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Now that we’ve experienced a RAF event, we know what to expect in terms of a broadcast, presentation, promotion, and matchmaking. We also have eight champions, which helps establish a pecking order within the weight classes. So, let’s stop wasting time and put together some “Matches to Make” at RAF 02. Now, here’s my logic in putting these matches together. Eric Bischoff stated that later this week, we’ll have a date and location for RAF 02. I am under the impression it will probably be in November. With that in mind, I did not include anyone who is participating in the Senior World Championships (for the USA or other countries). I’d imagine Izzy Martinez and Willie Saylor are already inundated with calls and texts from wrestlers interested in participating in future cards. With a potential card in November, I’m sure they’d like to have matches locked in ASAP. Having to wait a few weeks to see if the world teamers are healthy and available after the world championships might not be ideal. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a bunch that still want to compete and it makes for an even better product. Also, I did not include anyone currently enrolled in college. Aeoden Sinclair and Kennedy Blades were pulled from the card because of eligibility concerns had they competed after classes started at their respective schools and before November 1st. Hopefully, we’ll see college athletes be able to compete in-season, but for the intents and purposes of this article, I didn’t include any. Remember, this is not my top ten dream matches to make. These are ten matches that would make sense within the next two months and either builds off RAF 01 or sets a framework for future events. (This would also be my match order). Michael McGee vs. Seth Gross Willie Saylor explained on his RAF recap show with Justin Basch that this bout was booked in case any other matchup fell through on the RAF 01 card. Before Holly Holm agreed to step up in place of Kennedy Blades, it was thought that this match would be added to the card. Why not lead off the card with this one? Seth Gross is almost guaranteed to create fireworks. RAF wants high-scoring, fast-paced matches. Michael McGee had an incredible trajectory in his high school career. He went 1-2 at his first NCAA Tournament and defeated Daton Fix in his last collegiate match. This may not be a #1 contender type match (yet), but it’s one to get the crowd in the arena into the event and hungry for more action. Jordan Oliver vs. Bryce Andonian One of the guys that I saw on social media commenting on the matches and wanting a championship belt was Jordan Oliver. Oliver has been one of the most popular wrestlers of his time and has since moved on to an MMA career. Since he’s not wrestling full-time, it’s probably not appropriate for him to get a world team member or someone at the very top of the ladder. How about Bryce Andonian? Andonian is always up for a match. Like Seth Gross, win or lose, an Andonian match is fun. I think someone with Andonian’s talent and skill set could bring the best match out of Oliver. If you paired Oliver with an opponent who will just handfight for six minutes, he might do the same. But with Andonian, they could end up throwing the kitchen sink back and forth at each other. Ridge Lovett vs. Andrew Alirez I actually would make this a #1 contender matchup at 145 lbs - if both wrestlers are capable of making the weight. We’ll have Real Woods waiting in the wings for either. This is a matchup of two NCAA champions: Lovett, fresh off his title in 2025 and Alirez, who won his in 2023. You’re crazy if you think RAF wasn’t made for Ridge Lovett. I’d guess he already has a victory dance or pose picked out for his first win. Alirez has an interest in boxing and MMA, as well, so he knows how to play the game and sell a fight. Lovett was a semifinalist at the World Team Trials, losing 3-2 to PJ Duke. That result has aged much better with Duke defeating Yianni twice at Final X. Alirez might be better in free than folkstyle and he was never “right” during the 2024-25 season. He needed surgery immediately after the NCAA season. If he’s healthy, I want this match ASAP! Jenna Burkert vs. Alejandra Rivera Speaking of RAF being made for specific people! Jenna Burkert. Come on, enough said. Similar to Sarah Hildebrandt, Burkert can be lovable and relatable off the mat, but intense and physical on the mat. Eric Bischoff has repeatedly mentioned “storytelling” as a key aspect of RAF. Burkert’s story would be incredible in a promotional setting. Even though she’s focused on high school coaching, Burkert has remained a very popular figure on social media and in mentoring young girls. If she’s interested, you have to get her on a card! Sometimes in the matchmaking business, you have to throw someone a bone for being a team player. Alejandra Rivera stepped up to wrestle Olympic silver medalist Kennedy Blades. That’s quite the monumental task she signed up for. Rivera also hung in there as plans were modified 24 hours before her match and took on a combat sports legend in Holly Holm. I could see Burkert/Rivera as a physical, knock-down-drag-out affair. Aaron Brooks vs. Patrick Downey Both Aaron Brooks and Pat Downey are linked to RAF already. Brooks was announced by the organization as one of their early signees. Downey recently announced on social media that he had inked with the company. Downey has talked trash over social media about Penn State/NLWC wrestlers (Carter Starocci and Kyle Snyder). Why not give him someone from that crew? I’d actually like the Starocci match more; however, we saw it at the 2024 Olympic Trials and I’m not sure whether Starocci has interest in RAF. At the Olympic Trials, the event that Brooks won, this might have been a mismatch. But, we haven’t seen Brooks in action since the Olympics and may not for a while based on a looming suspension. So, I don’t know if we're getting an Olympic-ready version of Brooks. Downey has as much natural talent as any wrestler out there, but has been focused on grappling, of late. Both are also from Maryland, different parts of the state, but that gives some additional bragging rights. One thing we saw on Saturday was an MMA-ish face-off between Wyatt Hendrickson and Mason Parris. At one point, Izzy Martinez jumped in front of the to give the impression that the two were going to fight on the spot. I don’t think anyone actually thought Hendrickson and Parris were going to fight and it might have been a bit silly and contrived. With that being said, there