“Driving to the dormitory with him was very overwhelming as everything was perfect and all I ever wanted.”
When 26-year-old AJ Alexander broke into the pro wrestling business, he was barely out of high school and a textbook example of a dreamer that so many enthusiastic youngsters are when they get the chance to step into the ring as a professional wrestler. Similar to many of those same dreamers, he started out at the bottom of the ladder, wrestling on sparsely-attended cards in towns that most have never heard of on the dirt-stained canvases of the regional independent circuit. There was little to no pay, and late-night gas station food was sometimes his reward for an evening of bumps and bruisers.
Those nights when he unlaced his boots in dingy buildings, often where heat in the winter was optional, and air conditioning in the summer was virtually unheard of, weren’t exactly what his professional wrestling dreams were made of during his early youth.
However, there are those that allow themselves to dream, and then there are individuals with the motivation and the guts to chase it.
As someone that was inspirited by puroresu, or the Japanese version of professional wrestling, AJ quietly had tears in his eyes after he landed in Fukuoka in February of last year. When his feet touched Japanese soil, he was met by Ryota Chikuzen, longtime grappler and owner of Kyushu Pro, a group anchored by head trainer of their dojo, the legendary Yoshihiro Tajiri.
AJ cites Kenny Omega and the late Hana Kimura as a few of his inspirations that made him embrace the Japanese culture and style.
However, before he landed on the other side of the globe, his journey took him to the other side of the country when he traveled to California just for the opportunity to have a tryout with Pro Wrestling NOAH, the Japanese league originally founded by the late, legendary Mitsuharu Misawa. Alexander wasn’t chosen at that tryout, but he caught the eye of Gabe Sapolsky, a protege of Paul Heyman during the ECW days, and booker for Ring Of Honor during one of the league’s most successful eras. Sapolsky is currently a part of the WWE system as someone that discovers and cultivates talented prospects.
“As I failed to be the one picked then, I was able to meet Gabe Sapolsky who was and is currently back with the WWE. Through Gabe, I was able to become an extra for the WWE multiple times at which point, I made multiple connections there. One of the connections had overheard about my tryout for NOAH,” AJ explained.
He was told about Kyushu Pro and that Tajiri was accepting applications for those that wanted to learn the authentic Japanese style by training and living in Japan. By the end of 2023, he was set to not only spend six months training in Japan, but also get the chance to compete on Kyushu Pro events during a six-month stint in the country.
“I simply applied and was approved pretty quickly as they thought they could teach me the style much better. When I initially heard from Chikuzen-san and was accepted, I was shocked as all I ever wanted out of this crazy adventure was to wrestle in Japan,” Alexander commented.
Alexander soon found out just how serious this venture was and thus the expectations of his new trainers when they decided to invest their time and efforts into him in the dojo. The limited opportunities offered reflected that only those with true potential could make it through the training regiment. The no-nonsense approach was seven days a week, with little down time and a specific focus on improvement to all facets of the pro wrestling genre inside the ring ropes. Along with Tajiri, the team of trainers included, Genkai, Hitamaru Sasaki, Mentai Kid, and Naoki Sakurajima. Each week day, a different trainer would teach different aspects of the sport. Everything from grappling, submissions, weight training, ring psychology, and conditioning was a part of the training routine.
“Tuesdays with Tajiri-san was his famous body weight workouts that were truly brutal and the idea that people have about Japanese training. Sakurajima-san would put us through a grueling warm up and then teach us prolonged spots that had zero downtime in order to gain the stamina needed to be a pro wrestler,” AJ explained.
During the week, AJ finished those sessions exhausted and drenched in sweat, which led to him losing more than 40 LBS during his stay in Japan. On the weekends, he would be a part of live events in some form or fashion, giving him the true puroresu dojo experience.
“I think a lot of the lessons became muscle memory just from being there so long,” he commented.
