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08.30.05
PLUG!!!!
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| 07.26.04
Getting To Know Alex Price
by Samir
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Alex Price posing with his first ever championship belt.
The Quebec cruiserweight scene is jam-packed with young, talented lions who hunger for recognition. It was among such competition that Alex Price, one of nCw's most recent roster additions, has begun to stand out. Price is known for his lightning quick execution, his precision and the fact that everything he does has an uncanny crispness and beautiful form. Price is poised to get noticed in Montreal, barely a year after he debuted as a wrestler in nCw.
I sat down with Alex Price after an nCw show on July 17th for a brief interview. A tall, gangly kid who has barely turned 18, he carries his 5'10" frame with much more confidence than you'd expect for one who's only been an active wrestler for a year or so. In that time, Price has wrestled in nCw, IWS and CWA. It's the confidence of a wrestler who knows that the only thing standing between him and more success is time and a little bit of hard work. It strikes me that this confidence is what feeds the extremely cocky, spoiled brat that he plays when he wrestles in nCw.
Alex Price takes flight against Samson in an NCW match.
Price, real name Alexandre Gauthier, has been a life-long wrestling fan who lists his earliest inspirations as Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, and, he admits with a touch of embarrassment, The Ultimate Warrior. Price smiles at the thought, adding,"you know, when you're a kid!" as if to apologize. Price has just finished high school and is slated to study at Montreal's Ιcole du Show Business, in the production aspect of things. He grew up 10 minutes a way from the NDR center (nCw's home) in the city's Villeray district, and only discovered nCw when, one day, he and fellow childhood friend and backyard wrestling buddy Nick Blade walked by the NDR and saw a poster for a show.
He tells me that the match that he remembers from that fateful walk back in 1999 was a blow-off between two guys name Chakal and Piranha, who had teamed up for a long time as Access Denied, but had recently broken up. "It was amazing to see that kind of quality, we were both amazed," he remembers. Impressed by the fed, Nick Blade eventually began training with Marc Le Grizzly, and it wasn't long before Blade convinced Alex Price to come to the training as well.
"It was tough... you could say almost inhuman. Sometimes, the training would last an entire week-end. Marc used to make us bump so much, but it the end, I think it was a good thing he pushed us to the max. You can see guys like Chase, Chakal, everyone from his school is a great bumper, and that's important." Price, of course, not only survived the Grizzly's rigorous training, but he exceled in it. 1999 was a long time ago, and in that time, Chakal has won the nCw title 4 times, Piranha has won it 7 times and also changed his name to Chase Ironside, and both Alex Price and Nick Blade have begun wrestling full-time. "Marc wouldn't allow us to debut until he was sure everything we did was perfect."
Before Alex Price the wrestler, came Alex Price the referee.
Price's first match was actually in the now-defunct NEW, a place where many of nCw's newest lions enjoyed at least a cup of coffee. He remembers Marc taking him there so he could get used to being in front of a crowd before starting up in nCw. It was in NEW that Price met another one of his friends, Don Paysan, who followed Grizzly back to nCw and began training there. Seems a long way for the guy from Villeray, who has now put nCw's cruiserweight title on his "Been there, done that" list and is well on his way to being an nCw stand-out. From Warrior and Hogan, Price says his latest inspirations are AJ Styles and Rey Mysterio.
If wrestling doesn't work out, Alexandre Gauthier wants to have a career in show business, in production most likely. But he plans to keep working at it, and hopefully get noticed so he can ply his trade in the Indies. "I just want to have fun doing what I love," he throws in.
Alex Price getting some oxygen after a demanding performance.
WORD ASSOCIATION WITH ALEX PRICE
Don Paysan: "Great performer. One of the guys I have the best chemistry with."
IWS: "Great promotion, but some of the guys there are over-rated." (What did I say about cocky?)
Anna Minoushka: "She's always improving."
Marc Le Grizzly: "Not enough ways to say thanks to that man. Even though he thinks his time has passed, he's a great wrestler and will always be one of the top guys in Quebec."
RoH: "The greatest indy fed in the world."
Beef Wellington: "Awesome entertainer, and when he gets serious, a good wrestler also."
CWA: "Nice promotion. By adding some cruiserweights to their shows, they're getting a good mix of big and little guys now."
Dru Onyx: "He's a nice guy. I wish I could work with him. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of Son of Abdullah, though."
Christopher Wells: "He's an MWF original and actually a pretty talented worker."
NCW: "The most professional fed in Quebec. I'm not saying this because I wrestle here, I've seen a lot of other feds and I really believe nCw is the most professional."
514Wrestling.com: "Thank God you guys came on the net."
Special thanks to Nova Cain & NCW for the pictures. |
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