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Something I couldn't research online. What better way than to ask the man himself? NJPW - was that a one-off or will you be spending more time there?
Definitely not just a one-off. It's hard to kind of predict when you get later in the year because that's when things are getting into the culmination stages of what people are planning for example, and I don't know maybe I didn't get out of WWE sooner, I could have maybe started with the Super Juniors but I was a little late so I had to wait until the J-Cup.
There was the East Coast and West Coast tours, and they have another something else that scheduled for me to do coming up but I'll wait for them to announce that one. But there is at least a few more things coming up which I was grateful for because whether I come back once or a million times, I've always considered that place my home because they really were my first place that I got to cut my teeth.
Now, there's an immense wealth of talent in both promotions - who are you most looking forward to facing, or who would be your dream match in either promotion?
For a little while, one of the reasons that really swayed me to pursue doing some work with Impact was the amount of friends I had there. Willie Mack is like my best friend in wrestling in real life, a lot of people don't necessarily know that because we're not ever really in the same place at the same time but I got a home in Las Vegas a few years back and he moved out here kind of at the same time, and we were both friends in LA and we came out here.
He's literally my best friend in the world so when I saw that he was laying some roots there and with Rich Swann going there, obviously people know we are really good friends and there's a lot of guys there that I always really enjoyed on a personal level being in the ring with, guys like Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan. Elgin came in, that was just coincidental.
These guys are all incredible dudes. Then there are some guys I hadn't been in the ring with like The Rascalz, Trey Miguel, I've had a few matches with him now in different forms and he is incredible. Those guys do amazing stuff and I'm really looking forward to doing more stuff with them.
The North as a team. And primarily Fallah Bahh, a fellow Filipino. I didn't even meet him yet and I was already coming through the door saying, "I've got to get with this guy," and so it looks like we will have a chance to do some stuff together, which I'm excited about.
Next: Looking back at TJP in WWE
Coming up: Friends in WWE
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
