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One of the most surprising releases from WWE this year was undoubtedly former WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins.
Just a couple of years ago, TJP shocked the WWE Universe when he won WWE's first ever Cruiserweight Classic, and the former TNA X-Division Champion would go on to go through many adaptions to his character, seemingly becoming a mainstay of WWE's 205 Live brand.
His release, however, would come as a huge surprise to everyone - but TJP has filled his calendar and is looking to make waves on the indies.
We caught up with the man himself.
Hi, TJ. Thanks for speaking with me. Let's go back to the Cruiserweight Classic. Before that tournament, you were mainly known for your time in Impact Wrestling where you wrestled under a mask.
How different is it to do that for so long and then perform as a completely different person without it?
Well there has been a lot of character transitions for me over the last 20 years. Before being Suicide in TNA I was known for being PUMA in New Japan Pro Wrestling and also myself without a mask in both New Japan and CMLL as well as ROH. Also Sydistiko in Lucha Libre USA, and Cobra 2 in New Japan way back in 2003.
All in all, I’ve had about 10 different masked characters. I like playing characters. Each one of them has been different and obviously myself is a little different. In a way, I feel so free as myself because I can be a little bit of each one all at the same time.
Of course, you won the Cruiserweight Classic. What was that experience like, and how was it getting to represent the Philippines so successfully?
Originally I was just billed as a Los Angeles wrestler with the American flag. I requested to represent the Philippines and Hunter [Triple H] said it was cool. For the first time, I was able to do that. It was huge for me because I’ve been the subject of a lot of inconsiderate decisions or passive prejudice when it comes to being Asian. I’ve been places where I was told the only way I could earn a contract is if I spoke Spanish and was presented as Mexican.
I have been labeled as Japanese or Mexican or Canadian underneath a mask. When I’ve asked about openly representing my culture, I was always turned down because it was considered insignificant by many companies I worked for previously. And on top of that, Asian targeted racism is still wildly tolerated in just about every locker room. No-one shuts it down.
So for the first time, being able to be myself and openly represent my people and to go all the way and win a major title in such historic fashion was a huge deal for me. Because now, forever, there is a major moment in WWE history that is linked to Filipinos. Hopefully more people will follow suit and cross my bridge and build more for themselves and others to represent Southeast Asians.
NEXT: TJP on his departure from WWE
COMING UP: TJP opens up about his earnings now compared to WWE
You got to appear on the CWC, RAW and 205 Live - how different was it working on each of those?
In many ways it’s all the same. Only things that is different is really the production teams.
NXT has a totally separate team from Raw, SmackDown and 205 Live. Other than that, it’s all the same. Just different buildings.
Of course, the WWE Universe was shocked by your departure, I don't think anyone was expecting it - were you? Do you have any regrets about how it all went?
Yes and no. I was ready to go. I had thought about leaving as far back as November/December. A year prior, I had met with Vince and expressed to him that I believe I have no value to him as I was. I was just a wrestler on a wrestling show and he has a lot of great wrestlers. I wanted to get back to representing my culture and doing what I had done in the CWC.
Moving to Raw, they separated me from that. Vince was interested in the change and asked me how we could use me better and I said I would show him. I spent the year making my own appearances with Filipino events, doing my own red carpet interviews and news and media appearances for Filipino media outlets and publications. Met with Pacquiao and trained with him. Did some research in Filipino demographics so he could see the effect my community can have. I brought this all back to Vince around Survivor Series 2018. He loved it and wanted to find me a spot on Raw and suggested we brainstorm creative ideas.
I wrote pitches for every character on every roster and how I could work with them. The creative team basically pocketed everything I wrote and never turned them in to Vince. Much of it was used on other superstars and still is to this day in fact. Eventually, I met with Vince directly and he asked why I hadn’t given any creative pitches and I gave him everything I wrote.
By then, the creative ship had sailed on many of my ideas and Vince ultimately couldn’t find a fitting story or a place for me on Raw with so many Superstars on the roster. The office knew I was unhappy and wanted to leave, or at least to pursue other opportunities - both in the ring and outside of it - that WWE wasn’t allowing me to achieve.
And finally, Vince decided he didn’t want to waste my time and make me sit on the bench and said I should go out and spread my wings. He said he had a lot of respect for what I was doing and what I wanted to do and that most of the guys don’t think on the level I was thinking and setting goals. So it was a mutually inevitable split that had been in motion for a while. And I’m not the type of person that likes to collect “easy money” to do basically nothing. My community is important to me and my freedom and peace of mind as well - and Vince knew that and didn’t make me force the issue.
