Click Here For Photos    RealPro Wrestling made its debut on Saturday, Oct. 26 at L.A. Center Studios in Los Angeles, Calif. and many of the top stars in amateur wrestling were in attendance, including Dan Gable, Cael Sanderson, Jeff Blatnick and Nancy Schultz.    This pilot is being taped in hopes of presenting a marketable professional wrestling league to leading sports television networks across the nation. If the league is picked up by a network following the pilot, RealPro Wrestling plans to tape a series of events for release on national television. Taping could begin as early as this winter.    The audience of more than 500 fans were treated to many new innovations during the event, which included dual meets between top U.S. freestyle stars and another between top U.S. Greco-Roman stars.    Wrestling took place in a gladiator-style setting. The mat was raised with mats angling from the side to the ground. In case any wrestlers fell of the mat, stuntmen were present with arm pads to shove them back on the mat. The audience setup encompassed the entire mat, giving the matches a closeness to the crowd not usually associated with wrestling.    After a chilling introduction to the song "Thunderstruck", fans saw wrestling in a new light. After wrestlers came down the aisle to music and video introductions, new wave dance music pumped throughout the studio during matches.    "The music was a little loud on the mat, but we as wrestlers need to look at the big picture," said 2002 U.S. Freestyle World Team member Chris Bono. "We are trying to sell this to the public and to a general audience, and this could be huge for wrestling if it goes through."    RealPro Wrestling co-founders Toby Willis and Matt Case also had many special features for the audience. Between matches, famous actor Andrew Schaeffer conducted interviews with many of the audience members. Riveting short videos documented the history of wrestling that dated back to former President Abraham Lincoln and another video highlighted the career of wrestling legend Dan Gable, who was optimistic about the potential growth of RealPro Wrestling.    "What Toby and Matt have done is attempt to put wrestling on a stage that it has never been in before," Gable said. "Something like this could be real exciting for wrestling. They need to be careful as others have failed at somewhat similar attempts, but it is great to have two people who are capable of what they are supporting the sport of wrestling and trying to get us into the mainstream."    Another feature added to the event was television replay challenges. Each team received three television challenges per dual, and the first one came into play during the Tim Hartung (Black) vs. Ryan Tobin (Red) match at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in freestyle.    The two wrestlers went out of bounds and one point was awarded to Hartung after the mat official ruled that Tobin had stepped out of bounds first. During the action, Tobin was able to throw Hartung, and after replay was reviewed, the call on the mat was overturned and Tobin was awarded a takedown. Hartung went on to win the match 9-4.    A video also highlighted the rivalry between Dennis Hall (Black) and Jim Gruenwald (Red), who were about to wrestle for the 24th time at 60 kg/145.5 lbs. The video showed clips of the two wrestling in high school and clips of Hall's early domination of the series before moving into the present, showing Gruenwald's dramatic win at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and his repeat win over Hall at the 2001 U.S. World Team Trials.    The match was just as intense. Hall and Gruenwald each were thrown off the mat once, but Hall, leading 5-2, was able to counter a throw by Gruenwald and land on top for the second-period pin. In the end, it was Hall's pin that won the dual for his team as well.    "This is a great opportunity, but I definitely wasn't expecting a pin," said Dennis Hall, a 1996 Olympic silver medalist. "The rules didn't matter to me. It was more about getting another match. Stuff like this keeps me focused and it is good competition for me."    There are slight rule modifications for RealPro Wrestling. There is no three point minimum score required to win a match. If both wrestlers are on their feet working for a takedown, the wrestlers who makes his opponent touch out of bounds first gets one point if no other scoring occurs at the same time, similar to sumo wrestling.    In both styles, passivity will be called using an electronic interface to control an interactive stalling light display meter controlled by the mat chairman. In future competitions, this meter will be controlled by a panel of officials. This action meter will provide continuous feedback to the wrestlers, coaches and fans as to the threat of a passivity call. Periods of inactivity will lower the action meter of an athlete while action will raise the meter. When a wrestler's action meter is empty, the mat officials will call passivity. If a wrestler is called for passivity three times during the match, he is automatically disqualified.    Other modifications will be that the mat officials will make all calls, unless he requests help from the mat judge or a coach challenges a call.    Teams score 15 points for wins by fall, disqualification or injury default and 10 points for a technical fall. For a decision, the difference in match points will be awarded to the winning wrestler's team.    In general, the wrestlers and fans alike embraced the new modified rules of RealPro Wrestling.    "This is a Class A show going on right now," Hall said. "They put some of these rules in to create more action, and they definitely got it. Out of 14 matches, there wasn't one clinch and there was only one match where the winner scored less than six points."    Bono, who will wrestle in the Kurt Angle Classic Nov. 9 in New Orleans, La. agreed.    "You don't see any 1-0 scores here. The action out there was awesome and it was a lot of fun to wrestle in something like this. My personal feeling is that there are some things done here that maybe FILA should look at and consider."    While all wrestlers were paid $1,500 to compete in this event, the winning team was given incentive of $500 per wrestler.    This created more excitement as both dual meets came down to the final match. In freestyle, Kerry McCoy (Red) needed a technical fall at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. to earn a win for his team, but was unable to score the late points he needed against Brian Keck (Black). What was impressive, though, was that McCoy was still taking shots with 20 seconds remaining even as he held a comfortable 10-1 lead. In Greco-Roman, Rulon Gardner (Black) used a 2-0 win over Billy Pierce (Red) to end a major rally in the Black Team's 27-23 win. The Black team had led 25-0 after two matches, but the Red Team slowly chipped away at the lead going into the final match.    "It was fun to get into a team aspect with some of these guys. It made this event more fun and we all had an incentive to continue to cheer our teammates on," said McCoy, who is a member of the 2002 U.S. Freestyle World Team. "The push-out rule cost this team the dual, since Keck was able to drive me out of bounds, but it is definitely a positive thing. I really like the push-out rule."    The final Greco-Roman match also marked the unofficial return of Rulon Gardner after missing last season due to a frostbite injury. Gardner will officially return at the Kurt Angle Classic where he will square off with Eddy Bengtsson of Sweden.    "It felt good to back on the mat in a competitive mode," the 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 2001 World Champion said. "This was different for all of us, but it was a lot of fun. This could have a major impact on the sport of wrestling and how our sport progresses into the future."    If the RealPro Wrestling pilot is picked up by a major sports network as a reality-based show, then wrestling will have the opportunity to jump into a new spectrum of modern sports. Never before has the sport of wrestling had the chance to be placed in front of the masses like it does now.    With the possibility of one