Alexander "Xander" Gold always dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. He first fell in love with the high-flying, theatrical sport at his Uncle Jimmy's home. As a young boy, Gold watched professional athletes from two rival organizations battle it out in the squared circle as his uncle flipped between television channels on Monday nights.
"When kids were like 'I want to be a fireman,' 'I want to be a cop,' I was like 'I want to be a pro wrestler,' and it's always been what I wanted to be," Gold says.
The Springdale-based athlete and performer became hooked on wrestling thanks to larger-than-life characters like Sting, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Gold could see himself reflected in shorter athletes like Rey Mysterio Jr. and the late Eddie Guerrero who, despite having a smaller stature like Gold, delivered big, powerful performances week after week.
"Right now I'm 5-foot-9, but when I was in high school, I was 5 foot tall, 98 pounds," Gold says. "I was always the small guy anyways, and growing up I was always the small kid, so I could always relate to the smaller guys."
What really caught Gold's attention just before his sixth birthday was superstar Hulk Hogan turning heel -- an industry term for a wrestler who has become the bad guy in a storyline.
"That's what I fell in love with, just how captivating it was, and the stuff that they were doing move-wise and how the stories that they were telling just drew me in," he says.
Gold started his professional wrestling career at the age of 25, and he's always been a baby face -- a good guy -- until recently. He turned heel for the first time in TheatreSquared's production of "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," which was on stage April 13-May 8 in Fayetteville. The play uses a fictional wrestling company as a vehicle for exploring issues like racism, xenophobia and the American dream. It was Gold's first time acting, and he hopes it's not his last.
"It was so much fun -- so much fun," he says. "The whole cast was great."
STEPPING INTO THE RING
Born in Tulsa, Okla., Gold grew up in Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. He graduated from McDonald County High School in Missouri, and it was there that he began his journey to a career in wrestling.
Gold started working out and made the football team, but because of his size, no one wanted to play him for fear he'd get hurt, he remembers. His brother talked him into joining the wrestling team instead, where his smaller stature was an asset. Gold attended every varsity tournament and was on standby in case one of his teammates didn't make weight. He didn't have to wait long to be called on by his coach.
"And then I placed third in the tournament, at my first one," he says. "I was very happy with that."
Despite his success, Gold was initially hesitant to become an amateur wrestler. Instead of learning technical skills, he thought because he was small like Rey Mysterio Jr., he needed to teach himself to do flips like the famous masked luchador. Gold eventually fell in love with amateur wrestling and says he is grateful for having had that experience because it better prepared him for his professional career. After graduating high school, Gold expanded his skill set by joining a mixed martial arts gym.
"I went to MMA so I could hone in on more technical stuff from my amateur days and do some submissions and stuff like that, which has also helped me tremendously with a unique style ... I call myself a hybrid because I can fly, I'm a technician, striker, powerhouse, name it, I could probably do it," he says.
Gold later trained at a wrestling school in Siloam Springs before making his professional debut in 2016 during a show hosted by Native American Wrestling in Chewey, Okla. While he didn't win his first match, he won the respect of the crowd and started growing his fanbase. He also earned the respect of NAW's owner, Running Wolf, who permitted Gold to participate in his last match, a high honor.
"He gave me a Native necklace as a commemorative thing that was passed down in his family to me," he says. "It was a very sentimental thing."
Gold describes the wrestling persona of Alexander Gold as an "all-American kid just trying to make it." The 230-pound athlete has earned the nickname "Ruthless" because while he's a good guy, he's really mean when it comes to his opponents, and people love it, he explains. However, he's also a human who struggles with body image and depression.
"He don't train to beat anybody but himself, that's who Alexander Gold is," he says, referring to his character as wrestlers often do. "He looks in the mirror, he's got body dysmorphia, he's just like everybody else, but he's doing something about it rather than just sitting on the couch."
Over the last six years, Gold has booked shows in Texas, Oregon and throughout Arkansas. He also made an appearance on AEW (All Elite Wrestling) Dark. After his grandmother died in 2018, Gold moved back to Northwest Arkansas from Texas and now lives in her Springdale home with his "very supportive" wife Summer and their 8-month-old daughter, Naveah Rose.
In addition to wrestling, Gold has a variety of other jobs including moving hot tubs and working at Marshalltown, a construction tools and equipment manufacturer in Fayetteville. He continues to wrestle for several organizations and holds not one, but two championship titles. He's the South Central Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and the Downsouth Championship Wrestling North American Champion. While it feels good to win a championship and hurts to lose one, Gold says titles aren't everything.
"Titles are more props, unfortunately, but that's where that quote comes in of 'the championship doesn't make the champion, the champion makes the championship,'" he says. "I hope that I can make these titles relevant."
