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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | modifiedFreestyle wrestlingpromotion |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Toby Willis Matt Case |
| Headquarters | , Tennessee, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Toby Willis(President & CEO) Matt Case(Executive Vice President) Richard Grove(Senior Vice President Distribution) Richard Lewis(Senior Vice President Marketing & Public Relations) Bruce Boro(Vice President International) |
| Owner | Real Pro Wrestling, Inc. |
| Website | Real Pro Wrestling (archived) |
| Real Pro Wrestling | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 15 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies | Real Pro Wrestling, Inc. |
| Original release | |
| Network | Pax TV Fox Sports Net |
| Release | February 13, 2005 (2005-02-13) |
Real Pro Wrestling (also known asRPW orRealPro Wrestling) was aprofessionalsports league ofwrestling, similar to theamateur wrestling found in theOlympic Games and at thecollege andhigh school level. The term "real" was meant to emphasize that it wasprofessional and it was wrestling, but that it was notprofessional wrestling in the traditional sense; modern professional wrestling featurespredetermined outcomes and operates under a very differentset of rules from amateur wrestling.
Real Pro Wrestling, Inc was founded in 2002 by formerNorthwestern University wrestling teammates Matt Case and Toby Willis, ofThe Willis Family. The company was based inNashville, Tennessee with branch offices in New York and Virginia. RPW was a television production company and a producer of live events.
The league began operations filmed its first season the first weekend of October 2004 and consisted of eight teams (see below).[1] Although the teams had various city and state names, all matches were taped atLos Angeles Center Studios in Los Angeles.[2] The first season consisted of a 16-week format starting February 13, 2005.[3]
According tothe official website, "In RPW, classic meets the future as the matches are conducted in a specially designed coliseum which showcases a raised circular mat to facilitate better camera angles and to afford the live audience a better viewing experience. The circular mat allows for 360 degree camera angles and aids in covering the close quarters that wrestlers frequently find themselves in as they maneuver for position."
Numerous similar projects were announced before RPW, but none had gotten off the ground. Lanny Bryant, theMontana-based editor ofWrestling USA magazine, proposed a similar league in the early 1990s, as one example.
RPW folded in 2007, after two seasons (2004 and 2006–7).
In the spring of 2013, the Association of Career Wrestlers formed a new series offering competitions with financial incentives for post-collegiate wrestlers called Tour ACW. This new series has a new set of rules building on the RPW rules with an emphasis on scoring.[4]
The style of wrestling that was used inWRESTLING was a combination offreestyle,American Folkstyle,sumo wrestling andGreco-Roman wrestling. Because of this, wrestlers of many styles competed in the league. Greco-Roman and Freestyle were the most common wrestling backgrounds in the leagues, due largely to the Olympic experience of the wrestlers in the league. In fact, the team rosters consisted of numerous Olympians andNCAA champions.
The rules were similar tofreestyle wrestling but were modified to encourage risk and intensity. The goal is to dominate the opponent and pin his shoulders to the mat. This is called a fall. Points are also awarded during the six-minute match for controlling the opponent, placing him in danger, or escaping the opponent's control. If there is no fall, then the wrestler with the most points wins the match. Some of the most noticeable changes were as follows:
Despite the existence of eight "franchises" in RPW, all tournaments were conducted in a classic elimination bracket format. No actualdual meets were held.
In the league's first season, 2005–06, matches were televised on PAX TV (nowION Television) on Sunday evenings and onFox Sports Net affiliates at various times.Rulon Gardner, one of the most famous figures in amateur wrestling in theUnited States, was thecolor analyst. Veteran Radio and Television Sports Announcer Chip Hoback from Nashville, TN did the Voice Over and Highlights.
Due to executive reorganizations at both networks, both PAX and FSN pulled the show. RPW then decided to syndicate coverage of the second season on variousbroadcast stations.
In aninterview withThe Wrestling Mall co-founder Toby Willis also revealed that although sponsors and investors were already lined up for Season 2 a few employees had attempted a "take over" of the company which also added to the downfall of the league. In the same series of articles Mr. Willis stated his wish that wrestling would adopt more of a martial arts mentality to draw in more kids. Mr. Willis said, "Wrestling desperately needs to rebrand itself as a martial art not just another arbitrary sport. We need to use military terminology and martial art vocabulary. We need to teach it as self defense. So instead of the high school coach walking up to a kid in the hallways of school and asking them to try wrestling, they should ask the kid if he wants to learn self defense. What kid says they want to be defenseless? Then when the kid shows up for practice, the coach has to teach wrestling from a martial arts perspective."
| Weight Division | Champion | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 121 lb (55 kg) |  Sammie Henson | Pennsylvania Hammer |
| 132 lb (60 kg) | Tony Deanda | New York Outrage |
| 145 lb (66 kg) | Doug Schwab | Iowa Stalkers |
| 163 lb (74 kg) | Joe Williams | Chicago Groove |
| 184 lb (83 kg) | Muhammed Lawal | Oklahoma Slam |
| 211 lb (96 kg) | Daniel Cormier | Oklahoma Slam |
| 264 lb (120 kg) | Patrick Cummins | Pennsylvania Hammer |