No Holds Barred: Raul Ramirez on June 7 Catch Wrestling in L.A.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Raul Ramirez of the Catch Wrestling Alliance.

Their first event, the Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth, will be held Saturday, June 7. The location is the Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA, at 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1612.

Eight catch wrestling matches are scheduled, where you can only win by pin or submission. There are no points or judges.

We spoke with Raul Ramirez by phone Monday.

The most recent addition to the lineup is Colleen Schneider, a catch wrestler and MMA fighter who trains with Josh Barnett. She will face Jennifer Thomas in one of two women's matches. She replaces Qin Yunquan of Singapore, who had to withdraw because of a knee injury.

"I think everyone's really locked in now," Raul Ramirez said, as we discussed the entire card.

Essential to reviving catch wrestling today is learning the historical lessons from the 1800s and early 1900s, when professional catch wrestling completely degenerated into a staged spectacle.

"We can't be making the mistakes of the past. But luckily," he said, "we got a lot of history books that document all of the details of what not to do."

The general methods of good and proper sports governance have improved and developed tremendously since the early days of catch wrestling, and we agreed that this incarnation of catch wrestling must strive for excellence, both on and off the mat.

"We got to keep this more democratic. We got to allow for different voices to be heard," he said.

The Catch Wrestling Alliance is already working with many schools around the world to accomplish these goals, including the home of catch wrestling, the Snake Pit Wigan.

"It is truly an alliance where we're trying to work together to create good governance and keeping the wrestlers happy, but also healthy as well," he noted.

We also discussed the importance of former college wrestlers like former Michigan State captain Curran Jacobs entering the ranks of catch wrestling and how that will likely affect the sport, the many awards which will be presented at this event honoring catch wrestling and grappling greats, the catch wrestling memorabilia exhibition at this event organized and hosted by wrestling author and historian Mike Chapman including artifacts from the days of Frank Gotch, and much more.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City July 26 and 27, 2014, for the fifth annual MMA World Expo, featuring the Fighters Source U.S. Nationals amateur MMA tournament, two days of ADCC no-gi and gi grappling tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth. This invitational event will be held under catch wrestling rules, where you can only win by pin or submission. It will take place Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. For more information, go to catchwrestlingalliance.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV.  Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to takedownradio.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com