Last week, Alexander Hammerstone celebrated his one-year anniversary as MLW National Openweight Champion. Not only is he the only titleholder in that belt’s history but he has also become the longest-reigning titleholder in Major League Wrestling history.
In an interview with WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo, “your boy Hammer” reflected back on the chaos and the great sense of accomplishment that came with winning the title against Brian Pillman Jr back in Milwaukee. He also spoke of the wide list of contenders he successfully defended the title against.
“Looking back it’s really cool to be like, ‘Wow, you didn’t just wrestle this type of wrestler or that type of wrestler. I really got to: big guys, little guys, fast guys, quick guys, lucha guys, strong style guys. Like I really got to do a little bit of everything and I think it’s really helped to round me out and solidify my style as a wrestler.”
“Off the top of my head, I’m guessing the longest match I’ve had is somewhere around the 30-minute mark. I definitely have seen the clips come up on YouTube where the video’s like 32 minutes with entrances, so it’s gotta be somewhere around that. I’ve always just been intrigued by like ‘man, that sounds like such a test, an iron man match.’ Especially like the idea of doing it for Fusion because then it would be like, ‘Hey, this episode is this match.’ So that’s something I’d definitely still want to do and it would force me out of my comfort zone and force me to focus to develop myself in a new way because as a bigger guy, it is harder to go, with those long, deep-end matches. It’s like that’s where if I don’t beat a guy in the first 15 minutes it’s gonna be a little bit of a struggle for me cause usually, I’m 250 pounds of muscle and the guy I’m wrestling is under 200 so it’s like usually they have an advantage there, but I always want to try something new and something different. It’s like I said, I’m open to the idea doing this style of match or that style of match and an Ironman match is like the ultimate test. Like I said, if there was an episode of Fusion where there was just one match and I was able to really deliver especially if I had the right opponent that would be a really cool notch in my belt.”
“It was a surprise, just because it wasn’t like I was on the last month of my current deal or anything like that and Court and I had been in touch about some ideas with the company moving forward. I was sitting there thinking about it and there are some other things, when you get to a certain level there’s always other people knocking on your door, whether officially or unofficially they’re dropping their feelers out there, but it got to the point where the wrestling world is super vast right now and I’m seeing people who are great athletes who they climb and climb and climb and then they make that lateral move to a new company and all of a sudden they get lost in the shuffle or they’re not given the opportunity to display what they’ve been working on for so long and it really got me thinking like, ‘Man, I want my platform.’”
Hammerstone says his perspective changed where he wasn’t just looking to make a good living, he wanted a guarantee that he would get plenty of ring time and freedom to express himself creatively. MLW understood what he wanted from wrestling and they understood where things needed to be, and he says “it’s a weight off your back” to know that you have a landing spot and a company that believes in you.
“We’re talking about this match, that match, that match—and that’s from my first year with the company. So then to sign a new multi-year deal and to know that we’re going to keep getting to build that legacy and we’re going to keep getting to have those matches and put my name in that talk of who’s who in wrestling right now, that’s the coolest thing in the world to me. And not only that, Richard Holliday re-signed and I can’t leave him by himself!”
Check out the full interview which includes his thoughts on the rise of The Dynasty and shares a very cool story about one certain “Show Off.” Listen below:
