Get inside the mind of a young independent professional wrestler
By: Austin Gonzales
Imagine back to when you were younger, watching TV so closely because your hero was on screen. A figure you admired so much that it influenced your interests for a lifetime. For pro-wrestler Alex Little, that hero was Kurt Angle in the extravagant world of professional wrestling. Mid-Michigan’s Finest this month takes a look at a Bay City local who took his childhood dreams and transformed them into his modern day wrestling personas.
Alex Little grew up fond of professional wrestling on TV. In recent years, wrestling has experienced a wave of smaller-in-size talent blowing up in star power in what was once an industry dominated by giants. Little talks about wrestlers like Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa inspiring him to get into the business today.
“The smaller guys weren’t big in physicality but are big in character, big in emotion, big in storytelling,” Little says.
While Little does look to Gargano and Ciampa for influence, he felt truly inspired calling back upon Olympic gold medalist and former WWE Champion, Kurt Angle. Little got inspired to create his Gazelle wrestling persona character because of Kurt Angle’s comedy antics.
“At first The Gazelle was always someone who would fight for the people, people who can’t fight for themselves. But as the time went on, I felt the character didn’t fit me,” Little says. “So I made it in my own way of being goofy and being somebody who could wrestle at the same time.”
Alex Little developed many of his skills and honed his craft with Ultimate Championship Wrestling (UCW) Academy in Michigan. With UCW, Little trained under WWE alumni, Brooklyn Brawler and former TNA Impact X-Division Champion, Rohit Raju. Under the training of two internationally experienced wrestling stars, Little would begin crafting both his move-set and his character and presentation skills. From there, it would not take long for Little to make his in-ring debut.
“Going into this match, I have a year of experience in training. [I am] about to have my first match not only in front of my trainer, but my family as well,” Little says when speaking to the Collegiate, the following Wednesday after Surprise Party. “I about cried before I went out, but as soon as I did, all the emotions went away. I haven’t looked back since.”
Wrestling has taken Little all over the Big Mitten State, getting to wrestle in cities like Battle Creek, Bay City, Saginaw, Flint, Kalkaska, Waterford and Grand Rapids. Little built his wrestling resume working with the best Michigan promotions such as Mr. Chainsaw Pro Wrestling, Ultimate Championship Wrestling, Lethal Lucha, Metro Pro Wrestling, Capital Pro Wrestling and New Edge Pro Wrestling.
“I live for the excitement, for peoples reaction, people’s excitement, for what I did or somebody else in the ring. Just to see that, and entertain people, is what I live for,” Little says. “Anybody who wants to live out their dreams, just go for it because you’ll live the rest of your life regretting it if you don’t.”
