Josh Alexander

Joshua Lemay (born May 29, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under the ring name Josh Alexander. He is a two-time TNA World Champion, with his second reign being the longest reign in the company's history at 335 days, and a one-time TNA X Division Champion.

A tag-team specialist, Alexander is also a two-time Impact World Tag Team Champion with Ethan Page as The North, with their first reign being the longest reign in the company's history at 380 days, as well as a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion with Page as Monster Mafia. He has also held the AAW Heavyweight Championship once.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2005–present)

Josh Alexander was trained to wrestle by Johnny Devine. He debuted in 2005. He then started his career on the regional Canadian independent circuit. He met fellow wrestler Ethan Page in the Alpha-1 promotion in Ontario in 2010, where the two became close friends. A year later, they formed the tag team Monster Mafia where they wrestled for various promotions including Ring of Honor (ROH) and AAW Wrestling. In 2013 he suffered a neck injury during an AAW match. After taking time off to heal, he returned to action. A few months after, he reinjured his neck during a ROH tryout match with ReDRagon. He had herniated a disk so he would have his C5–C6 vertebrae fused to fix the injury.

However, he did not take time off during this time and kept the injury a secret, not wanting to squander the opportunity to work with ROH. In February 2015, Monster Mafia debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG), facing The Young Bucks in their first match. He injured his neck again in a match with Matt Sydal and Chris Sabin. Alexander again worked through it, with he and Page participating in the annual Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament in May. They won the PWG World Tag Team Championship in the first round match with Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae. The reign was short-lived, as they lost it later that night. Alexander had neck surgery in July 2015, and he retired from wrestling.

After he and Page went their separate ways, he wrestled for Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), Progress Wrestling, and Beyond Wrestling, among other promotions.

Impact Wrestling/Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

The North (2019–2021)

Alexander began appearing in Impact Wrestling in 2018 by making appearances on Xplosion as an enhancement talent against the likes of Killer Kross and Matt Sydal. In February 2019, Alexander signed a three-year contract with the promotion. Impact Wrestling subsequently hyped Alexander's debut with an online documentary made by Toronto-based filmmaker Glen Matthews. Alexander reformed with Ethan Page under the name The North, as they defeated El Reverso and Sheldon Jean on the April 12 episode of Impact! while subsequently establishing himself as a heel. North teamed up with Moose to defeat The Rascalz in a six-man tag team match at Rebellion, marking Alexander's pay-per-view debut in Impact.

On the June 14 episode of Impact!, North defeated Rob Van Dam and Sabu to earn a title shot against The Latin American Xchange (Santana and Ortiz) for the World Tag Team Championship at the Bash at the Brewery event on July 5. North defeated LAX at the event to win the titles for the first time. North retained the titles against LAX and The Rascalz in a three-way match at Slammiversary in their first title defense. North went on to retain the titles throughout the rest of the year against Reno Scum and the team of Rich Swann and Willie Mack at Unbreakable, the team of Swann and Mack and the team of Rob Van Dam and Rhino at Bound for Glory and Swann and Mack at Turning Point. They became the longest-reigning World Tag Team Champions as they retained the titles in 2020 against Willie Mack in a handicap match at Hard To Kill, The Rascalz at Sacrifice and the team of Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan at Slammiversary until they lost it against The Motor City Machine Guns on the July 21 episode of Impact!.

The North unsuccessfully challenged Motor City Machine Guns in a rematch for the World Tag Team Championship at Emergence but regained the titles at Bound for Glory, before lost it a few weeks later to The Good Brothers at Turning Point. Then, Alexander and Page started a storyline where they did not work well together, leading to Page's departure from Impact.

X Division Champion (2021–2022)

Following the departure of Ethan Page, Alexander returned to singles competition. He faced Brian Myers at the Hard To Kill pre-show in a losing effort. On the January 19 episode of Impact!, Alexander turned face when he confronted Ace Austin backstage. He was subsequently assaulted by Austin and Madman Fulton until new signee Matt Cardona came to even the odds. This culminated in a tag team match the following week, where Alexander and Cardona emerged victorious.

At No Surrender, Alexander won a Triple Threat Revolver match to be the number one contender to the Impact X Division Championship, where he lost against TJP on the February 16 episode of Impact!. At Rebellion, he defeated Ace Austin and TJP to win the X Division Championship for the first time. On the April 29 episode of Impact!, Alexander made his first successful title defense against Austin. At Under Siege on May 15, he had another successful title defense against New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) talent El Phantasmo. On June 3, Alexander defended the title against TJP in Impact's first-ever 60-minute Iron man match, winning 2–1 in sudden death overtime. At Slammiversary on July 17, Alexander successfully retained his X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match against Austin, Chris Bey, Petey Williams, Rohit Raju, and Trey Miguel. Alexander then retained his title against Black Taurus at Homecoming, against Jake Something at Emergence, and against Chris Sabin at Victory Road.

