Former WWE star Alexander Wolfe (Axel Tischer) appeared on Chris Van Vliet’s INSIGHT podcast to talk about his wrestling career.
Wolfe talked about what is next after being released, being part of SAnitY, what he learned from Eric Young, thoughts on Nikki Cross becoming Nikki A.S.H., how he got discovered and got signed by WWE, the original gimmick that they had planned for him and more.
Here are some highlights:
Wolfe was asked how the NXT coaches influenced him
“Specifically for me, it’s not that I couldn’t do what I wanted to do, but sometimes somebody telling me not to do something because it’s not right or not good. But the good part is you never stop learning. When I watch back matches from 2015, I hate myself. You evolve as a performer and learn new techniques being around amazing coaches like Shawn Michaels, William Regal, Bobby Brookside, Fit Finlay, and Norman Smiley. Finlay is amazing. He is the guy to go to if you want to learn how to wrestle the proper way and learn the European style. Shawn teaches you the psychology and how to get people involved in the match, get it in the right order, and get the most out of the match. Being able to do that and not think about it too much. I’m forever grateful.”
Wolfe talking about losing his passion:
“Losing the passion is sometimes someone telling you something isn’t going to happen. But it’s not necessarily their fault. With Covid, they had big plans for everything, but then they had to switch plans. Right now we have to follow the protocols. If someone gets tested positive, then we can’t do the story. After 7 weeks, the story is not good anymore. It’s a passion killer but nobody’s fault.
What I think is their fault is making empty promises, especially during my time at SmackDown. They made a lot of unrealistic promises which never happened, but they always tried to keep you positive. In Germany, we have a very honest way of doing things. We don’t beat around the bush. But it was a case of someone saying, ‘I was in a meeting, and somebody in that meeting said that you were sh*t.’ Ok, now I have to follow the lead and best case, go to that guy. But they don’t want to be honest with you because it’s not professional. Also, things like, ‘Don’t worry, everything is fine.’ Like when we lost our debut match they said that and people will forget. But it’s the internet. No one forgets.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Also, be sure to subscribe to “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” on your mobile device by clicking here if you have an iOS device or here on your Android device.
