We've seen our share of second generation stars, and father/son duos in pro wrestling.
Rarely has a father/son combination been able to perform in an active, competitive tag team. The former Altar Boy Luke, Luke Hawx, has introduced his own boy to the wrestling world in PJ. After years of appearances in WWE, Wrestling Society X, and film, the duo will work NWA.
It's not just wrestling, PJ is following Luke's footsteps into acting, as well. Fightful was able to speak with both of them about the career altering moves they're making.
Fightful: Do you think it made it easier or more difficult, PJ being a second generation wrestler?
Luke Hawx: I think he gets a little bit of backlash from being my son. Of course, I got a reputation so they want to know if my son lives up to my reputation. He actually precedes it. He’s a very well accomplished amateur wrestler, which I never was. If you see him, you’ll see his attitude. We’re similar, alike in a lot of ways, but we’re also different in [many ways]. As far as wrestling goes, it’s cool for him to have the name and I get to guide him. I don’t want to force him to do anything, ‘cause I want him to learn and I want him to make his own mistakes and teach him along the way, but I get to guide him.
PJ Hawx: I’d say both, but more and more, anything that helps. I’m my own man. I’m not Luke, I’m PJ. So, I do what I do in the ring and I do it well. But, at the same time I’ve got a good coach. He’s built up a name for himself. It’s cool to live up to that family legacy, so to speak, and build that myself. Like I said, I’m just learning from him. It’s a great experience for me. I have my own style. I come in there, I take people down—I pin ‘em up, tie ‘em up. It’s a lot different than brawling or bashing.
Fightful: How do you two compare in the ring?
Luke Hawx: Our styles are different. You’ll see him, he’s more of a grappler and I’m more of a heavy hander.
PJ Hawx: We both kick ass.
Fightful: Will you pursue film like your father has?
PJ Hawx: Actually I have gotten into it. I started in about 2018, but I’ve been in about six films so far. I just did the Purge and this movie called Swing a few weeks ago before we came here. It’s great doing this, between this and college and school. It’s good to be able to do stunts and it’s another way to get into another business for me.
Luke Hawx: He actually debuted and his first film actually came out in theaters earlier this year. It was called Semper Fi.
Fightful: Did PJ always want to be involved in pro wrestling?
Luke Hawx: That was always him, yeah. He always wanted to be a pro wrestler, so I didn’t even push that on him. It was just something he had as a young child. Similar to me. As I said we’re similar in a lot of ways and different in a lot of ways. But, I knew early on that I wanted to be a pro wrestler and so did he.
PJ Hawx: Very much so. Once I got in the ring training came very naturally to me. I grew up around the business too. I’ve been around it since I was a baby. I’ve always watched it, but it’s very different between watching it and doing it. But, I picked up pretty quickly, so to speak. I wasn’t the toughest kid when I was younger so I knew that I needed to get tough to get into this business. I knew it wasn’t easy. I know him, what he had to go through, it was a lot. He had to go through a lot. He was very tough, he did a lot of death matches when he was younger. I just knew I couldn’t just be a little kid. So, I had to grow up. It made me grow up, physically and mentally. Especially up here [gesture to his head]. And that’s where it all takes. When I step in the ring I don’t care if a guy is bigger than me, stronger than me, faster than me. But, if you have a good mentality you can beat anybody. It’s the same thing on the mat. You gotta translate that to the ring.
You can see our full interview with PJ and Luke Hawkx at the top of the page. You can follow PJ on Twitter at this link, and Luke at this link. Note, this interview was conducted before PJ's viral mall jump.
