Chad Gable could end up testing the waters outside of WWE while still under contract with the company.
During a recent episode of his 83 Weeks podcast (full episode below), Eric Bischoff revealed that discussions have taken place regarding Gable potentially appearing for Real American Freestyle (RAF), the amateur wrestling promotion he launched alongside Hulk Hogan.
According to Bischoff, Gable’s amateur wrestling credentials make him a natural fit for the promotion, and talks between the two sides have already progressed beyond casual interest.
“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,” he said. “We’re talking about it. There’s some contractual issues that can kind of make that difficult [when trying to get WWE names over to RAF], but we’re having discussions and relatively serious ones.”
That wasn’t all.
Bischoff later suggested that bringing Gable into the fold may simply be a matter of when, not if.
“So I think it’s just a matter of time,” he confidently continued. “But also, I’m not going to mention any names, but I was having a conversation not too long ago with someone we all know, and [they’re] very excited about what we’re doing at Real American Freestyle. Again, comes from a collegiate amateur wrestling background.”
RAF has already featured several UFC fighters on its events, aided by the working relationship between the promotion and the UFC that allows contracted fighters to compete under the RAF banner.
Given that both WWE and UFC operate under the umbrella of TKO Group Holdings, the possibility of Gable making appearances for RAF is certainly plausible. With his decorated amateur wrestling background and WWE continuing to showcase him as one of its top in-ring performers, a crossover appearance could be a natural fit if the contractual hurdles can be worked out.