BREAK A LEG
Directing "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" had been a bucket list item for Dexter J. Singleton, T2's director of New Play Development, because it combines many of his loves. A life-long wrestling fan, Singleton wanted the play to be authentic to the world of professional wrestling. His goal was to include aspects both wrestling fans and theater lovers could appreciate, as well as moments where each side could learn about the other.
"[I was] hoping to merge those two worlds as much as possible, but as we know, pro wrestling is very much a play in itself, so the two worlds can come together easier than some might think," he says.
When Singleton set out to find a professional consultant and trainer for his actors, he received multiple recommendations for Alexander Gold. It took awhile to track down the highly regarded trainer, but once he did, Singleton was impressed by his personality.
"I thought he was a really funny guy, really smart guy, really charismatic and personable, more so than I expected him to be," he says.
After their initial meeting, Gold was invited to be not only a trainer, but an actor who played multiple wrestlers that competed against the show's main characters. The transition felt natural for the 31-year-old athlete who had learned to be theatrical as a professional wrestler. Coming into the play, he already understood the importance of exaggerating punches and facial expressions in order to reach audience members in the back of the crowd.
"We always play to a wider audience; we also always play to the camera," Gold says.
The professional wrestler has been interested in expanding into the acting world, and while he's auditioned for projects in the past, his T2 role was his first professional acting job. In the future, Gold would like to work on action films or TV shows and perhaps one day play a superhero.
With a genuine interest in acting and "great natural instincts as an actor," Gold was "a great joy to work with," says Singleton, who thinks those instincts and Gold's skills as a wrestler will translate well to him pursuing an acting career.
"When he gets in the ring, there's just a huge smile that goes across his face. He just absolutely loves being in the ring," Singleton says. "And that was really great because our actors are so passionate about theater and performance and their love of entertainment, and that's really where we met, and there was that real great energy for our mutual passions for what we do."
LEAVING A LEGACY
Alexander Gold is not a fan of the F-word -- fake -- something professional wrestling has long been accused of being. While the character's storylines are scripted, the athleticism is authentic.
"It's predetermined, not fake," he says. "If you think it's fake, come get in the ring and throw yourself on the mat and see how fake it is."
As a trainer, Gold reveals the reality of wrestling to young athletes like "Pineapple" Jack. Born and raised in Fayetteville, he became intrigued with wrestling at the age of 12. He didn't care for Gold's persona when he first saw him wrestle during a local show in 2019; however, he changed his mind after witnessing his skills in the ring.
"Once I saw him actually wrestle I'm like, 'OK, this guy's pretty good.' He's got my respect," he says.
In May 2019, the 22 year-old joined a Northwest Arkansas wrestling school and began training under Gold, a tough coach who pushes his students and expects the best from them.
"He's a really great friend and you can joke and laugh with him and have a really good time with him, but once you step in the ring and then you train with him, then he's just on you," he says. "He's like an old-school football coach."
Gold believes anything worth doing is worth doing well. You have to give everything your all because if you don't, you're not going to succeed. He was skeptical at first that Jack would make it as a wrestler because he wasn't in shape when they met, but the young athlete has proven his coach wrong.
Now friends, they have a mutual respect for one another and compete against each other in wrestling shows across the state. As Gold's professional opportunities grow, he tries to open more doors for his students. Jack thinks highly of Gold, who he says has been essential to his career. Joining the professional wrestling scene also has helped him personally by giving him confidence, friends and a place to have fun.
"He is one of my best friends in the whole world and I would do anything to help him succeed or just to help him out in any way because he has been so instrumental in getting me where I'm at today, not just wrestling-wise, but also just mentally," he says.
The ultimate goal for Gold -- an independent contractor -- is to get signed by a large wrestling organization either in the states or abroad. In the more immediate future, he wants to start his own wrestling school called W.A.R. (Work And Respect) Wrestling Academy because the facility where he and his students were training shut down.
Gold is in search of a building, but he's already purchased a ring -- the one used on stage during the T2 play. He is excited for the future -- which appears full of possibilities -- and is in awe of what he's already accomplished so far.
"It's mind-blowing; it's a blessing. It's things that as a kid that I wanted to do, and I'm making them happen. So I guess if I looked back, that kid could be proud of who he became and is still becoming," Gold says. "I have no complaints. I mean, I have my few moments but really no regrets, because everything that I did led me to where I'm at now."
There's no rest for the weary -- or the ruthless in this case -- and Alexander Gold must defend both of his championship titles in the next few weeks. He'll defend his SCW championship in a match May 28 in Mountain Pine, Ark., and his DCW title June 4 in Mulberry, Ark. More information about his upcoming bouts are available at Facebook.com/dusty.gold.56.
Alexander Gold, a Springdale-based athlete and performer, crossed the line between professional wrestling and acting in his recent appearance in “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity.” He’s hoping to do more acting, but his ultimate goal is to get signed by a large wrestling organization either in the States or abroad. (Courtesy Photo/Greg TeGantvoort)