TJP discusses returning to Impact Wrestling and NJPW, a potential MMA career and WWE (Exclusive)

TJP stole Gran Metalik's mask - but he's worn a fair few.

Have you spoken with or kept in touch with anyone there since departing?

A lot of the people from the crew. The seamstress crew, I talk to almost every day. A lot of the people from catering, our parking lead security guy, I talk to him all the time. One of the lead floor stage managers, I talk to all the time. Some of the producers and stuff, TJ Wilson and Shane Helms, I still talk to them a lot and a lot of the guys.

I'm still really good friends with Lince and Cedric. We always had the car and the rooms together. Every week, that was kind of my car, my circle and we talk all the time, and Kalisto, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte are some people I still text and talk to every now and then.

Yeah, I talk to most of them. The community is pretty much still the same. It's funny because when you're in the same company, a lot of the times, you don't even talk as much as when...

You talk about the same as if you are on different parts of the world because I probably talk to them the same amount now as I did when I was there. Especially a place like that, it's so big and sometimes you go months without seeing somebody because you're not on the same schedule but I still keep in touch with most of the guys.

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You've wrestled everywhere, you've been everywhere. WWE, AEW, Impact Wrestling, NJPW, the list goes on. Where do you feel you did your best work?

Let's see, I don't... Unless I have CT already, I don't think I did AEW yet, but we did talk a little bit about maybe future stuff.

Sorry, I meant the appearance at Starrcast. Poorly worded on my part - or trying to catch you out.

Oh, yeah, I had the signing a Starrcast. It's weird, let's see, I started back on the road in May, and it was from May until this November, I had... 70 or 80 dates packed into my schedule, so I had a lot, and it's been everywhere. UK, Australia, Canada, obviously America, some stuff in Mexico had come up and I had to postpone some of it but I ended up still going there with Impact and obviously Impact and New Japan came up, some tournaments and stuff that came up like King of the Indies for example.

It seems like every week I'm in three or four different cities, and it's not even slowing down, but as far as my best stuff, I don't know, it's a mixed bag because I feel like I'm doing a little bit of everything and everywhere I go is pretty much... I guess consistent because I've been waiting three years to paint this way, you know? Now I've got the brush back in my hand.

It's funny. A lot of times I think performers get out of a place like I came out of and they get into this position and they work a lot, and it starts to wear down on them because of who they are and where they come from. They will go to these places and every night, it's like doing a WrestleMania because they will go to these places and it's like that place the biggest show of the year with probably the best wrestler and that might be one of his biggest matches he's had. Then the next night, you have to do it again in a different city with a different guy and it's the same scenario all over again.

Usually what will happen, 99% of the time, is as guys in my position start to get worn down because they are like, "I just came out of one groove and I'm not ready to change gears," but in my case, it's almost the opposite because I will go to these places and people are like, "Man, you must be tired having to do that," and I'm like, "No, I want your WrestleMania match every week because I have not been able to do a lot of the stuff that I just want to do," so for me, I look forward to that every night having somebody's... Not that I'm special to them but it's a case where they are looking to have the best match they've had, or one of the more important ones and, bring it on, brother, that's what I'm looking for.

I want to do what I love. I started to fall out of love with it and I don't want to ever... I never want to feel that again.

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