Olympic medalists Kyle Snyder, Kyle Dake and Aaron Brooks headline the newest additions to the Real American Freestyle wrestling league.
The announcement of the signings Thursday comes off the heels of the Tampa, Florida-based company’s launch last week. The league, with pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan as the commissioner, will hold its first event Aug. 30 in Cleveland.
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FILE - Penn State's Aaron Brooks, top, takes on Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen during their 184-pound match in the semifinal round of the NCAA wrestling championships March 19, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - United States' Kyle Dake, right, celebrates after defeating Japan's Sohsuke Takatani, left, in a 79kg match in the Freestyle Wrestling World Cup in Iowa City, Iowa, April 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
FILE - Kyle Snyder, of the United States, in red, competes against Cuba's Javier Cortina Lacerra during the men's 97-kg freestyle wrestling competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - United States' Kyle Snyder, right, celebrates after winning gold against Cuba's Arturo Silot, left, during the men's 97kg wrestling freestyle final bout at the Pan American Games Santiago, Chile, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Snyder earned gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and silver in Tokyo in 2021. He's a three-time world champion who won three national titles at Ohio State.
Dake is a four-time world champion and two-time Olympic bronze medalist. He was a four-time national champion at Cornell. Brooks, a four-time national champion at Penn State, earned bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
David Carr and Trent Hidlay also have signed. Carr was a two-time national champion at Iowa State. He was an under-20 world champion, and bronze medalist at the under-17 world championships. Hidlay was a two-time national runner-up at North Carolina State.
“David, Kyle, Aaron, Trent, and Kyle represent the best of the best, and that’s who we’re targeting for Real American Freestyle," Hogan said in a statement. "Our goal is to give these athletes an opportunity to continue their careers, create a platform for greatness, and inspire a legacy that lasts.”
Kennedy Blades, a silver medalist at the Paris Games, had already signed on the women’s side. She believes the input of people such as Hogan will help it be sustainable. Her longtime coach, Israel Hernandez, is the league's chief operating officer, and she’s excited that he’s teaming up with Hogan, chief media officer Eric Bischoff and co-founder Chad Bronstein.
“I think the Real American Freestyle wrestling is going to be huge for the sport. I know coach Izzy, at the end of the day, wants to push wrestling to the highest level.
“The goal is to get people outside who don’t know anything about wrestling to come watch and invest in the sport financially, being there at the events, stuff like that," she said. “So I’m really excited about it.”
Events will feature eight weight classes with eight matches for men and four for women. Wrestlers will have the opportunity to win a championship purse and bonuses — in adherence to NCAA regulations — for victories.
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FILE - Penn State's Aaron Brooks, top, takes on Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen during their 184-pound match in the semifinal round of the NCAA wrestling championships March 19, 2021, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
FILE - United States' Kyle Dake, right, celebrates after defeating Japan's Sohsuke Takatani, left, in a 79kg match in the Freestyle Wrestling World Cup in Iowa City, Iowa, April 7, 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
FILE - Kyle Snyder, of the United States, in red, competes against Cuba's Javier Cortina Lacerra during the men's 97-kg freestyle wrestling competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
FILE - United States' Kyle Snyder, right, celebrates after winning gold against Cuba's Arturo Silot, left, during the men's 97kg wrestling freestyle final bout at the Pan American Games Santiago, Chile, Nov. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
