Who am I?

If you develop an alter ego at as early an age as I have, one that consumes a large part of your being and thinking, that’s a question that will prove to be quite a difficult one at some point.

On one hand, the civil one that is, I am Alex. A man with a more or rather less common life and the problems that come with it.

From the wrestling world’s perspective, I am Thumbtack Jack, TJ, or to my dismay, Jack. If Alex’ life isn’t quite common, TJ’s is beyond anything most people would regard as “normal”.

But isn’t that ultimately why we create those alternative personas?

Alex, the person

Who is Alex, the person behind the mask and the scars of Thumbtack Jack?

Alexander Bedranowsky was born on 21 July, 1985 near Munich, Germany and grew up in the city.

He developed a fascination for wrestling early on in his childhood. The seemingly superhuman performers of the 1980s and 1990s offered a much needed escape from the dullness of everyday life. And more than that: They became his idols.

Aged 15 his wrestling career started with a first training session and from that point on there was no turning back: Thumbtack Jack was born.

After being forced to put his alter ego to rest just 10 years later following a life-changing injury, Alex found himself once again faced with a reinvention of his self. As a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences this path would later lead him to WWE, albeit in a different way than young Alex would’ve dreamed. He later became a producer for German television and expert for Germany’s biggest wrestling podcast, Spotfight.