“AJ Alexander has been doing great since coming into he wrestling business and I’ve seen him grow, but was soft. He came to me about the opportunity to work with Tajiri in Japan, and I told him if you don’t leave, you’ll never make it. If you don’t take chances, you’ll never make it. AJ went to Japan soft and came back with a sharp edge,” added Dean Radford, one of AJ’s original trainers of the American style in Pittsburgh, and one of the current co-head trainers of Ryse Wrestling’s Stronghold Academy.
He was undoubtedly living his dream and cites the surreal experience he had on a daily basis when he had the chance to experience the Japanese wrestling landscape first hand, but he admittedly had to adjust to his new surroundings and endure the reality of being thousands of miles away from home.
“Adjusting to the culture was extremely difficult and overwhelming at first. Being away from my wife and my dogs was the worse thing in the world,” AJ remarked.
However, as much as he got the chance to submerge himself into the fabric of the serious nature of Japanese professional wrestling, the level of courtesy that the country is often known for was also a critical experience for him, particularly as a foreigner.
“Everyone, and I mean everyone, is amazingly nice over there. Everyone was willing to help me navigate and learn as I went. They took me to places that I otherwise could have never seen. They treated me like one of their own from the very beginning,” AJ said.
He once again saw the contrast between home and the Japanese world of professional wrestling when he stepped into the ring for his debut match in the country. A native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, a town along the Ohio River with a population of just over 6,000,according to the most recent census, Alexander saw nearly the same amount in the crowd on some nights when working for Kyushu Pro. The atmosphere itself was a part of the learning experience for him.
“Wrestling in Japan is a whole other thing compared to the America. Crowds as large as 5,000 sit in absolute silence and just focus and enjoy the art of pro wrestling. They always applauded when it was time and boo right on time as well. I love Japanese wrestling even more after being there for 6 months,” AJ commented.
In August of last year, AJ boarded a plane back to the United States not just as a better wrestler, but also as someone that was accepted into the Japanese culture that he admired so much prior to his arrival there. When he returned to the Pittsburgh circuit, one of the places where he originally started, he knew he had to prove himself, both to apply the knowledge he gained under the tutelage of Tajiri and to progress his career among the evolving independent scene.
“Pittsburgh has definitely been a completely different experience since I’ve been back and I’m proud of what I have been able to accomplish,” he said.
“When he came back, he said to me ‘I understand what you are saying now about the respect of this business and how Japan can change you.’ I’ve become a huge mentor for AJ. among others like Quinn Magnum, and AJ has all the tools to be one of the best and earn a contract somewhere. I’m excited for his journey,” said Radford, who worked as an in-ring competitor for more than two decades before he shifted his focus to a trainer and organizer behind the scenes.
In the nearly six months since his return to the United States, AJ Alexander has asserted himself as a force within Pittsburgh pro wrestling, working an aggressive style and persona based on his excursion to Japan. He recently won the Ryse Ascension championship at the promotion’s eighth anniversary event in Uniontown, and has been in championship contention at the Renegade Wrestling Alliance, a blue collar league based in West Newton.
But, AJ wasn’t content with just reestablish himself in the region where he started, and has looked to expand him reach within the United States in his continuous pursuit to expand his pro wrestling education.
“I didn’t just return to Pittsburgh, I’m reaching as far as Chicago to New Jersey to North Carolina to Florida. I’m trying to become one of the talked about names on the east coast,” he said.
AJ might’ve broke into the sport when he was fresh out of high school, but he earned his master’s degree in mat mechanics in Fukuoka. AJ cites his time in the country as not only a career-changing, but a life-changing experience as he was a part of not only the Japanese culture, but a competitor within the world of puroresu that inspired him to chase the dream of being a professional wrestler in the first place.
“I definitely plan to return in May for another month and a half in Tokyo, I’m more than ready and excited,” AJ concluded.
For more infromation about AJ, you can go to www.facebook.com/aj.alexander.125
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