Later that night at Victory Road, Alexander confronted Impact World Champion Christian Cage (who had retained his title moments before against Ace Austin), invoking Option C to relinquish his X Division Championship for a World Championship match in the main event of Bound for Glory. At Bound for Glory on October 23, Alexander defeated Cage to win the Impact World Championship. However, while celebrating with his family, he lost the title to Moose, who cashed in his Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy. At Turning Point, Alexander called out Moose but was instead attacked by the debuting Jonah. At Hard To Kill, Alexander defeated Jonah. On February 14, 2022, Alexander announced that his contract with Impact Wrestling and US work visa had expired; an angle was done to write him off television during the February 10 episode of Impact, where Impact president Scott D'Amore "sent him home".

Longest-reigning Impact World Champion (2022–2023)

At Sacrifice on March 5, Alexander made his return, attacking Impact World Champion Moose after his match against Heath. Alexander revealed that he signed a new multi-year contract with Impact Wrestling, while also challenging Moose for the Impact World Championship in the main event of Rebellion. At Rebellion, Alexander defeated Moose in the main event to capture the Impact World Championship for a second time. At Under Siege on May 7, Alexander made his first successful title defense against NJPW talent Tomohiro Ishii. At Slammiversary on June 19, he had another successful title defense against Eric Young. He successfully defended his world title against Joe Doering at Against All Odds, ending Doering's undefeated streak in Impact Wrestling.

On July 31, at Ric Flair's Last Match event, Alexander defended the title against Major League Wrestling (MLW) talent Jacob Fatu, but it ended in a no contest due to interference from Brian Myers, Matt Cardona and Mark Sterling. On August 12, at Emergence, Alexander successfully defended the world title against Alex Shelley. On September 23, at Victory Road, he teamed with Heath and Rich Swann to face Honor No More (Eddie Edwards, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett) in a six-man tag team match, suffering his first pinfall loss in nearly a year. At Bound for Glory, Alexander made another successful title defense against Edwards, before being confronted by Call Your Shot Gauntlet winner Bully Ray. On November 18, at Over Drive, Alexander retained his title against Frankie Kazarian. On the December 8 episode of Impact!, Alexander fought Mike Bailey for nearly an hour to successfully defend his title, garnering positive reviews from critics.

Alexander was a traveling champion, defending the title outside of Impact and internationally against opponents like Jacob Fatu (at Ric Flair's Last Match), Kez Evans, Kevin Blackwood and MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone (in a title-for-title match).

On January 4, 2023, Alexander surpassed Bobby Roode's reign of 256 days, thus becoming the longest-reigning Impact World Champion. Nine days later, at Hard To Kill, Alexander defeated Call Your Shot Gauntlet winner Bully Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match to retain the title. On February 24, at No Surrender, Alexander defeated Rich Swann to retain the title. He would make another successful title defense against KENTA on the March 30 tapings of Impact. On March 24, it was announced that Alexander has relinquished the title due to him suffering a triceps tear, ending his second and record-setting reign at 335 days, with the segment airing on the April 9 tapings of Impact.

Various feuds (2023–present)

Alexander made his return from injury at Slammiversary, confronting Impact World Champion Alex Shelley. He had his first match since injury at Multiverse United 2, where he teamed up with the DKC, El Phantasmo, PCO, and Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) in a 12-Man tag-team match. He returned to action at Emergence, teaming up with Time Machine (Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley and Kushida) in an eight-man tag team match against Brian Myers, Lio Rush, Bully Ray, and Moose, which they lost when Steve Maclin, who also made his return from injury, interfered in the match by attacking Alexander. This sparked a brief feud between Alexander and Maclin that culminated at Victory Road, where Alexander defeated Maclin. Ever since then, he has been in a program with Alex Shelley, who he has been targeting to regain the Impact World Championship.

