The Bottom Line in Pro Wrestling

Wrestling enthusiasts soon will have an alternative to the chair-swinging, trash-talking variety that has come to symbolize the sport.

A two-day Olympic-style competition, called Real Pro Wrestling, will start Friday at the Los Angeles Center Studios. The event will televised over 15 weeks beginning in February.

Organizers are hoping for a broad audience.

“Hopefully, we’ll bring some legitimacy back,” said 2000 Olympic gold medalist Rulon Gardner, a broadcaster and coach for the event.

The competition will be held before a selected audience, each of whom who must sign a confidentiality agreement not to reveal the winners before they are broadcast. The media are barred from the final day.

The format includes eight teams representing seven weight classes. Among the 56 competitors are seven former Olympians. Each will compete for $250,000-$300,000 in prize money. Toby Willis, co-founder and chief executive of Real Pro Wrestling, said he believes the event will attract a different sports fan than those who follow scripted wrestling, such as World Wrestling Entertainment.

“You don’t even view [the WWE] as a competition,” said Willis, who wrestled at Northwestern before a neck injury in 1992 ended his career. “That’s a whole other audience. We think our audience is more the type who likes football.”

Competitors use a combination of freestyle, Greco-Roman and Sumo to win by fall, decision or forfeit. Willis, who is financing the league through a settlement reached from a car accident eight years ago that claimed the lives of six siblings, borrowed some elements from WWE, such as a glitzy stage setting and loud rock music.

Former Olympic gold medalist and legendary coach Dan Gable said he’s hoping the competition will spur more interest in the sport. “Real Pro Wrestling is helping me win this battle,” Gable said.