Luke Hawx’s ‘very, very, very busy down year’

Tommy "Milagro" Martinez

Luke Hawx poses in November 2023. X photo
Luke Hawx poses in November 2023. X photo

Between in the ring, in the promoter’s room, and on the silver screen, few have worked harder in 2023 than Luke Hawx.

SlamWrestling.net last spoke to The Southern Stomper back in 2022, and we wondered what’s been keeping him busy these days. “Oh man, I’m all over the place,” Hawx began with. “But I’m thankful, you know?”

One of the things Hawx has to be thankful for was his recent marriage to his wife, Sonia. “It was a beautiful event, man. It was the best week of my life and really a fun time and I have some great friends there. All my lovely people and it just blended so well and it was phenomenal.”

Sonia Saini and Luke Hawx wed.
Sonia Saini and Luke Hawx wed.

It can be argued that keeping up with Hawx would be hard to do in 2023, but not according to him. “Actually, this year has been a slow year this year,” he explained. There was the actors’ strike in Hollywood — and the corresponding writers’ strike — and Hawx had an injury as well. “This year has been a down year, but it was still a very, very, very busy down year.”

What was the injury? “I dislocated some ribs and tore some cartilage in my ribs originally at NWA [74] in St Louis during that tag match with La Rebelion, and then it took me a couple of months to heal. I came back and then I re-tore it again right after the New Orleans pay-per-view.”

This would have been the TV tapings after the Hard Times 3 PPV. “I wrestled one of the up-and-coming kids,” he explained. “But, I wrestled him and right at the beginning of that match, I went to catch him for a leapfrog. He leapfrogged over me [and] I went to catch him, and that same rib popped right out of place very hard and then it snapped off another rib, and it hurt so bad and any movement kept popping my rib in and out. You could see me in pain throughout the whole match. So, I wrestled the whole match like that. But man, I was in some serious pain and that put me out about a year.”

Add to that, Hawx was filming Young Rock portraying “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and his work on The Iron Claw. “I was bouncing between those two; still injured, you know, all that time because it was, it was an injury where… there’s nothing they could do for because of where it’s at. It tore off my sternum. It was a very difficult injury to heal.”

Somehow, Hawx kept this on the down low. “I didn’t tell because at that point it becomes a risk. I knew if I said I was injured, they wouldn’t have let me perform for insurance reasons and then I would have lost my spot on those shows. It was put up or shut up.”

Did he tell anybody after the fact? “I’m telling you,” he chuckled. “I mean, my people at home knew. My Wildkat [Sports Wrestling] people knew and my family knew, and NWA knew and they haven’t reached out once to check on me, by the way, even though it’s happened on their shows.”

“My friends, you know, the boys checked in,” Hawx clarified, “But upper management is a whole different story.”

SlamWrestling.net reached out to the National Wrestling Alliance. Kyle Davis, the COO of the NWA, replied. “I asked if anyone office side recalled, recollection is that there was an old injury that was retweaked, just not sure of the time frame though…. personally, [I] didn’t have any follow up with Luke as this is the first I’ve heard of it myself,” Davis wrote in an email. “I know he was taking time off focusing on his acting and stunt work, and as we see the continued success Luke attains on the Hollywood side of his life, I’m beyond happy for him.”

Hawx has been keeping focused on that with his work on TV and the movies. “It’s how I make my career. That’s paying my bills,” he explained. “If you have those credentials, and it’s very hard credentials to achieve. I like my achievements. I like to be acknowledged for my achievements.

“I’ve been kicked my whole life,” said the man born Oren Hawxhurst. “So, everybody told me what I could, [and] what I couldn’t do and what I’ll never do. So now I’m doing it and uh I wanna say, ‘Hey, look at me.’”

It’s something Hawx has shown a lot of pride in since he started acting and stunt work in 2006. “I didn’t get my SAG card until 2009. I was training from 2006 into 2009.”

Recently, SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America went on strike to protest, among other things, low wages and studios looking to use artificial intelligence to take over work from background actors and stunt people. If you saw his Instagram page, Hawx is on the microphone talking to a gathering of the New Orleans chapter of SAG-AFTRA.

“SAG asked me to please speak at the rally,” he recalled. “I’m well respected in the area because of my credentials as an actor and as a stuntman. That’s why I say give me those credits because that’s who I am.”

“They know that I have a following and they know that I have an influence on a lot of people,” he continued. “So, they wanna get the word out about our contracts, what we’re fighting for, about protection against AI, about health insurance. I’m speaking for us, you know? I’m speaking for my people really; I’m not even speaking to the people. I’m speaking for my people.”

He is just getting going, and the passion is obvious.

