TAMPA — Real American Freestyle is trying to do something that wrestling purists have craved for years but promoters have largely failed to pull off: turn the purest of combat sports into a true professional league without the bad acting and soap opera storylines.
And why not? After all, co-founder Chad Bronstein says, many of the successful organizations like WWE and UFC have partly built their success on converting former freestyle wrestlers into something else. It’s time for wrestlers to have their own thing.
“What was lacking in the wrestling world was there was never a professional league with a big stage for athletes, for the best wrestlers in the world,” Bronstein said. “So I think that everyone's embraced it.”
Real American Freestyle is bringing RAF07 to the Yuengling Center on the University of South Florida campus on Saturday, March 28, at 8 p.m.
RAF was founded in 2025 by Bronstein, wrestling coach Israel Martinez, longtime wrestling executive Eric Bischoff and WWE legend Hulk Hogan, promising the first unscripted professional freestyle wrestling league with Olympic-caliber performers and NCAA legends.
Previously, those wrestlers had no place in the U.S. to continue a professional career. There were pockets of international competitions to compete in, and the Olympics every four years.
RAF is wrapping good old fashioned high-level grappling with an MMA-style atmosphere, including walkout music, lighting and slick broadcast packages.
All its monthly events stream live exclusively on FOX Nation, with additional reach on Amazon Prime and FS1. RAF’s deal with FOX Nation is through 2028, and Bronstein says it is the No. 1-rated program on the service while RAF’s social media clips do big numbers as well.
While the production is slick, it is the wrestling and the personalities that will sell the tickets. Bronstein said Bischoff, perhaps most famous for his work as the former WCW president, delivers a speech to the wrestlers each week encouraging them to embrace the spotlight, lean into the rivalries and let the fans see who they really are.
Already, wrestler David Carr has taken to going by “King Carr” and walks out wearing a crown, while 2025 World Champion Zahid “Z Money” Valencia hits the stage throwing around money to the crowd. Olympic gold medalist Gable Stevenson is dubbed Captain America.
“You’re seeing all these characters being built in the league,” Bronstein said. “They’re having fun, and that’s why the environment is building that excitement.”
In Tampa, fans will get to see a rematch of the promotion’s most viral moment yet — a post-fight brawl between the No. 1-ranked lightweight in UFC, Arman Tsarukyan, and Giorgio Poulis.
Other highlights at Yuengling will include Bo Bassett, a 19-year-old wrestling prodigy and Pan-American gold medalist — taking on Vladimer Khinchegashvili, who won a silver (2012) and gold (2016) at the Olympics — former UFC star and former NCAA All-American Colby Covington, 4-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake, a 4-time NCAA and world champion, 2024 NCAA champion Parker Keckeisen and women’s standout and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades.
Connor Beebe, a four-time Illinois state champion and four-time NCAA qualifier who runs the Beebe Trained wrestling club out of Pinellas Park, will open the show.
The Tampa show, Bronstein says, could be its best show yet.
The weekend will also include events for fans. There will be a fan zone on Saturday, March 28, and a clinic on Sunday, March 29 at Freedom High School, giving young wrestlers a chance to get on the mat with the stars they just watched compete.
Bronstein said it’s all part of the plan to build the promotion from the ground up.
“We know now that it’s going to be a thing,” he said. “We’ve set the framework that we’re going to be here for a while. We want fans leaving every time with something to talk about — and excited for the next one.”
For more information, visit RealAmericanFreestyle.com.