NEXT: TJP on when he fell out of love with wrestling in WWE
COMING UP: Will we see TJP in AEW?
Did you reach your full potential in WWE or is there more to see from TJP?
Who knows? But there is definitely more to see.
How was it addressing frustrations in WWE - did you feel you were able to do that?
There’s not much transparency with their administration. They micromanage everything and have layers of “fall guys” in place to absorb everything. But I always had a direct line with Vince, ever since day one.
All three years I was there, I never hesitated to knock on his door and speak to him face to face - and he always was available to me for that. I learned a lot from him, he listens to everything, considers everything, and I couldn’t ask for more in regards to all that. Some people that have issues with the company I think really have issues with being told, “No.”
I’ve always subscribed to the idea that it’s not my money or my investment. It’s his. So it’s not up to me to decide what’s right for him. I can just suggest what I think is best in regards to what I’m involved in and he decides what he will do from there. I
’m disheartened at the lack of priority for my community and Asians in general, and my goals, but I would never have a problem being told, "No." I can make any situation work. My unhappiness mostly stemmed from the culture of the lower administration. The micromanaging from writers and producers and the way guys are played favorites and manipulated. It makes the job not fun.
My favorite times were dealing with Vince or Hunter directly. They were always kind and fair. But dealing with the 205 producer and creative was miserable. I used to love wrestling. For 20 years, I loved it. Never fell out of love with it until 205.
No matter how bad life was before, I always looked forward to going to the ring for 5-30 minutes on any given night, any given year. But the last few years, I would show up to the arena and wonder how my match that night will be wrestled for me, through a referee's two-way headset. I would be in the ring and often be watching the match unfold just like anyone else on the other side of the guard rail.
NEXT: TJP on his former 205 Live colleagues stepping up
COMING UP: Will we see TJP in AEW?
How do you feel about the likes of Ali, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander recently being moved to RAW and SmackDown, and being integrated more with the main roster?
I was really excited for The Bollywood Boys, Lucha House Party, Lio, and Drake to find positions on those shows. They really deserve the credit for breaking that barrier first and foremost. Cedric and I were the first to really do non-cruiserweight matches when Cedric was doing matches with Bobby Roode, and they paired me up in special attraction matches against Nakamura and Andrade in NXT.
I think integration is what Cruiserweights were really missing all along because each of those examples lead to nothing but positive feedback from fans, but it never lead to anything further.
Your calendar looks pretty full right now. I believe you have 50 booked appearances leading right up until January 2020. Are you just trying to keep busy, or do you have a destination in mind for where you'd like to end up?
Yeah, it’s pretty busy. I haven’t really scheduled anything last November. There’s a couple things that got set early for the winter but mostly I got something like 55 dates scheduled between May and November, which is not bad for the first six months. Once everything pending gets set, I believe it will be somewhere around 60-70 shows altogether for the rest of this year. Imagine if I had been able to schedule the first five months!
I don’t really have a destination in mind to land. I’ve had contact with basically everyone but I don’t know that I have time to start until the winter and by then I may have filled that schedule already. I’m enjoying the freedom, I’m falling in love with wrestling all over again. I’m financially doubling what I would have if I had stayed in WWE. I may never want to give this freedom up. If I do land somewhere, a certain amount of freedom and flexibility will have to come with it.
NEXT: TJP on his former 205 Live colleagues stepping up
COMING UP: TJP on his Starrcast appearance
And you now have a new venture, aptly named Detonation Kick - which I believe is a new clothing range and a bit of a new alias! How did that start up? What do you see for it going forward?
I have always been a little bit fashion-minded. I had never been big on merchandise before. WWE really did great for me on that, they made me six shirts, two action figures, and tons of other stuff like Topps cards and things - which I am grateful for because no other Cruiserweight had, so I was very lucky.
But previously, I had never done merch, so I had wanted to start my own line for a while -something more than just wrestling based, something that had meaning to me and recognizable to wrestling fans who follow me, but also something that can appeal to non-wrestling fans.
So I started Detonation Kick for that reason and much of the style is patterned after street wear brands I grew up with. I also have many collaborations with other street wear brands and wrestling wear brands coming up, as well as a high end fashion line that will be separate from Detonation Kick, that is being curated by some great designers and will be aimed at a different type of audience.
Of course, you're appearing at Starrcast. Might we see you at Double or Nothing?
Haha! Well, let’s just start with Starrcast and see how the night goes. But I encourage everyone to enjoy that event either way because it’s a special time in wrestling culture and it’s gonna be a unique part of history.
A huge thanks to TJ Perkins for taking the time to speak with us. You can follow TJP here, and check out Detonation Kick here.
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