Alex Shelley wants to his IMPACT World Championship reign to be remembered among other great title reigns.
Shelley, who won the belt back at the Against All Odds show on June 9, is one of the busiest professional wrestlers in the entire world. Despite the fact that he's the top champion of IMPACT Wrestling, Shelley is still consistently wrestling for a number of independent promotions when he's not appearing for IMPACT.
While speaking to Sports Illustrated for a new interview, Shelley talked about how he wants to leave a mark on the professional wrestling industry, much like a number of legends before him have done.
“I think back to Ric Flair and Harley Race defending the belt in multiple cities in one night. Those guys didn’t take nights off. Kevin Nash is another one. That stretch he had as WWE champion was insane. He said something that always stuck with me when he said, ‘I could either sleep or I could work out.’ If you find a gym, you take it. CM Punk took care of me on the road 20 years ago. If he passed a gym, he worked out. That’s part of how he left his imprint on the business. They led by example, and that’s what I plan to do.”
Shelley went on to note that he likes the grind of the sport and that he finds joy in it.
“It’s taken me years and years and years to reach this point, but I’ve never lost sight of the fact that wrestling is what I love. I like the grind. I find joy in it. Doing this at a high level, there is nothing like it.”
Fans can see the lineup for the June 22 episode of IMPACT Wrestling by clicking here.
Fightful will have full coverage of Thursday's show beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
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