Josh Alexander appreciates the record he just set, but he also knows he can’t rest on his laurels just yet.
WrestleZone spoke with IMPACT Wrestling World Champion Josh Alexander, who is now the longest-reigning IMPACT World Champion ever. Alexander reached that milestone on January 4, surpassing Bobby Roode’s record that stood for 11 years. Asked how it feels to be in the record books for this distinction, Alexander explained that it’s a surreal experience.
“On one end of the spectrum, I try to put myself in the shoes of me as a 12-year-old wrestling fan watching TNA for the very first time. And for that, it’s completely surreal. I have eclipsed the names of Bobby Roode, Sting, AJ Styles, — all these people that you know motivated me and inspired me to be a professional wrestler in the first place. To be sitting here now as the longest-reigning IMPACT World champion, it’s completely insane to me because I try to think about what that 12-year-old kid would feel. But on the other end,” Alexander explained, “I’m immensely proud of myself for these rare occasions where stuff like this does happen because there’s a ton of hard work that goes into getting to where I am right now. Every once in a while, I’ve got to stop and pat myself on the back or smell the roses or whatever you want to say, and just say that all that hard work kind of paid off. Then, you’ve got to remind yourself that it’s not over yet. You’ve got to keep pushing. So the hard work is just continuing.”
Alexander gets to share his accomplishments with his family, including his four-year-old son, Jett. Asked about having the father-son relationship be another dynamic to enjoy, Alexander said it’s something that just makes him appreciate the accomplishments even more.
“It’s definitely, the words not maybe humbling, but it’s something that definitely keeps me grounded. Seeing how much he loves it and enjoys it and it helps me love and enjoy it a little bit more,” he noted, “and takes me out of the just the business day-to-day grind of this is what I am, this is what I do and stuff like that. Both him and my wife actually keep me grounded in that same way and make me appreciate these things that much more.”
Alexander has the rare honor of being IMPACT’s longest-reigning world champion, and its shortest. His first reign lasted a few minutes before Moose beat him at Bound For Glory in 2021, but Alexander says he feels much better about the latter now that he has the second reign.
“I feel much better about it now than I have the longest reigning title reign under my belt as well. But if we left it at the shortest,” he noted, “it’s definitely not the best reason to be in the history books forever, but in the history books, nonetheless. It definitely makes it that much sweeter now being longest reigning, knowing that I’ve kind of had the redemption story from that short reign.”
Josh Alexander will defend his title against Bully Ray at IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view on Friday, January 13. Check out our full video interview with Josh Alexander at the top of this post, including what record he’d like to reach next, what he wants fans to take away from Full Metal Mayhem and more.
