After joining TNA Wrestling, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion, Cedric Alexander, has allied with The System and become the new X-Division Champion after unseating Leon Slater.
Soundsphere sat down with Cedric Alexander to discuss his new home, faction, and championship reign. More importantly, we discussed his upcoming title defence against several other wrestlers at Slammiversay in an Ultimate X match – which is arguably TNA’s signature match, for its signature championship.
Image credit: TNA Wrestling
Soundsphere: Why does Cedric Alexander need a faction, and why does he need The System?
Cedric Alexander: The System needed Cedric Alexander. Let’s put it this way: when it comes to factions, I make factions cool, right? The last faction I was part of? Gold everywhere. Everyone had gold. The current faction I’m part of? We’re currently in the process of getting everyone draped in gold. The common denominator is that once I join, everyone gets covered in gold.
Soundsphere: As you said recently on Impact, the X Division Championship is the signature championship of TNA. What did winning it mean to you?
Cedric Alexander: To me, the X-Division Championship means everything that wrestling is today. If you look back at the pioneers of the X-Division title, you’ve got your Samoa Joes, your Christopher Daniels, your AJ Styles, Amazing Red, the Motor City Machine Guns, all guys who solidified what it means to be X-Division. But look at what they’ve done. They’ve all molded wrestling to be the X Division, essentially. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Daniels, The Guns, everyone loves them as wrestlers and copies them. They’re their favourite wrestlers’ favourite wrestlers. You can’t tell me a single wrestler today who hasn’t been influenced in some fashion by either the X-Division or one of the men who pioneered what it means to be X-Division.
Soundsphere: I also think about how closely it’s associated with the Ultimate X match. The two almost go together, especially around Slammiversary time. What’s your take on Ultimate X as a whole?
Cedric Alexander: Man, it’s probably the most innovative match to come out in recent history, to be perfectly honest. To take something as simple as a ladder match and twist it in such a way that it’s not even a ladder match anymore. Everyone liked the King of the Mountain match, it’s the reverse ladder match, and that’s cool. But the concept of saying, “No, we’re going to forego ladders altogether and just hang two cables across the ring. Now you’ve got to climb up that and retrieve the belt,” wow. That’s a whole different level of athleticism. It goes from being about who can jump the highest or furthest to who has the ability to hold onto this cable while you’re sweating, jumping around, and beating the crap out of each other for 20 minutes to grab that belt and come down with it.
Image credit: TNA Wrestling
Soundsphere: As the reigning X-Division Champion heading into an Ultimate X match at Slammiversary, one of the biggest wrestling events of the summer, that must be ticking a few things off the bucket list?
Cedric Alexander: Oh yeah. Ultimate X is one of them. Defending the X-Division title in an Ultimate X match – absolutely. I don’t know who’s in the match yet or how many people there’ll be, but as long as I win, that’s all that matters.
Since the inception of the X Division, I’d say the X-Division Championship has been the signature championship in wrestling. There’s always someone trying to recreate something like the X-Division, but it’s its own special thing in TNA. It’s one of a kind. You can’t replicate it, you can’t duplicate it. It is what it is. There will never be another X-Division in the way this title has been represented. It’s the most influential division in wrestling. I think that’s a pretty fair assessment.
Soundsphere: You’ve been in multiple promotions and done well in every single one. What do you think when you see fans engaging in tribalism online?
Cedric Alexander: It makes me question whether you really love wrestling. I love wrestling in all its forms. I watch all the companies and all the talent. I have friends and close acquaintances throughout various promotions, so I keep an eye on everything. I would never say one company shouldn’t exist because of how I feel about it. Everyone deserves to work. Everyone deserves to find a place that makes them feel comfortable and works for them. TNA has been that place for me.
I don’t want TNA to go anywhere. I don’t want WWE to go anywhere. I don’t want AEW, AAA, or MLW to go anywhere because people need places to work and somewhere they can spread their wings. I’m just happy wrestling has so many places to do that.
When I see tribalism and people saying a company sucks because of this or that, I think: wrestling is thriving as a whole. There was a time, 15 or 20 years ago, when you only had WWE. Then TNA came along, then AEW, and companies like AAA gained more exposure. It’s all working together. If you love wrestling, you’ll watch everything. If you don’t like certain things, that’s fine, but there’s no reason to hate another person because they like what you don’t.
I remember when there was WCW, ECW, and WWE all at the same time, and we thought we were eating great then. Now we have those companies and then some. The accessibility of wrestling now means there’s wrestling every single day of the week. You’re always going to find something wrestling-related – something live, something new.
To me, that’s a wrestling boom. I don’t think it’s been this good in a long time. It can always be better, but it hasn’t been this good in a long time, and I’m proud to be part of a time when wrestling is booming.
Image credit: TNA Wrestling
Soundsphere: In the relatively short time you’ve been there, how has TNA been as a home to you?
Cedric Alexander: TNA has been a great home to me. I can’t put TNA over enough for reigniting my love for wrestling and making me feel comfortable in my own shoes again. I’ve said it numerous times: this is the most comfortable and natural I’ve felt in the ring in a long time.
I put having fun and enjoying myself in wrestling above all else. If I don’t enjoy this, I don’t want to do it. The joy I get from wrestling again in TNA just makes it worth doing. It’s hard to explain something you love so much. To make it as blunt as possible, wrestling saved my life in a lot of different ways. Without wrestling, I would not be here today. I would not be the human being I am right now. The fact that TNA has been able to give me that again is just freaking amazing.
Since coming to TNA, I’ve found my spot. I feel useful. There are things for me to do and ways I can help and grow, not just myself, but the business as well. I feel like I’m doing something instead of sitting idly by and watching the world pass me by. It’s something I wouldn’t change for the world.
Slammiversary will take place on June 28, 2026, at the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.