Koslov was trained by Jesse Hernandez and made his professional wrestling debut in Covina, California on May 23, 2003, against Kid Karnage working as "Alex Pincheck". From 2003 until 2006 Koslov worked exclusively on the west coast of the United States, making appearances for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) and local National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliated groups. From 2005 and forward Koslov began working in Mexico and later on started making appearances all over the United States. On June 11, 2006, Koslov won the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship in Santa Monica, California from Karl Anderson, less than a month later he lost the title to Justin White.[14]
In 2008 Koslov participated in the annual ECWA Super 8 tournament working with other young "high flyers". In the first round he defeated Shannon Moore in what was considered an upset, then he defeated Chase del Monte in the second round before losing to Aden Chambers in the finals.[15] Koslov's performance earned him positive reviews. Koslov did not win the tournament but he stole the show, working as a villain he riled up the crowd enough for one audience member to threaten him with a chair.[16]
Having turned into a crowd favorite, or "technico", in mid-2007, Koslov joined forces with Marco Corleone, Rey Bucanero and Shocker to form a group called High Society, a group of self-professed metrosexuals. The group saw limited success and by the start of 2008 rarely teamed together, when Rey Bucanero returned to Los Guerreros de Atlantida the stable dropped altogether. Throughout 2008 Koslov kept working mid-card matches, rarely working any kind of storyline, with the odd unsuccessful title match here and there.
After having worked on a handshake deal with CMLL for two years Koslov was approached by rival promotion AAA and offered a deal. According to Koslov he decided to take the deal with AAA because he was unhappy with CMLL's direction.
I was with CMLL for two years. They treated me great and made a star out of me, but I was dying mentally. I lost my passion. I became bored. It was always the same old stuff.
Only a few people knew that Koslov had signed with AAA before he made his surprise debut on October 10, 2008, at a AAA Television taping in Querétaro, Mexico. To avoid spoiling the surprise Koslov had covered his face as he travelled to the arena, then stayed out of sight during the show. Koslov's defection to AAA made front-page news on newspapers and wrestling magazines, liking it to the Monday Night Wars between World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.[16][24] Koslov helped found the stable "D-Generation Mex" together with Sean Waltman and Rocky Romero.[25]
On March 20, 2009, Koslov was one of thirteen wrestlers in a "Dome of Death" cage match to qualify for a tournament to establish the AAA Cruiserweight Championship where he qualified for the tournament itself.[26] In the first round Koslov defeated his D-Generation-Mex partner Rocky Romero on April 17, 2009. After the match the two partners hugged without showing any animosity between them.[27] In the semi-final Koslov defeated Nicho el Millonario to qualify for the final.[28] On May 21 Koslov defeated Extreme Tiger and Alan Stone to become the first ever AAA Cruiserweight Champion.[29] Alex Koslov's run with the Cruiserweight title only lasted 23 days as he lost to Extreme Tiger at Triplemania XVII on June 13, 2009.[30] Following the title loss Koslov turned Rudo attacking his D-Generation-Mex partners after a match. On August 21, 2009, Koslov regained the Cruiserweight championship by winning a five-way elimination match at the 2009 Verano de Escándalo defeating Extreme Tiger, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart and Rocky Romero.[31] On August 30 Koslov lost a six-man steel cage match and as a result was forced out of AAA.[32][33] Koslov confirmed on his Twitter page that he was done with the company.[34] AAA later vacated his Cruiserweight Championship.[35]
On September 26, 2009, at Heroes Inmortales IIIKonnan kidnapped AAA owner Dorian Roldán[36] and on the October 17 tapings of AAA's television show offered to return him if his father Joaquín reinstated Alex Koslov.[37] Later in the evening, during a match between Marco Corleone and Chessman, a masked man entered the ring and attacked Corleone. The masked man was caught and unmasked to reveal Koslov, whom Konnan then saved by threatening Dorian with violence if Koslov wasn't freed.[37][38] After Koslov was reinstated he joined Konnan's La Legión Extranjera and at Rey de Reyes unsuccessfully challenged Extreme Tiger for the AAA Cruiserweight Championship.[39] On June 2, 2010, Koslov teamed up with fellow La Legión member Christina Von Eerie to defeat Aero Star and Faby Apache to win the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship.[40] On October 1 at Héroes Inmortales IV Koslov and Von Eerie lost the titles to Faby Apache and Pimpinela Escarlata.[41] Afterwards Koslov announced that Héroes Inmortales IV had been his last night with AAA, before leaving for WWE.[42]
Ring of Honor (2009, 2010, 2013)
In April 2009, Koslov made a couple of appearances for Ring of Honor (ROH) when they promoted a couple of shows in Houston, Texas. Koslov first worked a singles match, losing to Bryan Danielson on the April 3 show Supercard of Honor IV.[43] The following day at the tapings of the Take No Prisoners pay-per-view, Koslov was defeated by Roderick Strong in another singles match.[44] Koslov returned to ROH in December 2009, losing to The Briscoe Brothers and Rocky Romero in a six-man tag team match, where he teamed with Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, on the 18 and to Romero in a singles match on the 19 at Final Battle 2009, ROH's first live pay-per-view.[45][46] Due to the controversy surrounding the Final Battle 2009 match,[47] Koslov and Romero were booked in a rematch on March 26, 2010, in Phoenix, Arizona, which Koslov won.[48]
