A brand-new Conversations With Love is LIVE!
Today, I chat with the reigning MLW National Openweight Champion, Alexander Hammerstone! You don’t want to miss out as we chat about his time in Tijuana, his reasons for signing with Major League Wrestling and, of course, if Carole Baskin did it among a variety of topics, including:
- Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic
- His match with Laredo Kid
- If he prefers working opponents of a particular size or style
- His recent Iron Man challenge
- If signing with MLW was the right decision
- What differentiates him in MLW
- What he feels has changed about professional wrestling
- If he feels he’s an ambassador for Arizonan pro wrestling
- How he came up with the Nightmare Pendulum
- How the Dynasty has impacted career
- The affect MJF’s departure will have on the Dynasty
- If he was surprised by how quickly he was offered a contract
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Conversations With Love 69: A Conversation With Alexander Hammerstone
Highlights:
On his match with Laredo Kid and experience in Tijuana:
“The whole experience was wild, just because we were on barely the cut-off of the whole pandemic. Leading up to that week, when the news was just really starting to hammer home (of) what was going on, we didn’t know if the show was even going to go through the day before. Actually, I think, once we got into San Diego - because that’s where the crew flew into to film all of our pre-tapes and stuff like that - Court Bauer, the president, sent all the guys a personal message letting them know that if they had any concerns or if they didn’t feel comfortable going across the border and going to perform for such a large group, they didn’t have to. So, then, you’re sitting there thinking ‘should we not?’ But, I mean, I’m hard-headed and I’m going to - I would perform tomorrow if I could.”
“So, it was crazy in that aspect, and then Tijuana’s always a crazy crowd, (because) they can fit five thousand in that arena. Then, I wrestled Laredo Kid, of course, who is one of the absolute best luchadors in the world right now. So I really lucked out, because I saw Mance Warner in a half-Mexican Death Match getting stabbed in the face and people getting lit on fire. That’s not my cup of tea. I got to have a great wrestling match with a great wrestler, so I was happy.”
The decision to sign with Major League Wrestling:
“Realistically, there were some options on the table. (With) MLW, we kind of have the image where I don’t think anything’s tarnished the companies image. I think we’ve been on a steady climb, and people see us as that alternative that’s continuing to grow. So, from one aspect, we have a good look. There’s nothing bad tarnishing the company. There’s no this, that or the other. There’s no black eyes. But, besides that, when they approached me it was much less ‘hey, here’s a number, I think maybe we want to sign you. You seem like a guy we might be able to do something with.’ It was a ‘hey, we want to sign you, we want to start you on this date, do you want to do it? Because we have some plans for you.’”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. I’m the type of guy who wants to dig my teeth into something. Especially (with) where I was at with pro wrestling, I’d been doing it for so long, and I’d kind of gotten to a point where I was feeling stuck and I was feeling like ‘oh my gosh, give me something. Give me a ball and let me run with it, and if I fall, then fine,’ but I’d rather do that than just pick up bread crumbs and be collecting a paycheck. I wanted to do something, and I think it’s paid off huge. The last year, the difference in name-value that I have is incredible, and it’s a huge part thanks to MLW.”
If he was surprised being offered an MLW contract so quickly:
“Yes. I hadn’t even met them. I had contacted MLW when they first rebranded because I’m very good friends with Gangrel, David Heath. We were just kind of shooting the shit one day, and he brought them up. He was like ‘hey, I did a one-off for these guys, they might be a good place for you to work.’ So, I sent them an email, and they were very nice, but nothing ever came from it. Then, pretty much beginning of 2019, they sent me an email asking me a handful of questions about working there, and I answered them. The response wasn’t ‘hey, here’s a date, can we book you?’ It was ‘hey, here’s a contract, do you want to sign it?’
“Again, that goes to speak for their faith in me as a performer, because the only other company that I was kind of really discussing things with and really contemplating trying to sign with, I had done multiple events with them. I had had matches with them. I had had matches against people on their roster, and they were still sitting there on the fence about whether or not to use me. Whereas MLW, all they had to go off was the footage they had seen and the word of mouth of people on their staff that were in my corner. It was a very good feeling to have a company say ‘hey, we already know that you’re going to be one of our guys.’”
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