Eric Bischoff: Hulk Hogan would be ‘very proud’ of Real American Freestyle launch

TNA Wrestling Hulk Hogan Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff says that Hulk Hogan would be “very proud” of the strides they are making with Real American Freestyle.

RAF 01, the company’s first event, took place on August 30 in Cleveland and aired on Fox Nation. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bischoff revealed that he met with representatives from Fox on Thursday and that they were pleased with how the show performed.

“Certainly can’t speak for [Fox], but I do know that Real American Freestyle this past Saturday night, I think it would be OK for me to say, is one of — if not the — most successful events that they’ve done so far in 2025 in terms of the launch of a new event,” Bischoff said. “But I certainly can’t speak to it from their perspective, because I don’t have any insight into it. I just know they were really happy to see Chad (Bronstein) and I yesterday.”

Bischoff also revealed to the Hollwyood Reporter that WWE’s Nick Khan reached out to him following RAF 01.

“He just said, ‘Hey, man, solid event — awesome, great job,” Bischoff said.

As for the possibility that TKO could become a partner in RAF, Bischoff responded:

“There’s been no no discussions beyond that. I think it’s a little early, a little bit. Maybe we got a couple of years before we start having those conversations.”

Bischoff stated in a separate interview recently that a Real American Freestyle two-hour weekly show is planned for the first quarter of 2026.

“I really think there’s a market for it,” Bischoff said about the planned show. “And it’s a big part of our future.”

Earlier in the interview, Bischoff said news of Hogan’s passing and the timing was “really, really tough” but they were determined to follow through with the inaugural event.

“We woke up and said, ‘You know what? What would Hulk want us to do? He wants to keep going. This is an opportunity for us to build on to an already large legacy and to do something positive,’” Bischoff said. “And from that point forward, it’s just, you know, we’re just like ‘Powered by Hogan.’ We just driving through and trying to make him proud, and I think we are. I know we did on Saturday, and I think he’d be very proud of the progress that we’re making and what we’re doing.”

Bischoff’s full interview with The Hollywood Reporter is available here.