By Ross Blair: 2025 was a huge year for “Hollywood” Hunter James. At 23 years old, Hunter was just crowned the youngest GWH Overall Wrestl...
By Ross Blair:
2025 was a huge year for “Hollywood” Hunter James. At 23 years old, Hunter was just crowned the youngest GWH Overall Wrestler of the Year, among other awards. Meanwhile, the critically acclaimed book “Rough House” was released. Author Alison Lyn Miller followed Hunter around the Georgia indy circuit since he was a teen, chronicling his life & pursuit of pro wrestling stardom. Hunter discusses all this & more via this interview from his home in Outer Banks, North Carolina.
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GWH: You won Best Male Performer in 2023, but this is your first time winning the big one -- overall wrestler of the year. Your thoughts on taking home top honors?
HJ: It's very cool to get the admiration of your peers. This award encapsulates everything that we all strive to be, which is the very best. I think Clark DeBenedetto, referee & rookie of the year, put it best when he said that as cool as it is to get the awards, it doesn't change my pay or the shows I'm gonna be at -- it doesn't change anything else other than the fact that everybody, including myself, knows that I was the absolute best that year and I put on the best performances. I think that it only proves it with having Match of the Year & Feud of the Year as well. It's kinda the trifecta that proves that, yeah know, maybe he was worth being Overall Wrestler of the Year.
GWH: Feud of the Year (The Crusade vs Sexton Alliance) culminated with your Match of the Year versus Dominic Stuckey in Southern Fried Wrestling. What are your thoughts on this match & storyline, and what made it so special?
HJ: It's special in a number of ways. It started with the idea of the young guys leading a fresh coat of paint onto Southern Fried Wrestling. As much as I respect Todd & Nick & everybody in The Sexton Alliance, I saw guys that I thought should've been used more because management wasn't doing so. I chose Rosario Grillo, Pat Roach, Joey Hyder, Tayo…and Dominic was the last choice. Obviously that came to backfire on me later because Dom didn't feel like he was getting the spotlight he deserved. The Crusade wasn't about one person getting a spotlight. It's not my fault that I had all the genius ideas that everybody goes along with, including Dom. He took the brass ring and ran away from The Crusade, which led to about 5 months of back and forth. It all culminated at the last show of the year with a Classics Title match. I was busted open less than 2 minutes into the match so, as the match went on, I kept getting weaker and weaker. By the end of it, I had all I could physically handle. At the end of the day, I was still the youngest ever Southern Fried Heavyweight Champion, multiple time tag champion, and the longest reigning Classics Champion at 427 days, so I think I left my mark.
GWH: Speaking of Southern Fried, that promotion is a prominent setting in “Rough House”. What are your thoughts on pretty much growing up in that particular promotion?
HJ: Growing up in that promotion, I had the opportunity to learn very quickly from some of the smartest individuals in the state. They threw me into the deep end, and I swam to the top. I was blessed to have guys like Rick Michaels and Todd Sexton guide me along the way, at both Anarchy & Southern Fried. I'd have to add Nick Halen & Sal Rinauro in there, who've been along for damn near the whole ride as well. It's been a roller coaster, and it's been a fun one at that.
GWH: I just finished your book (“Rough House: A Father, A Son, and the Pursuit of Pro Wrestling Glory” by Alison Lyn Miller), which tells much of your life story. How did this book project get started & how was that whole experience?
HJ: I was training at my original trainer Jamie Holmes's house. I was in the wrestling ring in his backyard and Jamie said there's a reporter here, and she started asking me questions. I was a 16-year-old that wanted to hear someone listen about how much I love wrestling...because, at the time, my dad & I had a love/hate relationship about wrestling because his career didn’t go like he planned, and he wanted me to be a college wrestler. She wanted to know more, but it took 2 years for my dad to talk to her, which was a crucial part of the story. Over the next 5 years, it would be weekly to semi-weekly phone calls and texts at random times saying like "Hey, on January 3rd, 2023 you wrestled Jacob Ashworth...how did that feel?" and I'm like oh my God, I gotta go watch this match because I think it was the one where he dropped me on my head but I can't remember. (laughs)
GWH: Yeah the book was big on details, which was done in a really fun way.
HJ: Very, very, very detail oriented. After 5 years, which was the end of 2024, she told me that she had chosen me & my dad to be the central piece of the story. Around the middle of 2025, I got my first copy. I read it and I said WOW! To read your life story is pretty surreal, but you're also reading other peoples' stories. For example, it'll say Hunter James is going against Matt Hankins tonight and blah, blah, blah…and then it'll go into Matt Hankins' story. You're watching wrestling through my eyes but then veering into their story. It's a very fun read because it never gets dull because there's always a new character
GWH: One of the book’s highlights was detailing your dad Jamey Dean's last match, in which you were his tag partner. How cool was that?
