Alex Hammerstone is one of the fastest rising stars in pro wrestling.
The 30-year-old is currently the MLW National Openweight champion and defends his title against Lucha Libre legend LA Park, Friday night on DAZN.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN News: I look at those arms, and I am sincerely jealous. How many times a day are you hitting the gym?
Alex Hammerstone: It's just once a day, but it's maybe for a little bit more prolonged period of time than most people would be.
DN: Now, how long do you go to the gym for each session?
AH: I mean, I could usually easily eat up about two hours. But that's not that's just for the weight training. Because later in the day, I'll usually be down at a wrestling school rolling around with guys or doing some kind of cardio. So I can't spend all day just doing weights like I'd want to.
DN: For the fans that don't know much about you, Alex, you're making your way up, and right now, you're the MLW National Openweight champion. How did you get your start in pro wrestling?
AH: I think it's very similar to a lot of people. I don't have that unique of a story. I was just one of those guys that loved it in my whole upbringing. When I was about 19 years old, I was in college, ready to have a normal route to maybe getting a college degree and becoming an engineer. I just had a couple of life experiences that said, 'Hey, you know what, you got to go give that crazy dream a try and give it a whirl'. So I was lucky to find the wrestling school just a couple miles from me, and pretty much once I got started, the rest is history. There was no turning back.
DN: What were some of those life experiences that led you to get into wrestling?
AH: My dad ended up going through some health problems. He just gave me that speech one day realizing that life never turns out exactly how you expect it. You never know what's going to happen. You never know how long you have, so take each day and spend it how you want to and not how society or your parents, boss, girlfriend, or however they may pressure you to act or whatever standards you think you're living up to. It really comes down to how do you want your life to turn out? I gave up the guaranteed path and took the gamble on what I thought was my dream, and it's paid off for me thus far.
DN: Do you feel like in a roundabout way, you're wrestling for your dad?
AH: It's definitely something that he had a part in. The sentiment is more than anything because he was a guitar player. After his situations, he was no longer able to play guitar. He was no longer able to sing. He kind of lost out on that part of his life. So to be able to watch me live out the dreams that I want to and take those chances that he would have when he was younger. It's definitely something that he had a part in for sure.
DN: What would he say to you right now?
AH: Wrestling when we were growing up, he thought wrestling was very weird. I remember a couple of times my brother and I watching it and him telling us to turn that crap off. He was never the biggest fan of it. But the second I got involved with it, that all changed. He definitely became a fan, became very interested, and did his best to support me. Every time he's come to see me, despite being stuck in a wheelchair, he does his best to get on his feet and make some noise. He's always been very supportive. He just wants me to take it as far as I want to take it.
DN: You are regarded by many in pro wrestling as one of the fastest rising stars. How does it make you feel when you hear that?
AH: It definitely feels good. It's just having that connection with fans and people around the world. It's phenomenal, and this last year more so than ever before, it became very apparent what that means to me. We were kind of stuck and isolated in our own homes, and wrestling was kind of pushed to the back burner for awhile. To still manage this connection and have this interaction with fans, writers, and all these people, it's such a cool feeling to see how I've impacted these people, and I've become someone that these people enjoy to watch. It means the world to me. I didn't have one of those careers where I caught fire and became the hot new thing in my first year or two. I've been doing this for about ten years. So to start catching that momentum and be regarded as one of the top guys in the industry right now is such a great feeling, and it really validates all the hard work I put in over the years.
DN: When do you feel like it clicked for you?
AH: I don't know if there's necessarily any one moment. There's been a couple of companies over the years that have really put a lot of faith in me and taking those jumps where they put me in the ring with some talented people and just never really having a moment where I felt like I was outclassed with anyone made me a little bit more confident each time that happens. Then I would definitely say signing with MLW and jumping in and almost be thrown into the deep end immediately and rising maybe not to the top but immediately going on the rise and becoming one of the standout guys. I knew what I wanted to accomplish by signing there. I know there were a lot of guys who were there before me and who'd already been kind of doing their best to stand out and be top guys. For me to be able to cut in line so to speak, that really let me know that you know I have something here and I know what I'm doing.
DN: A big match coming up Friday night on DAZN with LA Park. The name speaks for itself. What does it mean to you to be able to step inside the ring with the Lucha Libre legend?
AH: Like you said, he's a Lucha Libre legend. In an age where up-and-coming wrestlers seem to be losing that degree of respect for veterans, I'm one of the guys who I have all the respect in the world for anyone who came before me or anyone who helped pave the way. LA Park falls in that category. He has my respect. But at the end of the day, if you're coming for my championship with that respect, with that tenure, with that veteran status you earned, it's a product of being in this business for years and years and years, which means you've honed your craft, you've learned maybe a couple of tricks that I haven't. But it also means that you've got an aging body, and I've got youth on my side. All the respect in the world isn't going to hold me back from giving it my all and making sure I retain my championship.