WWE Raw Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins was the guest on this week’s edition of “Talk is Jericho”, which you can listen to in full at this link. Below are some interview highlights:
On Training At 14 Years Old:
That was sort of the upbringing I had. I always thought I would finish High School first and start wrestling afterwards, and so I was an all-sport athlete so I thought I would wrestle amateur or something like that, because that is what I heard my heroes say, like, oh, this guy was a collegiate player, or Football player or whatever, and this was 1998, which was before the Internet got really big. You don’t really know what you see in PWI Magazine or something like that, and my first day of school, and I was 13, and I was in High School, and my first day of school, they were like, hey, we don’t have an amateur program, and I was like, oh, there’s no other way I can do this. So, then I sent in letters, since back then there was no social media sites, I sent letters, like, I heard Shawn Michaels was going to open up a school that year. He had just retired at the time. I sent one to Dean Malenko in Florida, to Al Snow, but I was 13 and I couldn’t relocate. It just so happened that I grew up in Southern California and there is a lot of Lucha Libre out here, and they don’t regulate you as well. All the places that I could have trained at, you had to be 21, or 18 at least. I was fortunate enough to start early with a Lucha Libre upbringing. Before the Internet, and the narratives we were only able to get the kind of information we would hear, not as easy for information to travel. During that time, if I had to call home, I would have to stop and find a payphone, like there was no cell phones really. Guys didn’t have cell phones, not a lot of people any way. I had to write directions on napkins. You had to stop at a gas station, or a bar, and ask for directions; times were crazy back then.
On Barely Graduating High School:
I barely made it through. I think I graduated with a 2.0, barely. I remember my senior year, I had two english class failures, like one of those English courses you had to pass for all four years; and I remember I had to take two english classes my senior year. The way it would work was on a Friday, I would get picked up to whoever was going to the Friday night show; whether in Vegas or San Francisco, or Arizona. I would jump in whoever’s car, and ditch last period. I would car hop, and would find anyone going in that direction where the show is and then on Monday I would get dropped off at school. I would kind of disappear for a couple of school days and the weekend and then kind of get back to school and go back home. My parents never kept tabs on me. My parents worked for TWA. I come from a traveling family; they are using to leaving me and baby sister at home for weeks at a time with my Filipino aunt, so we learned to be self-sufficient at an early age and so when I grew up, I never got into trouble, I don’t drink, never drank or did drugs. I don’t think I ever hung out with bad people. So, they never felt the need to keep track of me. I would come and go as I please, and luckily in retrospect I am very lucky to be alive since I didn’t make bad decisions regarding who I associated with.
On His First Wrestling Nickname:
So, they always called me TJ. On flyers they had me listed as Pinoy Boy, and a Pinoy means a Filipino. I remember thinking, it’s funny coming into this setting, because I remember at the time it’s pretty cool to think Chris Jericho was Lionheart, because when I was in High School my nickname was Pinoy Boy and I thought that was a horrible, non bad a** nickname too. But, I mean, it worked out ok. I don’t think I wasn’t made too fun of, but maybe I was.
On Not Being Complacent Early in His Career:
In 2002, probably until, I don’t know, 2006. It’s weird because I remember when I was doing less and less, I was chasing different opportunities. Not that I have a fear of complacency, but I end up wanting to branch out before I am done and before I go to places where I am currently at. So, I remember doing less and less around the time Prince Devitt [Finn Balor] was coming in, so he took over the company I was leaving at the table, which, in retrospect I wish I would have never left. This was a spot where he did what I didn’t do because he was so amazing. I don’t think I flourished the way he did. I think they were hoping I would stick around and do that sort of thing, and in my head, probably because started so young; it’s a double edged sword of starting so young. You learn a lot but it comes in the form of making a lot of mistakes.
On Going from TNA to WWE:
I think to, at certain times I felt it. There were times I would come to WWE and work dark matches and things like that, it was not the same feeling as I am now. I think that the experience was a great education, at times there felt like lines were drawn as far as people’s upbringings and things like that. I always thought that as far as the roster goes, they had a good eye for talented guys; it’s evident now with what they have gone on to do on their own. Guys came up having successful careers and you know, they did well there, and some guys moved on from there like AJ Styles that did amazing. He’s kind of the microcosm for it. They had a lot of great opportunities with guys that were part of the infrastructure. After I spent some time bouncing around Mexico, Japan, ROH and TNA, I had done a pilot for MTV with Wrestling Society X, and the opportunity to come in and do some tryouts here came up. I remember we had two hoops in the West Coast where we were able to do something together. I remember, like, I don’t know, six shows in the WWE within a short span, to the point where people thought I worked here. I remember Shawn Michaels came to Jesse [Hernandez] school because there was a showing in Vegas, or something at the time. He saw me in the back of the room and he was like, weren’t you at the tapings last week? I was given advice, you kind of tread water. You can kind of hit a brick wall like dark matches with being here so it was suggested that I go down to Florida and try a different way to get in; that’s how I always approached my career. I don’t believe in being a guy where you sit in your own backyard and expect opportunities to fall into your backyard.
