Lights. Camera. Jaxon!

Former SDSU baseball player pursues career in professional wrestling

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BROOKINGS – Most Division I athletes pursue a professional career in the sport that got them a college scholarship.

Instead, one former South Dakota State University student athlete is chasing his childhood dream in a field that combines athletics and theatrics.

Former Jackrabbit infielder Aaron Machbitz – known in the ring as Jaxon Stone – first saw professional wrestling on TV in 2006, at age 14. He fell in love with the idea and had his parents buy him every DVD there was on wrestling.

“Basically the first time that I watched it, I fell in love with it and became obsessed with it right away,” he said. “The Rock is my all-time favorite wrestler.”

Machbitz said he would watch those DVDs throughout high school but slowed down in college because of another love: baseball.

He was a decorated player on the diamond at SDSU. In his final season at SDSU, Machbitz led the squad in all three triple crown categories with a .318 batting average, seven home runs and 34 runs batted in. A first-team all-Summit League selection, he also led the team with 69 hits, 13 doubles and a .475 slugging percentage, while adding a .992 fielding percentage as he saw action in all 57 games. A three-year starter at first base, Machbitz finished his Jackrabbit career ranked second in putouts with 1,288.

Despite all his baseball successes, Machbitz felt that wrestling was what he wanted to pursue as a full-time career.

“I always knew in the back of my mind that whenever baseball ended, wrestling was what I was going to do for the rest of my life,” he said.

Not what you think

When he was a freshman in high school, Machbitz decided to join the high school wrestling team. Like many others who grew up watching professional wrestling, Machbitz found a surprising difference from what he saw on TV.

“I thought what I saw on TV was what they did in high school, for some reason,” he said with a sarcastic tone. “I was obviously mistaken. It’s not the same at all. I mean it has some similar aspects and it’s helpful to have an amateur background.”

Machbitz said wrestling really helped him to get in great shape. It also inspired him to start working out and pursue a health education and nutrition degree, which led to a job as a personal trainer after an attempt to play pro baseball.

He moved back to Dallas, where he is originally from, and started looking for schools in Texas that teach professional wrestling.

“I got a job as a personal trainer and then started an eight-week acting course. Once I figured that out, I tried to find a school that was relatively close that I could drive to and still have a job,” he said.

That’s when he found the MPX Wrestling School in Bedford, Texas. MPX Wrestling is an independent wrestling federation where Machbitz started training in January 2015. He commuted there three times a week; nine months later, Machbitz performed in his first-ever match.

“I would be at the gym personal training at 5:30 a.m., leave at 4 p.m. and drive an hour-and-a-half through traffic to train from 6-10 p.m. Then do the whole thing over again,” he said. “It was good and hard, but of course it’s worth it if you want something and put in the effort.”

From there the character of Jaxon Stone was born.

Developing his character

Former wrestlers “Ravishing” Rick Rude and Rick “The Model” Martel also inspired Machbitz and helped shape the character Jaxon Stone. The stage name came from two different characters. Jaxon comes from Charlie Hunnam’s character Jackson “Jax” Teller in Sons of Anarchy. Stone comes from his childhood idol, The Rock.

“I thought that the name Jax was really sweet and badass, so I just kind of stole it,” he said. “Then The Rock is my favorite person of all-time and I thought pebble was a little too weak, so I just went with Stone.”

At the end of 2016, Machbitz traveled to Germany to train and perform with Westside Xtreme Wrestling for four weeks. Making a good impression, he was invited back to travel throughout Europe. Since April, he has been performing all over Germany, England and Ireland.

The bond of the wrestlers traveling with Machbitz has made life much easier.  

“As an outsider looking in to wrestling, it always seemed like an individual thing, but now that I’ve been at it for two years it’s like a family atmosphere,” he said. “It’s made me like this experience more because we have this similar bond of really enjoying professional wrestling, which is somewhat insane if you think about it, so it’s cool to have that common bond and build memories with the guys.”

Machbitz said it has been great performing in Europe the past couple of months. He also noticed the differences between European fans and United States fans. He said that many of the fans over there enjoy singing while the matches are going on, and they enjoy the wrestling aspect more than in the U.S.

Taking care

Professional wrestling is one of the most dangerous entertainment spectacles in the world. Head injuries and multiple surgeries can take over and consume a wrestler’s life, but like other athletes do, wrestlers keep pushing on. Being an athlete his whole life, Machbitz understands the importance of taking care of his body.

“It’s weird with wrestling because your back, neck and your knees always hurt and there is not much you can do about it because you are always falling down or getting hit in certain places,” he said. “Your body kind of stays in a mental state of staying used to it by wrestling once to sometimes three times a week.”

Jaxon Stone wouldn’t be a character without the people who have supported Machbitz the most. He said his family has been a huge help throughout his professional wrestling journey.

“My mom (Lori) is one of the most supportive people in the world,” he said. “My dad (Marc) has gotten into it. He comes to local shows when he can, but he just thinks I’m a crazy person but still thinks it’s pretty cool,” he said.

Machbitz also said that his mother comes to his matches wearing his T-shirts and helps record his matches and make promotional videos.

Building his brand

Professional athletes have a goal to make it to the biggest stage of them all. In the professional wrestling, that stage is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Many of the WWE wrestlers make millions of dollars and perform year-round. The first step for a person like Machbitz is to reach the NXT. The NXT is the equivalent of the minor leagues in the MLB. It is simply a developmental division for the WWE, with wrestlers training and performing in Orlando.

“Jaxon Stone has to keep building his brand and becoming more popular,” he said. “Building the right connections just like you would in any entertainment business.”

Professional wrestlers like The Rock and John Cena have used the industry as a stepping stone to other entertainment jobs, such as acting. Machbitz said that being a professional wrestler is his main focus right now. If it leads to other career options, that would be great, but currently his main focus is making it to the WWE.

For now Machbitz is leading the double life as a growing and evolving Jaxon Stone. At first it was a tough transition, but now he is accustomed to the change. He is confident and believes in what he wants in his character.

“My character is an extension of who I am, maybe turned up 100 notches,” he said. “I understand what I am trying to portray and what direction I want to go. At this point it is easy.”  

The former Jackrabbit first baseman who helped lead SDSU to a Summit League Tournament Championship has transitioned to “Lights, Camera, Jaxon” in the professional wrestling world.

It’s not exactly the epitome of the old SDSU marketing slogan “You can go anywhere from here,” but, regardless, Machbitz says he’s living his dream.

Find Jaxon Stone on Twitter @JaxonStone_LCJ and Instagram @jaxonstone.