Alex Shelley is the IMPACT World Champion for the first time and he’s ready to finally take the moment in.
The Champ spoke with Sports Illustrated about this monumental achievement, as well as some other topics regarding his 20-plus pro wrestling career. Shelley begins by commenting on how being able to wrestle for a living is a gift, not an obligation, and he plans on staying on top of the tools that got him there like keeping his body physically healthy.
This is a gift. It’s not an obligation. It’s something I am lucky to do. If you want to be champion of a major promotion, you need to outwork everyone. That’s what I want; so I’m grinding.
He adds that it has taken him nearly two decades to reach the top of the IMPACT mountain, but that he never lost sight of how much he loves the industry.
It’s taken me years and years and years to reach this point, but I’ve never lost sight of the fact that wrestling is what I love. I like the grind. I find joy in it. Doing this at a high level, there is nothing like it.
Shifting subjects, Shelley looks back on his match against Steve Maclin at Against All Odds, the event where he became world champion. He says that the moment he walked into the building he knew that it was his time.
When I walked in, everything slowed down and became fluid. That reminded me it was my moment. It was my match and no one was going to take that away from me. I wasn’t going to believe anything until it happened, so it was surreal for me even as it was happening.
Shelley feels like he was preparing his whole life for the moment, and says that the second he locked eyes with Maclin he felt a shockwave of confidence.
The bell rings, me and Maclin lock eyes, and that’s when I knew, ‘I’ve got this.’ I’ve been doing this for two decades. I’ve been doing 30-minute matches every weekend for almost two years, and about a year and half of that was while I was working full time in physical therapy. There was no doubt. So as soon as I walked in the ring, I felt at home.
Beloved by many, Shelley reveals that he received a plethora of messages after capturing the IMPACT world championship, adding that he made sure to respond to every single one of them.
I was very grateful that people watched the match and shared the moment with me. I’ve heard from a lot of people I was close with over the past 20 years. People from all over, including WWE and Japan and AEW. I didn’t even recognize some of the numbers at first. It was mind-blowing, it meant the world to me and I responded to every single one of those texts.
He ends his interview by promising to continue giving everything he’s got.
This isn’t about what happened before. It’s all about what’s happening in the moment. What I have is now, and I’m going to do my best with everything I’ve got.
Shelley will next defend the title against Brian Myers at IMPACT’s upcoming Summer Sizzle event in Atlanta.