On August 22, Independent show Black Wrestlers Matter took place from Franklin Jr. High Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa. Proceeds from the event went to Knowledge Is Power.
The show was headlined by ACH battling JDX, with ACH picking up the victory.
Speaking to Phil Lindsey of Daily DDT, JDX discussed what the event meant to him and others.
“To be honest, it was very different,” he said. “It’s like being in a locker room is always, you know, you always carry yourself a certain way, like, you’re respectful. You know, you pay your dues, and you do what’s right, and you shake hands, and kiss babies, and yada, yada, yada. It was just more so relaxed. You know what I mean, like, you can be yourself. Not that you can’t be when there’s a diverse locker room, but there is the extra sense of relaxation that goes into the knowing that you’re with everyone who shares the same cultural background if that makes sense. So, like, I think a lot of that may actually have to do for me personally, it might have a lot to do with, you know, the George Floyd thing, the Breonna Taylor thing. Everyone is speaking out and no longer are we like biting our tongues as African American athletes and just African Americans in general. I think it’s safe to say when I return to a ring or a locker room, I’ll be just as comfortable, but I know with this being my first show back in five months in the locker room it was an ultimate, like all time, high of comfortability and that was awesome.”
JDX noted that he was originally supposed to face Jon West, who organized the event, in the main event for the Black Wrestlers Matter Championship, but once ACH became available, the plan changed.
"It was humbling. Like, it was super humble and not only because like I’m a huge fan of ACH, but it’s like something that I never thought that would happen, you know what I mean? Especially on the indies. Like, I’m not going to sit here and lie like I never thought I would face ACH, but definitely not as soon and definitely not on the indies, you know what I mean? One of the stories I told back in my promo for the build-up or whatever I was saying like a year ago back in October or wherever it was, September, back when he was down at NXT. I was sitting alone like for extra work and he came up to me was like ‘yo you’re the only one sitting here. They got you sitting here all alone.’ He said something like ‘my brother’ or something like that. You know how we talk like we talk to one another and said, it was, something, basically, for the culture or whatever it was. To think full circle, like, now I’m headlining an event that’s for the culture, that’s Black Wrestlers Matter, that’s like a roster full of Black guys, against ACH. It was surreal. It was humbling like it just doesn’t get any more surreal," he said.
After the success of Black Wrestlers Matter, Black Wrestlers Matter 2 has already been confirmed for June 19, 2021. You can learn more about the event by clicking here.
You can also check out results from Black Wrestlers Matter by clicking here.
