From one of the hotbeds of amateur wrestling… Des Moines Register
To learn more about Real Pro Wrestling, check out their official website: www.rpw.tv
The new RPW Yahoo group http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/RealProWrestlingFans/
Keeler: This Real Pro Wrestling is really real . . . honestly
By SEAN KEELER
REGISTER COLUMNIST
January 21, 2005
Give Real Pro Wrestling one point for an escape. On Dec. 26, near Nashville, a fire destroyed the home of Toby Willis, co-founder and CEO of the new, made-for-TV, professional wrestling circuit. Thankfully, Willis and his family were unharmed, but the blaze left $3.5 million in damages and wiped out post-production facilities for the league’s television show. Much of the footage was incinerated.
“There goes the whole show, “former wrestling great Dan Gable said to himself back in Iowa City when he heard the news. Almost three years of work, up in smoke.
No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when a call came in on the other line. It was Matt Case, Real Pro Wrestling’s executive vice president.
“We’re moving forward, “Case told him. The league had backup tapes; it just needed some extra time for Willis to get his life back in order and set up a new production facility.
“That, “Gable says, “solidified it for me.”
The start date has been pushed back from Feb. 13 to March 27 and the number of one-hour episodes has been cut from 15 to nine. But Real Pro Wrestling, or RPW – the latest attempt at a legitimate professional wrestling league – is back on track.
Fifty-four wrestlers on eight regional teams and seven different weight classes taped matches in Los Angeles last October, shooting for a cash prize of $250,000 to 300,000. The first show is slated to air nationally on Sunday, March 27, at 3 p.m. on PAX-TV and will air on Fox Sports Net the following Wednesday. PAX is contracted for eight episodes – seven of an hour in length plus a two-hour finale. (The finale will be split into two different 60-minute episodes for Fox Sports Net.)
RPW’s rules borrow from freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling; the set, with its rock-show lighting, metallic columns, circular stage and surrounding pit, looks as if it was borrowed from the old “American Gladiator “series.
With the exception of Cael Sanderson, who was taking a post-Olympic break when the show was taped, most of the heavy hitters in the sport will be featured at least once. Former Iowa State standouts such as Chris Bono and Joe Heskett are among the field, along with ex-Hawkeyes Joe Williams and Doug Schwab. Gable is a consultant and spokesman. Rulon Gardner is slated to be an announcer. Former Iowa assistant Tom Brands coaches a team called the “Iowa Stalkers”; Iowa State’s Bobby Douglas and Minnesota’s J Robinson coach the “Chicago Groove “and “Minnesota Freeze, “respectively.
“I’ve heard nothing but positives from everyone I’ve talked to about this, “Douglas says. “That’s the very first time I’ve heard that about any program such as this, and I’m going all the way back to the 1950s. This is something that can survive and the thing about this is, they’ve got the right people involved.”
League founders Willis and Case wrestled together at Northwestern in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The Willis family received a $100 million settlement after a tragic 1994 auto accident claimed the lives of six of Toby’s brothers and sisters. Toby and his father decided to put some of that money into the league.
“I met with Toby and his dad three years ago at the Midlands, “Gable says of the holiday tournament in Chicago. “You could tell they were good people; good people go a long way. All the other professional (wrestling) leagues were hit-and-miss; it was like they were never there to stay.
“(This) is not just a money-making thing. Ultimately, you’d like to make a profit. I’m sure (Willis) is spending way more money than he’s bringing in.”
New leagues typically take several years to return any kind of profit. How long can the Willises stand the financial hemorrhaging? The league already has sponsorship deals with American Airlines, Asics and the apparel Web site Prodigalsports.com, but more will be needed. And PAX signed for just one year.
Television has only one universal rule: You can put just about anything on, so long as it’s paid for. Mark Wyche of Bortz Sports and Media, a Denver-based sports marketing consultation firm, says that PAX probably won’t help the RPW – the W-USA women’s soccer league drew a 0.1 rating, or about 90,000 homes, in its second season there – but Fox might.
“Fox Sports Net, they usually don’t get involved with something unless they’ve thoroughly done their due diligence on it and looked at the potential for ad rates, “Wyche says. “It may add some stability to it.”
RPW is marketing itself as a pro-family, anti-sex, anti-drug, anti-cage-match sport. The hope is that enough fans of boxing, ultimate fighting or extreme sports – thus, the rock-show lighting – will pile on to wrestling’s provincial fan base, allowing the league to expand.
A couple of episodes have already been shown in Europe, Gable says, and the feedback has been encouraging. The Jan. 17 edition of WWE’s “Raw “drew a 3.8 rating, or about 3.9 million households. The Arena Football League drew an average of 1.1 on NBC in 2003. If the RPW falls somewhere in the middle during its debut run, Willis and Case might actually have a keeper on their hands.
Getting the lowdown on Real Pro Wrestling
WHAT IS IT? A made-for-TV wrestling tournament, combining Freestyle and Greco-Roman rules and techniques . . . Seven weight classes . . . Fifty-four wrestlers compete on eight regional teams, including the Iowa Stalkers.
THE LOOK? Shows are 60 minutes long, and consist mostly of matches taped last October in Los Angeles . . . Three matches per episode of up to 10 minutes in length, along with highlights.
WHEN IS IT ON? Sundays, 3 p.m., March 27-May 15th, on PAX TV; Wednesdays, 2 p.m., March 30-May 25th, on Fox Sports Net.
THE RULES? Match points: 1 for a pushout; 1-3 for a takedown; 3 or 5 for a throw; 1-2 for a turn; 3 or 5 for a lift. Team points: 15 for a fall; 15 for a forfeit; 10 for a technical fall; 1-14 for a decision . . . Coaches are allowed to challenge a call via instant replay, as in the NFL . . . Tied matches go into sudden-death overtime.
WHO WILL I RECOGNIZE?
A slew of former in-state wrestlers are scheduled to appear, notably: Former Iowa wrestlers Lee Fullhart, Wes Hand, Mike Mena, Doug Schwab and Joe Williams , top, and ex-Iowa State wrestlers Chris Bono, Joe Heskett and Zach Roberson. Coaches include Bobby Douglas of Iowa State, middle (Chicago Groove), and Tom Brands of Iowa and Virginia Tech, below (Iowa Stalkers).
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