Alex Cooper, aka Alexxis, ‘takes inspiration from Disney villains’ [PROGRESS]

ALL hail the Iron Queen, the Wicked Bitch of Wrestling, reigning women’s champion Alexxis Falcon.

She clinched her victory at the Electric Ballroom, the Camden Town venue perhaps better normally known for a famous music gig stage.

Defeated was the Beast of the East End, Rayne Leverkusen.

She has defended it twice more since, including by turning on her best friend, Rhio, in the ring.

“Jeremy Kyle needs to get involved, basically, is the level of drama we’re at there,” the champion told the New Journal ahead of her return to the same venue for a tournament next month.

A combination of sport and theatre, professional wrestling features dramatic storylines that unfold via choreographed combat between larger-than-life characters.

Outside the ring, Alexxis Falcon is 28-year-old Alex Cooper, whose love of wrestling began when she was a child in Hull.

She said: “We used to go round to my grandad’s every Sunday for tea and he would show me wrestling. My mum would be like, ‘don’t show her that’, but I got really into it and became obsessed with all the characters.”

At that point, women’s wrestling was highly sexualised – mostly “bra and panty” matches – but by the time Ms Cooper was at university in Liverpool, it was being taken more seriously.

She found a wrestling school and never looked back.

While WWE is the world’s biggest wrestling “promotion” – akin to the Marvel Studios of cinema – Alexxis Falcon is the women’s champion of PROGRESS, a British company comparable to the indie film scene, where fans are diehard, action is authentic and performers build their reputations.

Ms Cooper added: “When I was watching wrestling as a kid, I’d watch the guys and think, ‘I want to do what they do’. Now, it’s the realisation that the dreams I had of being a wrestler no longer have any limitations on them.

“The fans definitely want it as well – they are so loud for the women, they get so behind the women, and they’re very vocal online it’s really nice to see. It shows we’re doing something right here.”

Learning how to floor your opponent is only part of what you need to succeed in the ring, Ms Cooper explained – and the theatrical side of pro wrestling is something that can’t be so easily taught.

“It’s not easy learning to wrestle, but it’s even harder teaching someone how to have charisma, especially if it’s not something natural to them. Your character is up to you and it comes with time.

“I didn’t start to sit with who I was as a character until maybe three years ago, and she has evolved quite a lot – she started out as a generic rock chick, but it wasn’t really me. I love Disney and I wanted to lean into my Disney side – outside of wrestling I do Disney vlogs and TikToks – so I did a storyline where someone exposed that, so I can use it longer-term.

“I take a lot of inspiration from Disney villains – the Queen of Hearts, Cruella de Vil. It’s fun to bring something I really love into wrestling.”

And although wrestling’s storylines are pre-determined, Ms Cooper doesn’t yet know what’s next for Alexxis Falcon, who has always been one of wrestling’s “faces” (the good guys) rather than a “heel” (baddies) – at least until now.

“I feel like I run the division, and I feel like it was a long time coming,” she added – with a hint of Alexxis Falcon’s new-found villainy.

The next PROGRESS wrestling tournament will be at the Electric Ballroom over the May bank holiday.