mo Lawal (Oklahoma Slam) and Daniel Cormier (211 pounds, Oklahoma Slam). RPW runner-ups Brad Vering (184) and Tolly Thompson (264), each won their weight class at the World Team Trials and will also represent the USA in Budapest.
“Right now, I personally feel the product RPW puts out is superior to our Olympic product,” says Gable. “I think RPW could help international wrestling. It gives guys something to compete at a high level for, it gives them something to train for. Staying in peak condition and at the top of their game could lead to greater success at the international level.”
Gable said he always told his athletes if they have to go to a tournament to see how they will do down the road or later in the season, that they shouldn’t waste their time. He said those who are prepared for the present, and the future, are the guys who will succeed. He feels that is the case with Real Pro Wrestling.
“I saw a lot of potential in this when they first contacted me,” says Gable. “I still see a lot of potential in what lies ahead.”
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