TNA: Marvel.com Interviews Alex Shelley

TNA Wrestling's Alex Shelley dropkicks Marvel.com about his in-ring exploits and secret desire to join the X-Men
By Arune Singh

Imagine you've traveled the world as a successful athlete, won multiple championships and get mobbed by legions of fans whenever you tour—what else could you want? Enter Alex Shelley, Total Non-Stop Action—TNA—wrestling superstar and comic book fan, who still wants one thing—to join the X-Men. For real. As one half of the Motor City Machine Guns, one of the world's most popular tag teams, Shelley has made a name for himself with his trademark wit and a highflying style that leaves everyone's jaws on the floor…including the ones he kicks down there. Marvel.com caught up with Shelley to learn all about the world of wrestling, his mutant aspirations and why he gets beat up for a living.

"When I was about 10 or so, X-Men was just starting to get mainstream big," Shelley explains. "Before that, my closest exposure was that sweet side-scrolling arcade game where you picked one of six characters—remember that? Anyways, it became a top cartoon for Fox, released their own toys, etc., etc. Up until this point in my life, pro football player was the chosen occupation, but I always figured it'd be tops to have some sorta powers. The powers never developed, but I did start watching wrestling. I don't remember how or why or when really, I just did. The first few guys I really freaked out over were Jushin Liger, Brian Pillman and Shawn Michaels. Those were the mainstream guys doing all sorts of athletic, high-impact moves and it blew my mind. I likened the two, wrestling and super heroes, just because of the above, in addition to the costumes, personas, adoration/disdain of the crowd and so forth. So there you have it."

When asked about his favorite comics, Shelley's reply should come as no response: "I only read the X-Men books. I dunno, I never got into solo heroes because I enjoyed the interaction between different personalities on a team. Plus, it's fairly obvious to see who the first few super heroes for Marvel were and who was created later, just in that the writers and creators themselves had to really think outside the box later on, because of what was already done in the early stages. I liked a lot of the popular characters like Gambit, Wolverine, Cable and what have you, but I dunno, I always dug Madrox a lot for some reason. And the Generation X kids."

Like many people of his generation, the 24-year-old fan-favorite wrestler found himself drifting out of comic books during the mid-'90s, only to return with a vengeance of late, thanks to the exciting developments in the X-universe such as the "Messiah CompleX" crossover currently making its way through all the X-books.

"It's weird, the more I got into wrestling, the less I got out of comics and mainstream sports," remembers Shelley. "I'm reading stuff again and I keep up on things a little bit, but I missed a lot. I stopped shortly after the 'Onslaught' saga, and just kinda now picked things up to see a lot of the characters are gone or de-powered or really fleshed out. In the end, it's cool, 'cos I'm coming across lots of new characters too."

To read the rest of the interview, visit the Marvel.com website!