The X-Division Championship Has "Always Been" Cedric Alexander's Goal [Exclusive]

17-year wrestling veteran Cedric Alexander is more focused and passionate about professional wrestling than ever before.

When he was released from WWE in February 2025, Alexander landed in TNA later that summer, and he's had his foot on the gas pedal ever since.

His WWE tenure is most known for his stint in the Cruiserweight Classic and being part of the Hurt Business alongside Bobby Lashley, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin, who are all now part of AEW's Hurt Syndicate. Alexander was both a Cruiserweight and Raw Tag Team Champion in WWE, but he's taken this new chapter of his career with TNA to focus on new allies, new opportunities, and new gold.

One significant change in Alexander can be attributed to the company he keeps. In January, he shocked the TNA audience when he turned heel and joined The System, a faction featuring Eddie Edwards, Bear Bronson, and Brian Myers. Since then, Alexander has seen success for himself and his faction mates. Tonight, they'll all be competing for championships at TNA Rebellion in Cleveland.

The System kicks off #TNAiMPACT! @bearbronsonBC @CedricAlexander @TheEddieEdwards @Myers_Wrestling pic.twitter.com/E94KV9Pf6q
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 30, 2026

When asked about what being part of The System has meant to him, Cedric Alexander only had good things to say to The Takedown On SI about "going bad".

"It feels like home. Once you get a community in pro wrestling, you stick ten toes down in it...This different change with my match type and my personality not only gives me a longer clock for wrestling but brings out more of who I am as a person," he said.

"I think [amateur wrestling and jiu jitsu] has really helped me evolve not only as a wrestler but as a person because I realize nothing that gets you ready for life like sweating and suffering and trying to beat another person on the mat. Controlled violence. That's what I like."
Cedric Alexander

For Alexander, the move to TNA has been the right one and has allowed him to explore parts of himself as a wrestler that he didn't always feel like he had the freedom to dive into during his nine-year tenure in WWE.

"[Being in TNA] has been freeing and a little bit jarring in some cases. I've said it before, my time in WWE was great, but there were a lot of guardrails I had to play within, and I couldn't step outside those guardrails without getting in some trouble," Cedric Alexander said. "In TNA, there is no guardrail....It's really refreshing to be like, 'This is what I'm going to do today'."

What the X-Division and TNA Rebellion means to Cedric Alexander

.@CedricAlexander and @LEONSLATER_ are getting heated ahead of #TNARebellion, where Alexander challenges Slater for the X-Division Championship! #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/AAMoVj7zGp
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 3, 2026

"Leon [Slater]'s a great athlete. He's a great wrestler, and I can't deny that, but so am I, and I've been doing this a lot longer and at a higher level. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, I truly believe that I am a better wrestler than Leon Slater, and at Rebellion, I'm gonna prove it," Cedric Alexander told The Takedown On SI ahead of tonight's TNA Rebellion event.

Despite winning many titles in many promotions over the course of his career, Alexander was very upfront about his personal investment in the X-Division and stressed that being X-Division Champion is a moment that has been a long time coming for him, as both a wrestler and a fan of wrestling.

He said, "[The X-Division] helped light the fire for me in pro wrestling as an active competitor. I remember watching an AJ Styles match where he won the X-Division Championship for the first time, and that was the moment I decided I wanted to be a pro wrestler."

To put my name alongside names like AJ, Joe, Chris Sabin, [Alex] Shelley, it brings my love for pro wrestling, my heart, my soul, it brings them together...The TNA X Division Championship has always been a big goal of mine to say I wore that championship and I'm in that club with these guys."

Leon Slater and Cedric Alexander will go one-on-one for the TNA X-Division Championship at TNA Rebellion. | TNA Wrestling

After navigating his title match with Leon Slater being postponed in previous months due to visa issues, Cedric Alexander will finally have an opportunity to make his goal of being X-Division Champion a reality tonight at Rebellion, and he's pretty confident about how the night will end for himself and his comrades in The System.

"Not only am I walking out with my first X-Division Championship, but I also want to be able to say that this is one of TNA's marquee moments. [It will be] the night of The System where Eddie [Edwards] wins the world championship, Bear [Bronson] and [Brian] Myers win the tag team championships, and we can have that nice celebratory picture of us all holding our championships. I'll frame that on my wall for later."

TNA Rebellion will air live on pay-per-view tonight, Saturday, April 11, from the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. When crediting parts of this interview, please include the link and "H/T The Takedown On SI/Lyric Swinton".