Impact: Josh Alexander is a main event level talent anywhere

The 34-year-old Josh Alexander has been wrestling since 2005 and since that point has garnered for himself quite a wee bit of attention. He is a mat technician the likes of which we haven’t seen since perhaps Kurt Angle. Now don’t get me wrong…there are certainly a lot of epic technical wrestlers in the industry right now, but Alexander definitely adds that seamless essence that we haven’t seen since Angle. In this piece, I’ll be taking a deeper look into just why Josh Alexander is a main event-level talent anywhere.

Making quite the Impact

He currently wrestles for Impact Wrestling and sadly had the shortest reign in Impact World title history, after defeating the legendary Christian Cage at Bound For Glory 2021 and having Moose immediately cash in on his ‘Call Your Shot’ gauntlet win and take that title from him.

He hasn’t yet had his revenge on Moose for whatever reason in the form of a proper rematch, Impact deciding to go another way. Meanwhile, Alexander has been having quite a few matches of renown. For technical wrestling fans, he had quite the match with Charlie Haas a few weeks ago, which was a masterpiece, Haas being 49; the two tore it up in epic amateur fashion out there in the Impact Zone.

In 2021, Josh Alexander made the announcement on social media that he was finally able to wrestle full time and quit his job in construction. This spoke to a massive misconception that people have about professional wrestling: If you’re on TV, you’re making money, right?

Wrong, or rather, not always. In Alexander’s case, he wrestled for a whopping 16 years all the while holding a steady job, managing to have a relationship, and keeping up with his training and diet all at the same time. Perhaps in a way that’s even more impressive than wrestling full time.

Regardless, he made it, finally deciding to go all the way with wrestling. Here’s some of what he said back when he was able to hang up the construction boots for good:

"“I’ve dreamt of this day for longer than I can remember…A day when I don’t need to wake up at 3am to work out before heading to the job site. A day when I don’t rush from my red eye home to a shift. A day where I can finally have time to truly dedicate myself to this business that I love…It’s a stressful thought running around without that security blanket of guaranteed income. But risks often produce the biggest rewards. I’ve often wondered what I’d be able to do as a wrestler when I don’t have to work 40+ hours a week on top of the training & travel. It’s a scary thought. I guess now we will finally get to find out…None of this is possible without the support of the fans. Without Impact Wrestling giving me countless opportunities to show I’m a world class wrestler. Without all the independent promotions that book me & give me time to grow my brand & do what I love. I can’t thank all of you enough. I’ll continue to show my gratitude by giving everything I have every time I step in a ring, no matter where or for whom…”via Josh Alexander /Wrestling Headlines (Transcription)"

The making of an in-ring technician

He was trained by Johnny Devine and started his wrestling adventure wrestling on the Canadian independent circuit. His real name is Joshua Lemay and he hails from Bolton, Ontario.

What followed were stops at ROH, PWG, and so many other promotions. It was at the start of his career that he also often teamed with current AEW wrestler, Ethan Page.

But his career in the ring almost was cut short before it ever got properly underway, as he injured his neck severely in the ring with ReDRagon—a herniated disk that needed a C5-C6 vertebrae fusion—and a long road to recovery lay ahead of him at that time, but recover he did and the rest is history.

A reputation that’s starting to build even further

Brandi Rhodes mentioned him in a promo recently with Dan Lambert of America’s Top Team, and the reference perhaps was delivered in a sarcastic way, but regardless, the message was read loud and clear that he is definitely on the radar of AEW, which for any young talent is a positive thing overall.

Why he can lead and the main event on any platform

Perhaps it’s already all been said, really. What more can be said about a man that puts in the work in the gym, puts in the work every time he goes out there…has intense matches that are reminiscent not only of the aforementioned Kurt Angle but also of Chris Benoit and even Dean Malenko?

His matches are brutal in the sense that they are extremely physical and he pushes his opponents in a way that is often seen in Bryan Danielson matches. So I’d say it’s safe to assume that the other major promotions have their eyes on him, and if they don’t they’re insane.

Be sure to expect a debut from this guy down the line and hopefully one in AEW. He just needs to make the right choice when the time is right, just as he did when he decided to leave his day job behind.

What’s makes me hopeful for the future is the last part of his statement that he made a few months back when he left the construction business; the end of it hinting at quite the run maybe somewhere else down the line: “I’ll continue to show my gratitude by giving everything I have every time I step in a ring, no matter where or for whom….” We’re certainly looking forward to it, Josh. No matter where you end up wrestling…we’ll be watching.