Alex Hammerstone speaks on rejoining MLW in a new interview with Sean Ross Sapp.
Alex Hammerstone, who was once a cornerstone athlete in MLW, returned at MLW Battle Riot VII. After some time away as part of TNA Wrestling, Hammer is ready to get back to dominating in MLW.
During a recent interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Hammerstone discussed his tumultuous exit from MLW and his return as part of such a big match.
"The wrestling business is crazy because you see all this stuff like ‘never say never’ and you see people who you swear hate each other and then they're friends again. You see people who you swear will never work together, and they work together again," he began. "It's no secret that on my exit from the company we went through a bit of turmoil and it was extremely frustrating because I did feel that me and Court had built a certain level of relationship and I felt like it was falling apart. So not only was it like, ‘You're leaving your job,’ but for someone who's always almost become something of a father figure and like mentor in my life, it’s like, ‘He's gone too?’
"But we were able to work out that exit, and on the last shows there, we sat down and we had some serious moments together and kind of aired our grievances," he adds. "Got a chance to apologize for where we went wrong because no situation comes like that without both people making some mistakes, both sides making some mistakes, and I'm not ignorant to the fact that I made some. So then, over the next year, when I was away from the company, to have him go out of his way to maintain a relationship was awesome. Because there's obviously the cynics would say, ‘Oh, well, he was just doing that so he could get you back when the time was right.’ But really it just felt like keeping in touch with a friend. When I was out with injury, there's not a lot of people who really went out of their way, that I expected to that would reach out to me. But Court was checking in and just making sure I was in a good headspace. So it was really cool to kind of rebuild that relationship. So when the opportunity came of, ‘Would you be interested in doing some work together again? We would love to have you back.’ It was kind of a no-brainer."
Hammerstone also discussed the difficulty of working in the wrestling industry when surrounded by people who don't see your potential. He said that sometimes that mentality can bleed into your mindset.
"Yeah, 100%. That's something, like I've spoken of—the frustration I had over the last years, working with some people who, maybe, at times didn't see that. This is such a hard business that when you're surrounded by people who are basically saying like, ‘Hey, we don't see anything special in you.’ You stop seeing it in yourself and it's like, this isn't a job where you could come and clock in and just go through the motions. You have to be inspired. You have to be motivated. You have to be excited to put forth your best ideas, to put forth your best creativity, to work through the injuries, to work through the pain, to get up and do the things you gotta do day in and day out. So to get that back has really set me mentally on a really good path right now."
A hard-hitting showdown is set for MLW Azteca Lucha as Japanese legend Satoshi Kojima takes on powerhouse Alex Hammerstone. Streaming live on YouTube from a sold-out Cicero Stadium in Chicago on Saturday, May 10. Fightful will have full coverage of the event.
Check out the full interview embedded above.
