Here is part 2 of my in depth interview with T.J. Perkins who at age 24 already has 10 years of professional wrestling experience. Some of the topics covered in this portion of our 45 minute conversation include:

Growing up in the Los Angeles area
Earliest pro wrestling memories
Being inspired by Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels, and Tiger Mask
Training with Jesse Hernandez
At age 15, wrestling under a mask in the Tijuana Auditorium
Training with friends the Havana Pitbulls and Samoa Joe at the New Japan gym in Los Angeles
At age 18, wrestling in the Tokyo Dome for New Japan
Working in CMLL with Rocky Romero
Learning from Negro Casas
A career limiting injury at the hands of Bryan Danielson
Working the TNA X Cup Tournament on Pay Per View
Frustration and complacency in the indies
Southern California skater ring gear and haircut
Working as a heel in front of his hometown crowd
His ethnic background

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United States-based wrestler T.J. Perkins broke in to the business at age 14. By age 15 he was wrestling in Tijuana. At age 18, he was the youngest foreign wrestler to wrestle for New Japan Pro Wrestling and he wrestled in the Tokyo Dome no less. He and Rocky Romero became an award winning team in Mexico’s CMLL. He participated in Ring of Honor’s Final Battle 2003 card billed as All Japan vs. ROH. In France, he wrestled in front of 78,000 people at the Stade de France, France’s national stadium. For TNA, he competed for the 2004 Super X Cup. He’s a PWG mainstay, but he recently moved from his home base in Los Angeles, California to Tampa, Florida. Learn why he’s there and hear so much more in my 90 minute interview with T.J. Perkins.

Some of the topics covered in Part 1 include:
New diet and workout routine
NWA Wrestling Showcase
Compliments from Bryan Danielson
Learning from Negro Casas in Mexico
Psychology of a wrestling match
Working in TNA
The best wrestlers in the world
The move from California to Florida
The CSI episode

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Photo: Paul Richard, New Jack, Mike Benasky

If you ever cared about the original ECW, you’ve found the right episode. Paul Richard is back for Part 2 of our interview. The former WWF referee and I discussed his WWF career on #6. Now we talk ECW. Do you think you could have booked ECW in New England? Could you have handled the Mass Transit incident? Could you have done business with Paul Heyman? Talk to me after you’ve listened to Part 2 that includes another 56 minutes with Paul Richard. If Paul had not negotiated a television deal for ECW on WUNI Channel 27, New England fans might never have experienced the difference, and ECW might never have become so huge in our area. This is your chance to get inside the mind of the original ECW’s New England promoter.

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Photo: Nikolai Volkov, Paul Richard, Cowboy Bob Orton

This is a big interview for me. Paul Richard worked as ECW’s New England representative, booking and promoting all the shows that ECW ran in New England from 1996 until 2000, when problems arose and he ended the arrangement. Paul opens up and talks about his own career, from being trained by Killer Kowalski in Salem, MA at age 15, working the New England independent scene as a referee, and then graduating to the WWF. But perhaps most interesting stories come from his experience with ECW. Part 1 of the interview is 55 minutes and you’ll hear about everything I mentioned, plus all the details and memories that accompany the facts.

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“The Promise” Antonio Thomas is a Massachusetts based independent wrestler and personal trainer. Antonio, along with Romeo, are best known for their one-of-a-kind ring entrance during their run in the WWE as the Heart Throbs. I’ll ask Antonio about his time in WWE, his recent appearance on NESN’s dating show Sox Appeal, his discipline when it comes to eating right and training, and all the personality questions I can think of along the way. This is a 25+ minute interview. If you want to hear more interviews like this, make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast.

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