Sherman, using his real name, made his FCW debut on November 20, 2010, at a house show in Punta Gorda, Florida in a losing effort against Bo Rotundo.[7][57] Sherman made his televised debut on the November 28 edition of FCW TV, wrestling under the ring name Peter Orlov in a match, where he and AJ were defeated by Lucky Cannon and Naomi.[1][10][58] On February 3, 2012, it was reported that Sherman had been released from his FCW contract.[59][60]
Return to the independent circuit (2012–2015)
Sherman made his first post-WWE appearance on March 4, 2012, when he, once again performing as Alex Koslov, defeated SoCal Crazy at an Empire Wrestling Federation event in Covina, California.[61] On March 17, Koslov returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, losing to Kyle O'Reilly.[62]
From January 24 to 25, 2015, Koslov participated in the Alternative Wrestling Show's Race for the Ring Tag Team Tournament with Romero. They were defeated in the finals by the ASW Tag team Champions PPRay (Peter Avalon and Ray Rosas). It was his final wrestling match.[63] Following the match, Sherman stated that it was "absolutely necessary" for him to step away from professional wrestling and that he did not know if he would wrestle again.[64]
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2012–2015)
On April 16, Koslov was announced as a participant in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.[65][66] In the round-robin stage of the tournament, which ran from May 27 to June 9, Koslov won five out of his eight matches, but a loss to Low Ki in his final round-robin match caused him to narrowly miss advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.[67][68] Koslov returned to New Japan on July 7, now representing the promotion's top villainous stable, Chaos,[69][70] as a member of which he also reunited with former AAA partner Rocky Romero, with the two dubbing their tag team "Forever Hooligans".[71] On July 22, Koslov and Romero defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[72] Koslov and Romero made their first successful title defense on August 26 at a Sacramento Wrestling Federation (SWF) event in Gridley, California, defeating the team of A.J. Kirsch and Alex Shelley.[73][74] Forever Hooligans made their second successful title defense on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, defeating the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida).[75][76] On October 21, Forever Hooligans entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask in their first round match.[77] On November 2, Koslov and Romero were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi).[78] On November 11 at Power Struggle, Forever Hooligans lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to the winners of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, the Time Splitters, ending their reign at 112 days.[79][80] Koslov returned to New Japan in early 2013, and on February 10 at The New Beginning, he and Romero unsuccessfully challenged the Time Splitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[81] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Koslov and Romero regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from the Time Splitters.[82][83] From late May to early June, Koslov took part in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors, where he won four of his eight matches with a loss to Brian Kendrick in his final round-robin match on June 6 costing him a spot in the semifinals.[84] Koslov and Romero made their first successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on June 22 at Dominion 6.22 in a rematch with the Time Splitters.[85][86] Koslov and Romero then got involved in Chaos' rivalry with the Suzuki-gun stable, which led to their second successful title defense on July 20 against Taichi and Taka Michinoku.[87][88] Koslov and Romero lost the title to Taichi and Michinoku in a rematch on October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling.[89] For the first half of 2014, Forever Hooligans received several new shots at the title, now held by The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), but were defeated each time,[90][91] including in a three-way match, also involving the Time Splitters, on May 10 at Global Wars, a special event co-produced by NJPW and ROH in Toronto.[92] Later in the month, Koslov was scheduled to take part in the 2014 Best of the Super Juniors, but after dislocating his left shoulder in his first match, he was forced to pull out of the tournament.[93]
On January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, Forever Hooligans challenged for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, reDRagon, in a four-way match, also involving Time Splitters and The Young Bucks.[94] After he and Romero lost to reDRagon in a non-title match the following day, Koslov took a victory lap around the ring and thanked Romero for sharing his career with for the past decade. On January 9, Koslov announced he was taking an "indefinite sabbatical" from professional wrestling until 2022.[95]
Return to New Japan Pro Wrestling (2020-present)
After a 5-year hiatus, Koslov made his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling on August 7, 2020, as a color commentator on New Japan Cup USA alongside Kevin Kelly. Koslov would then become a regular commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling alongside Kelley on the NJPW weekly series NJPW Strong.[96]
^Hicks, Brady; Murphy, Dan (February 2009). "ECWA Super 8 tournament: Aden Chambers wins one for the home team!". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment Publications LLC. pp. 46–49. February 2009.
^ abcMurphy, Dan (February 2009). "the Straight Shooter". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States: Sports and Entertainment Publications LLC. pp. 118–119. February 2009.
^Arturo Rosa Plata (2006-08-16). "El Hooligan Ruso". Ovaciones (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Ovaciones, S. A. de C.V. p. 20. Número 20590 Año LIX.