Dimitri Alexandrov prefers being a good guy.
In the world of professional wrestling, with its history of villainous foreign heels like The Iron Sheik, fans in the U.S. are naturally inclined to boo a Russian.
So, as 33-year-old Alexandrov sees it, it’s more of a challenge to win American audiences over. Especially in small towns.
A wrestling hero’s job is to build sympathy, usually by getting beaten up throughout a match — then making a big comeback at the end. When it works, the fans eat it up. Even if the good guy has an accent. “It’s kind of like getting this weird little high five, defeating xenophobia a little bit,” Alexandrov told The Barbed Wire. “I really get a kick out of it.”
In nine years of wrestling, Alexandrov has gone from college dropout to standout performer. His success is partly due to a relentless desire to improve. And the Austin resident now makes a living solely from wrestling — no small feat considering that he doesn’t work for one of the major promotions like World Wrestling Entertainment or All Elite Wrestling.
Alexandrov fell in love with pro wrestling at 4 years old and, after a brief stint at the University of Oklahoma, devoted himself to the craft. He’s wrestled all over the U.S., increasingly as a main-event performer, and is now starting to venture outside of the country.
The American-born Russian has a rebellious streak — he sells “Fuck Putin” stickers with the Ukrainian flag at wrestling events. And his unwillingness to be pigeonholed into a garden-variety “foreign bad guy” has led to the creation of a wholly unique character, one that resonates with more and more crowds who love his sweaty, violent performances.
Alexandrov has carved out a name for himself in the hardscrabble world of independent wrestling — particularly through competing in “death matches,” where participants hit each other with weapons like baseball bats, slam each other through tables, and are gashed with thumbtacks and broken glass. (I have personally witnessed Alexandrov win a match by slamming another man onto a cactus while the crowd roared in approval.)
In the ring, Alexandrov exudes a disheveled, chaotic good energy — he’s the hero, but he might also try to fight a bear (incidentally, that’s another one of his nicknames). He gets a bit bloody but, like all heroes, you’re glad that he’s on your side.
Alexandrov says he’s never had any serious injuries from wrestling, but he admits that some blows have given him concussions. And, despite assumptions to the contrary, regular wrestling matches are far more dangerous than death matches. During one bout, another wrestler hit him with a clothesline —– a basic move striking an opponent with an outstretched arm. (“I’ve never been hit that hard my entire life,” he said.)
Alexandrov, though, says he can wrestle any style — from traditional catch wrestling to hardcore matches that sometimes end in stitches. And through it all, he’s become a main event performer in Texas and beyond.
A New Persona
“Dimitri Alexandrov is one of the most driven, hard working wrestlers I’ve seen come out of the Austin wrestling scene,” said Eric Baudour, an Austinite who has worked as an announcer and interviewer for various local wrestling promotions.
“Whether he’s in a death match with a scissor-covered bat and barbed wire wooden cross, or a straight up, hold-for-hold, wrestling contest … Dimitri is capable of putting on a performance that everyone in that crowd will talk about the next day,” Baudour added.
Alexandrov’s career took off a few years ago, when he was wrestling in a death match tournament and a fan brought a crown made of barbed wire. Inspired, Alexandrov put it on his head. During the match, an opponent put him in a submission hold, stretching the barbed wire across his face. “The crowd was chanting, ‘Jesus didn’t tap! Jesus didn’t tap!’” Alexandrov said. “And I just leaned into it.”
Fans started calling him “Death Match Jesus,” and a new persona was born.
Alexandrov certainly bears a resemblance to the church-picture Jesus, with his long brown hair and matching beard. He also mixes in religious iconography, posing for photos with praying hands and sometimes holding a rosary. The comparison gets even more pronounced during the course of a match, when blood starts flowing. As a heroic wrestler taking a beating, the crucifixion comparisons are obvious.
“I don’t mean to do it in a disrespectful way, but I think it really works for what I do and how I look,” Alexandrov said.
While Alexandrov’s heritage is Russian, his story is as American as apple pie. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in Nebraska, Chicago, Oklahoma, and for the last six years, Texas.
Both of Alexandrov’s parents are Russian and he became fluent by learning from family members. Today, he has what he calls a “mutant accent” that’s a blend of American and Eastern European dialects.
He still has family in Europe -— some of whom live in Ukraine and had to flee the fighting after Russia invaded in 2022. Which makes the ongoing war very personal for Alexandrov. He is not a fan (to say the least) of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is horrible, what is happening over there,” he said. “It’s very, very disheartening and sometimes it just kinda gets swept under the rug. He’s a madman.”
‘This Is Where the Superheroes Fight’
Alexandrov fell in love with pro wrestling when he was a young child, lured in by characters like Sgt. Slaughter and the late 1990s golden era of wrestling, watching promotions like the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment), World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Alexandrov devoured it all. He even watched Japanese wrestling promotions via satellite, falling in love with legends like Jushin Thunder Liger. As a kid, he thought, “This is where the superheroes fight each other.”
As he trained to become a wrestler, Alexandrov bulked up from 145 pounds to 228, which helped cushion the intense — albeit choreographed — slams.
Alexandrov is one of many wrestlers to come out of Texas, which has a long and rich history of professional wrestling. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the biggest wrestler since Hulk Hogan, was billed as hailing from Victoria, Texas (he grew up in nearby Edna). Other greats like The Undertaker, Dusty Rhodes, Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, and Booker T also hail from The Lone Star State.
The beloved Von Erich family dominated ‘80s wrestling in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, becoming so popular that they held shows in Texas Stadium.
The 2023 movie “The Iron Claw” about the Von Erichs was a critical and commercial hit and renewed attention on the family and their large presence in the bustling Texas wrestling scene.
Actor Jeremy Allen White, who portrayed Kerry Von Erich in the movie, praised the art of pro wrestling in an interview with Deadline, calling it a blend of “dance, gymnastics (and) combat sports.”
Regarding wrestlers, he said: “They’re real artists and real performers and real storytellers.”
Nowadays, Texas has bustling wrestling scenes in Houston, Austin, the DFW Metroplex and San Antonio. Alexandrov said he’s had more fun wrestling in Texas than anywhere else. The fans stand out, Alexandrov said, because they’re committed — traveling to match after match across the state.
“They’ll just go to different shows, and I appreciate the hell out of that,” he said.
As he’s hitting his prime, Alexandrov plans on staying in Texas for at least the next few years, though he’s starting to travel more, too. Last month, he returned from wrestling in Monterrey, Mexico, where fans chanted “Cristo! Cristo!” at him.
“They do chants, they do songs, it’s really fun,” he said of the crowds in Mexico. “They all just want to shit talk, I love it.”
Alexandrov has also sent feelers out to Japanese promotions, in the hopes of getting booked. He’s even had wrestlers in Russia reach out and invite him to work shows there.
“I would love to,” he said. “Just probably not (under the) current regime.”