Exclusive: Alan Angels discusses betting on himself, Prestige Wrestling and much more!

In June of 2022 you decided to leave AEW. As the cliche goes, you bet on yourself, and decide to carve your path. You’ve done that by signing with Impact as well as working some of the most dates on the Independents over the last 2 years. You just won the Prestige World Title, which is one of the most known and respected indies in the world. I just wanted to start off by getting your general thoughts on the risk you took, and rewards of your hard work. General retrospect looking back at the last 2 years?

It’s definitely a rewarding feeling. Kind of what I pictured for myself when I first started. Traveling every week “workin the territories” or whatever. As grateful as I am for AEW it’s easy to get complacent but on the indies you really have to work for your money. Which not only consists of making towns but also getting better and training and learning and growing as a wrestler and a character. Which overall makes it more rewarding in the long run. The Prestige title has been one of the biggest goals for me over the last year but it’s just the first of many titles I plan on winning.

When you were making your decision, was there anyone you went to for advice? Obviously Cody famously made that decision and everyone sort of did at the start of AEW.

QT Marshall of course who’s my trainer helped me out a lot and I also had a good conversation with Daniel Garcia who was a big name on the Indies before AEW. We mostly talked about what to do to stand out on the indies which is so full of young hungry talent. Always appreciated that convo

What’s your favorite match you’ve had in this time frame?

So many oh man. Majority of them with Prestige. My first match with Alex Shelley in the submission match. My Match with Chris Sabin. The Final of the Cascadia cup against Cody Chun.   The ghouls’ realm match against Sonico. Then outside of Prestige my match against Speedball at Emergence in TNA, both Ultimate X matches which was a dream to be in.

With Impact having a relationship with NJPW, and Prestige opening that as well, is there anyone over there you’re dreaming of facing? Is an overseas tour something you’re interested in?

There have been slight talks of going to Japan but very slight so I’m not even gonna speak on it but of course I would love to. As of now besides Canada I haven’t left the US so I’m itching to get out there. I love what NJPW is doing right now. Seems like they are in a rebuilding phase in the company and bringing in a lot of good young guys and signing them so I’m eager to get over there!

You mentioned guys like Cody Chhun and Sonico earlier; Sonico and Cody are two guys I personally would put up there with anyone else in the indies. As someone who is a West Coaster, not from the West Coast I just wanted to ask your thoughts on them and other guys that are mainstays over here. I feel like our area is a little more on an island in comparison to the East Coast and it just means guys are less talked about and have to rely a lot more on the sharing of clips and whatnot. Would you agree with that? Even with Prestige and West Coast Pro being two of the biggest indies, do you think mainstays on the West Coast deserve more recognition?

Yes of course! Guys like Sonico and Cody are amazing wrestlers. Judas Icarus and Travis Williams are two others that I can’t praise enough. I actually pitched them being in the noise with me cause I like them so much and they are getting more and more opportunities. The west coast has so much to offer and while it may seem isolated I think that it’s probably the best place to be for indie wrestling in America along with the Midwest.

When you look at the names on the indies, who is someone you’re keeping an eye on? Not necessarily a dream match but someone who’s career you’re following.

BK Westbrook and Adam Priest who are both really good Southeast guys are awesome. Calvin Tankman and Jordan Cruz are two awesome big men. C4 of course is a great tag team both Cody and Guillermo are great. And then of course Kevin Blackwood and Titus Alexander who’s probably the two best unsigned guys in America right now.

Speaking of someone who got signed!

Nick Wayne!

He debuts in AEW and immediately is interacting with two hall of famers in Sting and Adam Copeland, as well as learning under someone(Who should be) like in Christian . I just wanted your thoughts on what he’s been doing and being able to work with his mom on national television.

Him being able to work with his mom is incredible haha. I love it. I’m so happy for Nick. He’s another guy I had a really fun match with on Roseland a few years ago and in the Fatal Four Way with the machine guns a few months ago. So I’m super happy for him and I hope he continues to do great things in AEW.

With being the new Prestige champion, what are you going to do to stand out in the shadow of a huge run from Alex Shelley? What can we expect to see from you?

Not Wrestle. Shelley insisted on defending his title every chance he got. But me? I’m gonna make sure all the challengers for my title earn it. I’m not just throwing around title shots all willy nilly. And besides everyone knows the money in Alan Angels is me talking and entertaining and that’s why at Roseland 8 and I have the first ever live in ring edition of THE SOUND CHECK. And championship celebration like you’ve never seen before.

What do you want to leave fans with? Any messages or if you wanna plug anything!

I have a YouTube channel that I’m going to start posting on a lot more frequently soon so make sure to check that out. Besides that just thank you to everyone who follows cheers and especially boos. We love the boos