EXCLUSIVE: It Was Hulk Hogan's Idea To Do NWO Third Man Video For Real American Freestyle Launch

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff recently got the band back together and the masterminds behind the New World Order have launched Real American Freestyle (RAF), a freestyle wrestling promotion. Bischoff will serve as the company's Chief Media Officer, while Hogan is the Commissioner of Real American Freestyle.

Hogan and Bischoff called back to World Championship Wrestling for the launch of Real American Freestyle as they unveiled amateur wrestling coach Izzy Martinez as their third man in social media videos reminiscent of the nWo's paid announcements on WCW TV. Martinez is the Chief Operating Officer of Real American Freestyle.

Speaking with Cultaholic's Tom Campbell, Eric Bischoff revealed it was Hulk Hogan's idea to create an NWO third man-inspired video to launch RAF.

"That was Hulk's idea. I was brought into the project several months ago as the idea was first developing before we found funding and everything else. I am a partner, Hulk is obviously a partner in Real American Freestyle, and an individual by the name of Chad Bronstein," Bischoff stated.

"I jumped on board and one of the first things we talked about is, 'Hey, how do we get people's attention and we let them know that we're actually doing this?' At that point Hulk said, 'Hmm, let's do a third man video.' Because we wanted to introduce, which is essentially our head coach Izzy Martinez, who has all the credibility in the world in the amateur wrestling universe. He trained some of the top MMA fighters in UFC, he’s trained Olympic medallists in amateur wrestling. He’s really, really an incredible guy, but nobody knows him," he continued.

"So it was Hulk's idea to let's do a tease kind of going back to Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who's our third man. So we shot that video and put it out there. I personally on my Twitter platform have 2.7 million views. In totality, across all platforms, we're up over like 10.5 million views. So Hulk was right, his instinct was right. It got a lot of attention. We revealed Izzy as the third man, and it's created a tremendous amount of awareness. So it was a good idea."

Bischoff noted the whole experience was fun and being back on-screen with The Hulkster was "like riding a bike." However, Bischoff wouldn't have imagined over 25 years after their nWo days that he would still be working with Hogan on such a big project.

"That was fun, it was fun. That was the first time Hulk and I did anything on camera like that in 25 years and we got it basically in one take. It was like, wow it really is like riding a bike," the former WCW Senior Vice President added.

"I turn 70 in about two weeks. I had pretty much resigned myself and was quite comfortable with the fact that big projects like this were in my rearview mirror. I didn't anticipate, I wasn't seeking out, I was quite comfortable doing what I'm doing and living the way I'm living. But when that phone call came and the opportunity was put in front of me, it was like, 'Oh man, I feel like I'm 35 again. Let's go do this.' But I never would have imagined that in my wildest dreams. Not even for a moment."

The inaugural event from Real American Freestyle will be held on August 30 in Cleveland, Ohio. Wrestlers signed to the company include Ben Askren, Kennedy Blades, Zahid Valencia, and David Carr.

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