Alexander Wolfe Talks WWE's Close Relationship To The Major UK Indies
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Axel Tischer, formerly known as Alexander Wolfe, sat down with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman. Tischer signed with WWE in 2015, just before the indie boom in the UK and in Europe. He commented on that fact.
"I missed a lot for sure, which is okay because I got the opportunity to work for WWE, and at that time it was, for me, a lottery win," Tischer described. "I got the contract. I signed it, no doubts, because for me it was something I never dreamed I could achieve. And also, I knew wXw would do better year after year after year.
"I was sure about it because everybody worked their ass off there, every talent, no matter what position, main event or undercard, even the young boys. Everybody was kind of keen on working for wXw, and everybody who worked for them, they worked hard to elevate that whole promotion."
WWE now has working relationships with the top indies in Europe, PROGRESS, ICW and wXw. Tischer gave his thoughts on the relationship.
"I think it's smart on both sides because you see the business aspect, of course, that's good for WWE because NXT is not the development brand it used to be. It's now the third brand," Tischer noted. "You have a whole card of amazing wrestlers [and] one of the best wrestlers in the world signed to that brand, which is not developmental at all, but also, you have a lot of new guys signed to that. They still train in the Performance Center, and also, it's all about the resource of having new talents because we're not get younger.
"We all get older, especially in the business of professional wrestling, you need to have a pool of talent, which you can shape and polish up to become the diamond you want to present on your show. So it's very smart for WWE to feel [things] out. 'Okay, this promotion is professional, let's work with them.' because wXw for example, you have WALTER, you have Aleister Black, you might not count it maybe but Claudio (Cesaro), for example. He was a big part of wXw before he moved to the States. He paid his dues as well. Marcel Barthel, formerly known as Axel Dieter Jr, myself so you have a handful of people already signed by WWE, and of course, they want to work together with the promotion they are associated with before they signed.
"A lot of people hate on that, and it's okay. I understand that. I think it's a smart business decision from the promotions. They have to agree on the deal, whatever they feel comfortable with, and everybody signs, so there is a business behind it as well. And I think especially a promotion like wXw, they have a profit from being on the WWE Network, getting more eyes internationally. Everybody knows, if they're familiar with the wrestling scene, about wXw. Everybody knows PROGRESS and ICW, but they probably made a good deal, and they get more exposure because nothing gets really bigger than the marketing of WWE."
Tischer then talked about his WWE departure. Hausman first asked if Tischer was still technically with WWE as they were speaking.
"Yes, I am," Tischer confirmed. "A lot of people told me in the past few days, 'One door closes, another will open,' and that's my attitude. I'm a positive guy, and I spoke in a lot of interviews before about the decision WWE made, and I'm not mad about it. I was a little bit flustered. It was a little bit sickening about the message because nobody wants to get released. I probably will find something new.
"Time will tell but I'm open for everything, and I know my value. I know my talent, and WWE knows that as well, but it seems the budget cuts, the business, the pandemic, it sucked. They didn't release me. In the end, I won't be there with the company anymore soon. They let my contract run out and will not renew it. That's the technical term. If you want to say I got released, I don't care in the end."
You can follow Axel on twitter @axeman3016. You can find the full audio and video from part one of Wolfe's interview below: