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Eric Bischoff has begun promoting traditional Freestyle Wrestling with his Real American Freestyle promotion, which he founded with the late Hulk Hogan. While the promotion already has former UFC stars Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen, who will be facing each other at RAF’s upcoming second show, Bischoff says he’s hoping to snag an Olympic gold medalist.
“I think there’s a likelihood we will [have a rematch between Gable Steveson and Wyatt Hendrickson],” Bischoff said on “83 Weeks” recently. “We were talking to Gable initially about coming on board, and Gable was still deciding what he wanted to do with MMA. So, he obviously made the decision he made, but we’re still in contact and we’re still in discussions, so let’s hope.”
Bischoff said that even if Gable signs with RAF, the rematch against Hendrickson would not be for some time, as the WWE Hall of Famer would want to “build up” to the eventual rubber match. The two men first wrestled in 2021, where Gable defeated Hendrickson, but Hendrickson got the better of Steveson at the 2025 NCAA Men’s Heavyweight Championship. Hendrickson competed at RAF 1, where he defeated the Egyptian heavyweight Mostafa Elders in the main event.
Steveson initially signed a developmental deal with WWE following his Olympic gold medal win, but outside of rare appearances, Steveson never competed for WWE full-time, as his progress was not as swift as management would’ve liked. Steveson opted to return to College Wrestling, as he still had NCAA eligibility with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Steveson will make his MMA debut at Legacy Fighting Alliance 2017 on September 12.
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