WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins was recently a guest on fellow WWE Superstar Chris Jericho’s podcast Talk Is Jericho. You can check out some highlights from their conversation here:
On Shinsuke Nakamura:
“I actually had a really interesting class because Yoshi Tatsu was in my class and so was Shinsuke Nakamura. And Nakamura, literally, from Day One, was Nakamura, like, he wasn’t even a young boy with us. He was in our class, but we never saw him. He was going to be a superstar from Day One. He was just too good to be with us, for sure.”
On New Japan Pro Wrestling:
“I was doing less and less around the time Prince Devitt was coming in, so it was almost like he took over the opportunity I was kind of leaving on the table, which in retrospect, I wish I never left.” Perkins continued, “I think it was more like he did what I didn’t do because he came in and was amazing, like, did an amazing job. And I never, like, I don’t think I flourished in a way. I think they were hoping that I would stick around and do that sort of thing.”
On his entrance:
“It’s just stuff I’m into for the most part. Artistically, it’s just things I’m into. I always wanted to be Scott Pilgrim, like actual Scott Pilgrim. And it’s something that really hasn’t been done a lot. A buddy of mine, Kenny Omega in Japan, had similar style and stuff to him and I think it’s indicative of this generation, so I felt it was something that could be communicated and it’s part of what I like. But stylistically, Cesaro jokes with me a lot because he gets a lot of the same ‘wrestling looks too easy’. I just got sick of hearing that. I’m not a gritty guy, like, I’m not a tough guy. I can dirty it up, but at a certain point, I am who I am and this is my best way of encapsulating that. It’s just a way of capturing what that is and being able to provide it as a form of entertainment as opposed to only getting it as criticism.”
Perkins continued, “it started with the music. They asked what I was into. And he music guys are big gamers, so they were like, ‘we’ve been waiting our whole lives to make this song!’ They did and then, after that, I was like, ‘this is the right type of atmosphere for this.'”
(All transcribed quotes courtesy of Wrestling Inc.)
