Chad Gable Shows Outside WWE Interest

Eric Bischoff has revealed that Chad Gable is in early discussions about potentially appearing for Real American Freestyle, the amateur wrestling promotion Bischoff co-founded alongside Hulk Hogan.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff described the conversations as relatively serious.

“I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Chad Gable is a phenomenal, phenomenal amateur wrestler and is kind of sniffing around Real American Freestyle, just throwing it out there. We’re talking about it. There’s some contractual issues that can kind of make that difficult, but we’re having discussions and relatively serious ones. So I think it’s just a matter of time.”

Bischoff did not confirm whether discussions had taken place directly with Gable or through WWE. He also said an unnamed person from a collegiate amateur wrestling background had recently expressed strong interest in RAF’s direction, though he declined to name them.

Gable is a two-time Olympian in freestyle wrestling. The potential crossover would follow a precedent established by UFC’s working relationship with RAF, which has allowed contracted fighters including Merab Dvalishvili, Henry Cejudo and Frankie Edgar to appear on RAF cards. Both WWE and UFC are subsidiaries of TKO Group, which could facilitate any crossover.