RAF chief Chad Bronstein: ‘Wrestling has never had anything like this’

Detailed summary

The man behind Real American Freestyle (RAF) did so with one goal in mind: to transform wrestling into a professional sport.He is doing so with the help of industry titans who…

The man behind Real American Freestyle (RAF) did so with one goal in mind: to transform wrestling into a professional sport.

He is doing so with the help of industry titans who know exactly what it takes to cut through to a mainstream audience. UFC stars are also helping drive its growth; Abu Dhabi is central to the organisation’s ambitions, he says.

Chad Bronstein did not set out to change the world of wrestling. In fact, for a period of his life, he had largely left the sport behind.

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Bronstein wrestled in high school before stepping into the world of business and entrepreneurship. It was his son who brought him back to the wrestling mat.

His eldest son began wrestling at the age of six. At the time, Bronstein and his wife were expecting their second child, but a complicated pregnancy meant the family spent months in hospital.

“I took my son to wrestle because we were in the hospital for three months, and that kind of brought me back into the sport and why I love it,” Bronstein tells The National at the Yas Hilton hotel.

In retrospect, Bronstein said it was the genesis that would eventually lead to the creation of RAF, a professional wrestling organisation that has quickly attracted some of the biggest names in the sport as well as stars from mixed martial arts.

That time watching his son in wrestling gyms was well spent, and it led to Bronstein bringing together a group of people who shared his vision.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The National. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.