Eric Bischoff has his eyes on this former WWE Superstar for Real American Freestyle Wrestling.
It has been nearly eight months since “Eazy E” announced his new wrestling venture in partnership with the late Hulk Hogan. The unscripted freestyle wrestling league held its inaugural event at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland on August 30, drawing 4,500 fans.
RAF will begin airing its two-hour weekly show in 2025. The promotion’s first two events, RAF01 and RAF02, aired on FOX Nation under an exclusive agreement. RAF03 is scheduled to take place in Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, with RAF04 booked for Fishers, Indiana, on December 20.
Real American Freestyle has already seen a number of WWE-associated names appear on the show. Kurt Angle was part of the broadcast team for RAF’s debut, and he also provided commentary for RAF02 alongside Bubba Jenkins, Bo Nickal, and Julianna Peña.
Eric Bischoff reached out to a former WWE Superstar for Real American Freestyle
Speaking to Action Network in a new interview, former WCW President Eric Bischoff revealed that he reached out to former WWE Superstar Gable Steveson with a pitch to join Real American Freestyle Wrestling.
“Gable Steveson is one of the first people that we talked to, Chad (Bronstein) and Izzy (Martinez) and I and Hulk, when we first got together,” Bischoff said. “We were sitting around at Chad’s house, sitting around his kitchen table, all excited about taking over the freestyle wrestling world. And one of the first people that we reached out to was, Gabe.
“We had a long conversation with him, he was very interested in working with us, competing with us, but he was still kind of weighing his MMA options, and I think he’s found the correct course for himself, and is pursuing that. But at some point, you know, once he gets his MMA rhythm going, we hope to see him on the map.”
Gable Steveson signed with WWE in 2021 and received a high-profile endorsement from Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania the following year. He made his in-ring debut against Baron Corbin at NXT Great American Bash 2023. Steveson was released from his WWE contract in May 2024, reportedly due to a lack of progress.
That same month, Steveson signed with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills but was released in August before the start of the regular season. Steveson later transitioned to MMA, making his debut at LFA 217 on September 12, where he won via technical knockout. His second fight also ended in victory.
READ MORE: Gable Steveson Felt He Could Have Done ‘So Much More’ In WWE