might be actual beef between Downey and the NLWC contingent. You could see real trash talk over social media and real contentiousness at the pre-match press conference and such. Gable Steveson vs. Adam Coon We saw the aforementioned face-off between Hendrickson and Parris. That’s a title match in the works and I love it. So, let’s get the next title match set up. Gable Steveson is an athlete whose name comes up immediately when fans are asked who they want to see in RAF. Let’s not wait six months from now to have Steveson against the winner of Hendrickson/Parris, get him on a card now. It’s difficult to find a unique and credible opponent for Steveson. If he’s close to the top of his game, only a few heavyweights can go with him. Trent Hillger would be next on the ladder after making Final X. Hayden Zillmer is up there, too. Both have likely trained with Steveson at the Gopher WC and I’m not sure if either of them presents a matchup that fans would totally embrace - aside from seeing Gable back in action. That brought me to Adam Coon. Remember, even though Coon’s best style is Greco, he made Final X in 2018 in freestyle. Coon was also a three-time top-three finisher at NCAA’s and has a career win over Kyle Snyder. Coon would represent a bit of a different test than most of the current heavyweights. Coon is more of a throwback to your father’s heavyweight. Big, tall, close to the weight limit (though RAF is unlimited). Not someone who is likely to hit low singles and get in long scrambles. To be honest, that’s what a lot of the heavyweights are still like internationally. At this point, I don’t know Coon’s status. The last time we saw him, he was choked unconscious in the Greco Trials at the US Open and had to default out of the tournament. Daton Fix vs. Nick Suriano There are a lot of ways you can go at 135 lbs to create a potential contender and matchup for Nathan Tomasello. Spencer Lee, Roman Bravo Young, Vito Arujau, Darian Cruz - maybe some international guys. I don’t have an issue with any of them getting the fast track to take on Tomasello. You could also make a match like this one to create that number one contender. Nick Suriano. He’s the white whale of Senior level wrestling. Maybe you get a sighting on Instagram every Tuesday. Hopefully, he’ll return to the mat at some point. Until then, he’ll be one of the more sought-after potential participants in RAF. There aren’t too many names that will bring fans to watch, on name recognition alone, and regardless of opponent. Suriano happens to be one of those athletes. When he’s at his best, Suriano has the potential to make a world team and medal. Even if he has to go through the likes of Lee, Arujau, or Fix. I haven’t seen Daton Fix associated with RAF yet, but I’d expect him to be in the mix at some point. Fix wasn’t a key player in the hunt for a world team spot in 2025, but he has the hardware and typically is one of the key figures. This pair also has quite a history. The storied Who’s #1 match without overtime. The controversial NCAA final in 2019. It doesn’t seem like these guys are capable of wrestling just a regular match. Evan Wick vs. Keegan O’Toole Let’s get our first title defense. I saw some questions on Twitter about whether titles would be on the line on every card. I don’t want to speak for RAF, but I imagine they won’t do that. Similar to the UFC, spread them out and find ways to have a couple on each card. It makes more financial sense to scatter six desired title matches spread across three cards, rather than all six at once. The breakout star from RAF 01 was Evan Wick (with some help from Jason Nolf). The pair had a back-and-forth match with lots of offense and constant action. I feel like we could get some similar fireworks with a Keegan O’Toole matchup. He has the freestyle credentials (U20 world champ) and wins within the last year over Senior World Team member, Levi Haines, and Dean Hamiti (both in freestyle). There’s also the added element that both wrestlers have history training under Ben Askren. Could be a fun wrinkle. Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Vinesh Phogat I’ll stress. This needs to be a matchup that is made once RAF’s international streaming agreements have been finalized. So, after Vinesh Phogat posted a monumental upset over Yui Susaki, this was supposed to be the Olympic gold medal match. Phogat failed to make weight and Hildebrandt won the gold medal. For days, and perhaps weeks, after the Olympic finals, Indian fans flocked to Hildebrant’s Instagram page and touted Phogat and questioned the validity of the gold medal. With all that on the table, let’s settle it once and for all. Once again, I’d wait on this match until you have a massive Indian audience available to purchase the card! Yianni Diakomihalis vs. David Baev In the post-event press conference, it seemed like Yianni Diakomihalis and Kyle Dake legitimately had a lot of fun participating in RAF 01 and were eager to get back on the mat. So, let’s run Yianni back out there. On Diakomihalis’ Instagram, Baev responded to a picture of Yianni from the event and said, “Nice belt. Soon on my waist,” before tagging RAF. For those not familiar with Baev, he was a Senior world champion in 2019. In 2017, he won a Junior World title, beating Ryan Deakin in the finals. Though he is not Russia’s representative at the 2025 World Championships, Baev did win a European Championship this year. That means he’s still at the top of his game. This would be a great test for Yianni and it has the potential for some great action. The promotional aspect of USA vs Russia almost sells itself, too. Of course, this is all contingent on getting Russian wrestlers into the country for an event - I’m sure there are some hoops to jump through to make it happen. Bonus matches The legend versus world team matches ended up being one-sided in favor of the current stars, as you probably assumed they would be. I’m not sure if that’s the route to go in the future; however, I don’t want to eliminate any legends from competing. So, how about legend versus legend? Maybe Brent Metcalf versus Dustin Schlatter? For 2004-25, this was the equivalent of Jax Forrest/Marcus Blaze type recruiting clashing. At one point in time, the RAF website showed James Green versus Austin O’Connor as a match for RAF 01. If they ever want to revisit that, I’m all for it. Green has been at his best competing above 65 kg and still can get it done. We’re not sure exactly what to expect from O’Connor in a freestyle setting, but he’s a two-time NCAA champion, so I imagine he will compete just fine.