Josh Alexander re-signed with Impact Wrestling earlier this year, just a month or so before winning the title from Moose at the Rebellion pay-per-view. Impact signed Alexander to a multi-year contract.
Alexander recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet for his “INSIGHT” podcast and discussed why he didn’t sign with AEW, confirming that an offer was on the table prior to his decision to stay with Impact earlier this year.
“It was definitely on the table and it was definitely a thought and all this other stuff,” Alexander said of possibly signing with AEW earlier this year. “But I wouldn’t say it was too close, because with all the stuff that had been happening and Impact I really felt like [I should stay].”
Alexander went on to explain why he felt he was better off in Impact, mentioning how he noticed a lack of opportunities for most of the talents in AEW.
“And like also happening in AEW, with me watching every week, I still watch everything to this day. But I just like for me as a pro wrestler, my fulfillment of what I do is to go out there and wrestle and show what I can do,” he said. “I think my benefit is bell to bell, that is where I will gain notoriety, that is where I will show my worth in the pro wrestling scene. And at the time watching AEW, it didn’t look like a lot of people were getting opportunities to do that stuff outside of like the top 20 people that were on the roster, you’d see people shuffle in and out and shuffle in and out it out there. They get their runs for a few weeks, and they go back to shorter matches on AEW Dark and it was just Impact has been so good to me.”
Alexander then discussed how helpful Impact has been to him.
“They were the first company that gave me an opportunity and got me that visa, did this stuff and like it’s all been roses since I got there, man,” he said. “I won the tag belts three months after I signed and got there. And I had the longest running tag team championship run, you know, and then as soon as Ethan [Page] left, everything’s like going through your mind. And I was stressing out being like man, I hope I don’t sit on the bench and just have to watch the shows until they figure out what they’re gonna do with me. And immediately, I got an opportunity in the X-Division. And you know, that happened and was awesome and all this other stuff. It was just opportunity after opportunity. I think all you can ask for as a wrestler is for an opportunity to show what you can do. Give me the ball and if I drop it, that’s fine. But you know, they’ve given me the ball a ton of times, and I don’t think I’ve dropped it yet. So, I’m just gonna ride this out and see how it goes.”
Alexander is set to defend the Impact World Title against Impact Hall of Famer Bully Ray on Friday, January 13 at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view.
The following is the complete interview with Alexander:
