Exclusive: Steve Maclin on the importance of correctly representing his military background, "I would've had Americans imported in"

A vital component in Steve Maclin's character work is his real-life experience as a member of the United States Marine Corps. The current IMPACT Wrestling World Champion's military service has served as the base for his wrestling career, even during his time in WWE as a member of the Forgotten Sons.

Maclin has used his experience as a marine to further develop his character in IMPACT, most recently giving us a Changing of the Guard ceremony when he won the world championship.

While speaking with Sportskeeda's Kevin Kellam, Maclin mentioned the importance of making sure the US Marine Corps is represented correctly. In wrestling, we often see very similar setups.

Waving Old Glory while red, white, and blue balloons rain from the sky and patriotic music echoes throughout the building. Per Steve Maclin, that doesn't exactly fit the image.

"Being a Marine, I try to uphold the image of what a Marine is. Not coming out and waving the flag and the color guard and everything. That's never been the case... I even contacted a couple of my buddies that are still in and was like, 'What would sound more relatable for the casual fan but also for a military veteran as well?' Changing of the guard was kind of there instead of change of command. I was trying to figure out something that was more wordy and sellable to the fans," said Maclin [From 06:46 to 07:44]

While the Changing of the Guard ceremony was a great segment, Steve Maclin stated that there were a few issues with it that, if he had the pencil, he would've changed.

Maclin even joked that since they were in Canada for the segment, they should've imported some Americans to bring legitimacy to the scene:

"Do I wish my guards had different camouflage? Yes. If I had my creative control in that aspect, I would've had a different color, and they would've been a lot more in shape. Not even Canadian, they would've been American. I would've had Americans imported in." [From 07:48 to 07:57]

Regardless, PCO ran through Maclin's men in an effort to assault the champion. Be they Canadians or Americans, taking on PCO is a tall task.

Steve Maclin still wants to face Josh Alexander

Despite capturing the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship, Steve Maclin still feels there's unfinished business between himself and Josh Alexander. When he first showed up, his eyes were already on the Walking Weapon.

"The best at that time was Josh Alexander, I thought, even while he was X-Division Champion. I said, 'That's the match I want down the road and that's the match I think people would want to see.' Of course, things happened. The longest-reigning IMPACT World Champion had to vacate the title," said Maclin. [From 02:13 to 02:28]

As he continued to rack up wins against former world champions, Steve Maclin expected to be awarded a match against Alexander. Instead, others jumped ahead of him, which further fueled his frustrations.

"I wanted my match with Josh [Alexander]. I shouldn't have to go and ask for it, it should just be given to me because if you're winning and you're on top of your game then you should be the number one contender. That just never happened. People got their opportunities and I didn't." [From 4:33 to 4:46]

When Josh Alexander is ready, surely he will give the IMPACT World Champion the match he's looking for.

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