Despite the untimely passing of wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan, his dream project, the Real American Freestyle wrestling promotional, will go ahead as planned. There are many exciting events wrestling fans can look forward to on the opening night of August 30th, including a showdown between 3-time NCAA champion Bo Nickals and recent college graduate Jacob Cardenas! Additionally, fans were also eager to watch two-time Olympic bronze medalist Kyle Dake take on Aeoden Sinclair, the four-time NCAA champion, however, fate had other plans.

For reasons not yet disclosed, Sinclair has dropped out of the match, and Kyle Dake will have to face someone else. Considering Dake was super pumped about fighting on the platform, fans were quick to suggest opponents in the comments on his social media, with some even suggesting the Cowboy’s Dean Hamiti when Dake announced on X just yesterday that a “New Opponent [was] locked in for RAF01 August 30th!” Dake added,  “Not sure if I’m allowed to say yet, but it will be a fun one!”

It was later announced, via the Saturday Night Lights X platform that the new opponent is indeed the fan guess, Dean Hamiti!

In the 2024-2025 season, Hamiti won the NCAA titles for the 174 pound weight class, back to back, beating former national champions both times. Dake, back in 2012, was pushed into the 165-pound category first from 157 in order to face David Taylor, now fights comfortably at 174. He is also a 4 time gold medalist at the Senior World Championships, thereby making this match setup similar, in a sense, to the one between Bo Nickal and Jacob Cardenas, a test between experience and recent exposure. While Dake has the medals to back him, Hamiti, fresh out of college, has the mat practice!

Apart from Kyle Dake, what awaits fans on the opening night of the RAF?

Apart from this newest addition to the list of events, fans can look forward to an extravaganza on the 30th of August at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland. The arena has a seating capacity of 13,000, though reports suggest that ticket sales have been slow, there is still time yet to see how things go. If fans aren’t planning to attend in person, Fox News has acquired exclusive screening rights to the event, despite the move being contested by many fans.

Other line ups for the night include: Bo Nickal vs. Jacob Cardenas, Yianni Diakomihalis vs. Bajrang Punia, Darrion Caldwell vs. Real Woods, Austin Gomez vs. Lance Palmer, Kennedy Blades vs. Alejandra Rivera, Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Zeltzin Hernandez. The commentary crew will be none other than former MMA heavyweight Chael Sonnen, along with Kurt Angle, and Bubba Jenkins.

Finally, considering the recent passing of the event founder and wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, fans who want to spend some time honouring the WWE champion’s memory might look to this event as a sort of memorial. They will probably be expecting the night to be filled with small tokens of remembrance for the late hero, and surely it will be a night of bittersweet emotions!