What’s the story?
Responding to a rumour perpetuated by Wrestling Observer’s Brian and Vinny Show, WWE Superstar TJP, known formerly as TJ Perkins, took to Twitter to clarify the reason behind his name change.
The rumour stated that the shortening of the name was done at the behest of Vince McMahon, who didn’t like the name due to his culinary preferences.
In case you didn’t know...
TJP, whose real name is Theodore James Perkins, is a regular feature on WWE’s RAW brand as well as its’ Cruiserweight show 205 Live. Winner of WWE’s inaugural Cruiserweight Classic tournament, he was seen most recently in a losing effort against Neville for the Cruiserweight title.
Perkins’ name was officially shortened from “TJ Perkins” to “TJP” a week ago, with WWE filing a trademark for the same.
The heart of the matter
Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer newsletter had recently stated that the reason why TJ Perkins’ name was shortened to TJP was that Vince McMahon allegedly “hates” the “Perkins” restaurant chain and didn’t want his brand to remind people of the restaurant in any way.
Also read: WWE News: Name change for TJ Perkins going forward
After hearing of the rumour, TJP, who is very active on Twitter, clarified via a Tweet that he himself asked for his name to be shortened to TJP and that there was nothing more to it.
What’s next?
Now that TJP has lost his Cruiserweight title shot against Neville, it remains to be seen whether he will continue to feature in the title picture on 205 Live going forward. The rumours of his name change being due to Vince McMahon’s dislike of a restaurant, however, have been effectively quashed.
Author’s take
Vince McMahon is notorious for being petty when it comes to making decisions such as these, however, Perkins is TJP’s real-life surname and I personally believe the whole name shortening fiasco was due to trademark reasons more than anything else.
WWE now own the trademark for “TJP” and can use it to sell merchandise and to cash in on the popularity of one of their best Cruiserweights. Perkins doesn’t seem to have a problem with it either, it’s a win-win for all involved!
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