HJ: Very cool, but that night didn't go as planned. He tore his tricep about 2 weeks before the match, so I took most of the beating in that match. He got some moments to shine in the match, but he physically wasn't all there. It was very cool and something I'll never forget, especially because he grabbed the microphone after the match and had some kind words for me. My dad is not one to give false praise, and he will only give praise when and if it's due. But when it's due, he does it from the heart and he does it better than anyone I've ever known. It's been two and a half years since that match, and he’s recovered 100 percent from that injury. Now he's training and we're getting ready for a little comeuppance at Southern Fried Championship Wrestling, where Grillo just stomped his tricep.
GWH: I just saw that. Grillo attacking your dad at ringside, knowing you weren't in town. I saw the pic of all the bruises on your dad’s arm too.
HJ: Now dad's gotta recover again but, until then, I've got some ass to whoop for sure!
GWH: Tell me what drew you to Savannah & your thoughts on Coastal Empire Wrestling, where you’re at the top of the roster.
HJ: When I first got asked to go to Savannah, I didn't know much about it. I got a text from Fro (Michael Walker) -- me & Fro used to be really good friends before he became an asshole and joined Simon Sermon -- and he goes "hey, you're the only person that I've ever wrestled that I've never beat, and I have to know if I'm worthy of being the champion. Will you come wrestle me?". This was the Chaos championship. So me & my girlfriend at the time drove down to Savannah. I was 21 when I showed up. The locker room was very open & inviting, and they treated me well. The wives treated my girlfriend very well. It's a great culture down there — it's fun, and you're treated like family. This locker room has so much heart, and they're so smart about wrestling. The ball really started rolling for me at Coastal when the fans started to chant "That's my champ!" after the first time I got a CEW title match and lost to Randy Reno. For the next 7 to 8 months, all they chanted was "That's my champ!". And eventually I became their champion, and I had a 6-month title run with some of the best matches I've ever had in my life. Now I'm ready to get the championship back and have some more of those best matches of my life.
GWH: Despite your young age, you’re quite the belt collector. What titles do you currently hold, and what are some of the favorite titles you’ve held previously?
HJ: I currently hold the Southern Honor Jake the Snake Legacy Championship as well as the Viral Outbreak Championship. So my favorite looking title is probably the Viral Pro Outbreak title because I love that shape and style. It resembles the Ring of Honor TV Title, the old NWA 6-man title, and Hogan's belt in I think '86. The Southern Fried Classics title means a lot to me because that was the longest title run I've ever had. And I can't forget the Landmark Arena Heritage Championship because I won that the last night that Landmark was around. I'll also go with the Coastal Empire Heavyweight Championship because that was the first promotion that wasn't a home promotion that I won a heavyweight championship at.
GWH: Do you have a match in your career that stands out as a favorite?
HJ: It's very hard not to say that match with Stuckey. There was a lot of buildup to that. I'll give you 3 more, and they're all from last year. Me and Michael Walker — February in Southern Fried. That was like lightning in a bottle. The fans really made that match. Jay Alpha Miller at Coastal Empire Wrestling -- right before our match, the top turnbuckle broke, so we did not have a top rope for our match. That match was special, and it made Jay Alpha Miller go to a totally different level. I'm extremely proud of him, and you could see why if you watch that match. The other match would be CT Keys in CEW. That was like an early 2000's Ring of Honor slugfest style that we both do like. It's not our go-to style, but we keep that hidden away for when we need it. And that night, with those fans -- it was special. Especially considering it was my first title defense and it was babyface versus babyface.
GWH: What excites you besides pro wrestling? Any hobbies or things you collect?
HJ: God, if you knew just how much I was obsessed with this wrestling thing, you would NOT ask me that question. Wrestling is everything. I am in the gym at 6am every morning. I'm back at the gym at 12:30 in the afternoon. When we finish this interview, I'm gonna go do more cardio. And I will be watching wrestling 9 times out of 10 when I'm doing this stuff...or listening to a wrestling podcast. If it's something I collect, I guess it's wrestling figures. Musically, I love '80s hair bands and 2000's rock. Give me some Poison & LA Guns all the way to Godsmack, Shinedown, 3 Days Grace, & Nickelback.
GWH: What are your future pro wrestling goals?
HJ: I said it in my awards speech -- I want to be signed. As for which company, I'll just say whoever has the faith in me to draw them money. I watch everything. I watch NWA. I watch WWE. I watch TNA. I watch MLW. I watch Ring of Honor. I watch AEW. I watch everything current. I watch everything in the past. I work a very classic wrestling style, and I want to be somewhere where that can be accentuated. I was 18 years old and I said I’m leaving college to chase a dream. I'm not gonna let this dream go to waste. By any means necessary, I WILL be the greatest pro wrestler that's ever lived, and I will make a damn living at this. I'm gonna be that guy where, when you walk into Walmart, people will say oh my God, there's Hunter James...or whatever name I'm given.
GWH: Best of luck to you, Hunter, and thank you for your time this evening.
HJ: You bet. Hollywood…out.
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Note: “Rough House: A Father, A Son, and the Pursuit of Pro Wrestling Glory” by Alison Lyn Miller is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon. The audiobook is available on Audible & other platforms. Copies are also available via Hunter himself, while supplies last, at his merch stand during most shows he appears on.
Special thanks to Alex Snider for the artsy graphic at the top of this article.