On October 21 at Bound for Glory, Alexander was unsuccessfully at winning the Impact World Championship against Shelley. On the November 16, 2023 episode of Impact!, Alexander was defeated by Will Ospreay. On January 13, 2024 at Hard To Kill, Alexander defeated Alex Hammerstone. On the January 18 edition of TNA Wrestling, Alexander defeated Will Ospreay in a rematch. The match received a 5.5 star rating from Dave Meltzer, making it the first five star match in Alexander's career. On February 20, it was announced that TNA Wrestling has extended Alexander's contact with the company. On February 23 at No Surrender, Alexander defeated Simon Gotch. On March 8 at Sacrifice, Alexander was defeated Hammerstone in the rematch. On April 20 at Rebellion, Alexander defeated Hammerstone in their third match, which was a Last Man Standing match. On May 3 at Under Siege, Alexander and Eric Young defeated Steve Maclin and Frankie Kazarian.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2021, 2023)

Alexander made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling on the June 18, 2021, episode of NJPW Strong and defeated Alex Coughlin. On February 18, 2023, at Battle in the Valley, Alexander teamed with Máscara Dorada, Adrian Quest and Rocky Romero for an eight-man tag team match against Kushida, Volador Jr., Kevin Knight and The DKC in a losing effort. At Destruction In Ryōgoku, Alexander and the Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

Personal life

Lemay has been married to fellow professional wrestler Jade Chung since 2016. Together they have two sons. In addition to his wrestling career, Lemay worked as a construction insulator until September 1, 2021.

Lemay revealed on Twitter in May 2021 that he wears amateur wrestling–styled headgear after developing a serious case of cauliflower ear in 2013 that resulted in the temporary amputation of his left ear to remove scar tissue; he wore the headgear to protect the ear after it was reattached. Although Lemay does not need the headgear now, he has continued to wear it.

Championships and accomplishments

• AAW Wrestling
  • AAW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • Jim Lynam Memorial Tournament (2019)
• Absolute Intense Wrestling
  • AIW Absolute Championship (1 time)
  • JT Lightning Invitational Tournament (2016)
• Alpha-1 Wrestling
  • A1 Alpha Male Championship (4 times)
  • A1 Zero Gravity Championship (1 time)
  • A1 Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tyson Dux and Gavin Quinn (1) and Ethan Page (1)
  • King Of Hearts (2018)
• Capital City Championship Combat
  • C4 Championship (1 time)
  • C4 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rahim Ali
• Collective League Of Adrenaline Strength And Honor
  • CLASH Championship (1 time)
• Cross Body Pro Wrestling Academy
  • CBPW Championship (2 times)
• Deathproof Fight Club
  • DFC Championship (1 time)
• Destiny World Wrestling
  • DWW Championship (1 time, current)
  • DWW Interim Championship (1 time)
• Fringe Pro Wrestling
  • FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
• Great Canadian Wrestling
  • GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tyler Tirva
• Impact Wrestling
  • Impact World Championship (2 times)
  • Impact X Division Championship (1 time)
  • Impact World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ethan Page
  • Ninth Triple Crown Champion
  • Impact Year End Awards (7 times)
    • Tag Team of the Year (2019, 2020) – with Ethan Page
    • Male Wrestler of the Year (2021, 2022)
    • Men's Match of the Year (2021) – vs. TJP on June 3 at BTI
    • Match of the Year (2022) – vs. Mike Bailey on Impact! on December 8
    • Moment of the Year (2022) Defeating Moose to win the Impact World Championship at Rebellion
• Insane Wrestling League
  • IWL Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
• International Wrestling Cartel
  • IWC Super Indy Championship (2 times)
  • IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
  • Super Indy 15
• New School Wrestling
  • NSW Heavyweight Championship (2 time)
  • NSW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
  • NSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Brown
• No Limits Wrestling
  • NLW Strong Style Championship (1 time)
  • Steel City Strong Style Tournament (2018)
• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
  • PWG World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 9 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023
  • Ranked No. 4 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with Ethan Page
• Pro Wrestling Ontario
  • PWO Trios Championship (1 time) – with Scotty O'Shea and Steve Brown
• Pure Wrestling Association
  • PWA Elite Championship (1 time)
  • PWA Pure Violence Championship (1 time)
  • PWA Niagara Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Reese Runnels
• Sports Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 9 of the top 10 wrestlers in 2021
• Squared Circle Wrestling
  • SCW Premier Championship (2 times)
• Steel City Pro Wrestling
  • SCPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
• The Wrestling Revolver
  • PWR Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ethan Page
• Union Of Independent Professional Wrestlers
  • UNION Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Unlimited Wrestling
  • Unlimited Wrestling Championship (1 time)

References

External links

• Josh Alexander profile at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
• Josh Alexander's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database
• Josh Alexander on Twitter
• Joshua Lemay at IMDb