“I’m talking about the workers, the people that are on that grind fighting for what we barely need,” Hawx said. “For health insurance, for fair decision, for protection against AI so they can’t copy our likeness and then use it in anything they want and not pay us ever again, or pay us minimum. You know, that’s BS.”

The strike recently concluded, and the deal reached by both parties included, among other things, minimum compensation increases, streaming bonuses, and limits for utilizing artificial intelligence. So, everybody got everything they wanted, right?

“I think it’s a bullshit deal now,” The Southern Stomper proclaimed. “I don’t understand why it was approved. But I believe there’s not a lot of protection against stunt men, coordinators, fight coordinators, and stunt doubles, and I think there’s a lot going on with it. You know, there’s no real answer towards our residuals. They’re talking about bonuses… streaming bonus, I believe with all kinds of loopholes.”

This is where Hawx breaks down the politics to lend clarity to his previous words. “We’re kind of being held hostage right now. We don’t have a voice even though we speak and it falls on deaf ears. What happens is there’s a lot more actors than there are stuntman, or a lot more aspiring actors that are like background actors, [and] background actors outnumber anybody.”

“They [background actors] are very important to what they do in film. But again, they’re not official actors typically who went to acting school and paid their dues and worked their way up the ranks,” Hawx elaborated. “Yet, they’re voting like they are on those terms when they’re not; they’re voting on other people’s lives and careers that have nothing to do with and they have no concept of. We’re the minority, so we just gotta just take the crap and it’s frustrating.”

Of course, the work can be rewarding, like the upcoming movie, The Iron Claw, out Friday, December 22, based on the story of the legendary Von Erich family. Hawx and Chavo Guererro, Jr. helped to train stars like Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White, and Hawx brought in a lot of talent for various small roles. including all three of the Fabulous Freebirds, the nemeses of The Von Erich family — the NWA’s “Thrillbilly” Silas Mason was Terry Gordy, and two WildKat Sports veterans filled out the trio, Brady Pierce as Michael Hayes and Danny Flamingo as Buddy Roberts.

“When I was breaking down the script, and when you read the Freebirds, I was like, ‘Who do I have that fits?’” Hawx remembered. “So, I called all of them up and see if they were available, and I said, ‘Hey, you guys wanna audition to play these characters?’ I asked them to send me their headshots and then I passed them on to the director and the producers I also passed them to Chavo because Chavo was the coordinator on it.

“We auditioned them and they did great and obviously they booked the role,” he said. “I was really proud of them and happy for him for that, especially Danny Flamingo because he’s worked so hard for me for so long. I’m happy to see him get his flowers.”

If you have seen trailers for The Iron Claw, you can tell there is an air of authenticity in everyone’s performances, thanks to Hawx and Guererro’s work, among others behind the scenes. Hawx defiantly deflected all the credit. “I was there with them the first two weeks because Chavo was bouncing back and forth between Young Rock as well,” he said. “Chavo was great to work with. It was a good time, good crew and we had a good team on that show, and the stunt coordinator, Hiro Koda, who’s an Emmy Award-winning coordinator [and the] second unit director is phenomenal.”

There is a lot for him to be excited about, including big things for his WildKat Sports promotion, which announced at PWInsider.com that there was a new investor for the New Orleans-based company.

The way things are shaping up, it will be a very, very, very busy up year for Hawx.

THE IRON CLAW ROLEPLAYERS SAY THANKS

Many that Luke Hawx helped get work on The Iron Claw posted thank you notes to the man himself. A select few:

J. Spade is a regular in Wildkat, and is in action in one of the bouts during the movie. “This Friday The Iron Claw movie will be released in theaters. Had a great time working alongside Zac Efron and the rest of the cast and crew. Me and Matt Lancie have wrestled against each other all over the country but this was our first time working on a movie project together,” posted Spade. “Huge thank you to Chavo Guerrero Jr who contributed a great deal of work and insight to the film. It was my first time meeting and working with him and it was a pleasure. And yeah Luke Hawx had something to do with this film but he doesn’t need a thank you from me 😬”

Ben Smith is seen in black & white in The Iron Claw as a referee in vintage footage of Fritz Von Erich. “This Friday, The Iron Claw will be in theaters! Had a blast working with Holt McCallany and the crew for the scene I had the opportunity to be apart of,” Smith wrote. “Huge thanks to @chavoguerrerojr who put everything together for me and Holt, and made the entire process go smoothly, it was an honor and great to work with him! And none of it would be possible without Luke Hawx and WildKat Sports & Entertainment ! Always thankful and appreciate the opportunities that you provide!”

Brady Pierce has a Fabulous turn in The Iron Claw. “Shoutout to Luke Hawx for the opportunity in portraying Michael Hayes in the upcoming film The Iron Claw! In theaters everywhere Dec 22nd!!”

TOP PHOTO: Luke Hawx poses in November 2023. X photo

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