Wrestling star wanted to quit and ‘never be seen again’ after worst match

A top British wrestling star has recalled wanting to ‘never be seen again’ after a mortifying early match.

All Elite Wrestling standout Alex Windsor – who is engaged to former world champion Will Ospreay – started working for WWE’s rivals earlier this year, but she has admitted it wasn’t always plain sailing.

Speaking exclusively to Metro before Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite and Collision double-taping at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, she recalled her most embarrassing moment in wrestling.

Alex reflected on a moment in the UK independent scene around 2012 when she found herself in three matches on one show, without much time to plan them.

‘We kind of went into the [second] match being like, “I don’t really know what I’m doing, but f**k it. We’re here now. We haven’t got a choice,”‘ she said.

‘There was so many hiccups in the match, and I think there was one point I got winded so badly, and I just remember lying there thinking, like, “I’ve f**king had enough of this.” ‘

Alex can still recall thinking ‘this is terrible’ as she rolled out of the ring to recover.

‘There was a part of me that thought, “I just want to crawl behind the curtain and never be seen again,”‘ she added. ‘Obviously I carried on the match. That’s all I can remember. I must have just erased the rest of it from my memory.’

Alex trained with the Knight family, whose dynasty includes former WWE and AEW legend Paige, AKA Saraya, and she admitted it was a difficult experience at times.

‘It was tough, I won’t lie, but it’s part of who I am now,’ she said. ‘Everyone starts somewhere, and that’s where I started.’

The 32-year-old star had a unique introduction to wrestling, having got into it as a performer first, rather than growing up as a fan.

‘I never watched wrestling before I started. I knew who Hulk Hogan was, and that was it. I never used to watch it as a kid,’ she admitted. ‘It’s that weird mix between sports and drama, which I loved at school.’

Alex has gone from strength to strength, travelling to Japan to hone her craft, and signing a deal with AEW earlier this year, in time to wrestle at London’s O2 arena in August.

‘It was a dream come true,’ she beamed. ‘I feel like I have been thrown in at the deep end. But sometimes that’s better, because I’m learning everything as I go.’

Alex’s partner Will is one of AEW’s top names, but unfortunately as she was joining the company on the road, he had to step away in August to get neck surgery.

The decorated star told us at the time that he was ‘scared’ of the operation, but his fiancee has given a promising update.

‘Of course, it has been a struggle for him, but he’s doing so well. It’s no surprise, you know, but he’s absolutely smashing it,’ she smiled. ‘I personally [think] he’ll be back better than ever. I have no doubt about it in my mind.’

The couple are also excited about ‘actually going to work together every week’ and travelling together once he’s back on the road.

However, Alex admitted she gets more nervous watching Will wrestle than she does about her own safety in the ring.

‘I don’t feel like I have half as much like angst about myself as I do when I’m watching Will do his stuff,’ she laughed. ‘I can’t ask him to maybe do something a bit less crazy. I just have to say, “Well, I hope you’d be all right afterwards.”‘

Meanwhile, she is continuing to learn herself from the likes of Mercedes Mone, known to WWE fans as Sasha Banks.

‘You can tell how much she wants to help other people. I had the one singles match with her, and she took the time to just explain things in such a way, it made me feel like, “That makes so much sense,”‘ she said.

Despite some tribalism between fans, Alex agreed that there are ‘people everywhere that genuinely care about the business’, with WWE veteran Bayley recently giving women around the world the chance of a lifetime at her own seminar in Florida.

‘It just shows you that there is so much room for helping each other,’ she added.

After returning to Cardiff over the weekend, AEW will be in Manchester for the first time on December 17, and Alex has urged fans to get to the show for a mix of top talent and rising stars of the future.

‘You never want to miss an opportunity, you never know,’ she teased. ‘There’s so many opportunities that you don’t want to miss out on seeing live.’

Tickets are still available here for AEW Dynamite and Collision in Manchester.

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