Former TNA star TJ Perkins (a/k/a Manik) recently spoke with Ryan Rider of Main Event Radio. Here are the highlights:
On what led to his release from TNA:
I don’t know if there was any specific thing. My contract was coming up for renewal. And like in sports terms, I was a restricted free agent. They had the option to keep it for another year if they wanted. They’re probably restructuring everybody based on the POPTV switch, and they decided to go in a different direction and e-mailed me with one sentence to let me know that was I wasn’t being used any longer.
On pitching story ideas for his character:
All that stuff wasn’t even created by me. It was sort of a misconception. The fans started all the hashtags and all that, and I just gave them retweets. Its not every day that you get a grassroots promotion started by fans, and #AllWeWantisTJ wasn’t started by me, but I was trying to reciprocate all the support. It shouldn’t be wasted. I have at times always been proactive writing stories and pitch ideas. Even if we’re encouraged to do that, they already know what they’re doing, and they don’t want to hear it if you’re not part of that.
On wanting to be in NXT:
The system that is part of the flagship of what we do. And probably always will be. They’re the Dallas Cowboys of wrestling and who wouldn’t want to wear that uniform. I would love to be there, I have a lot of friends there, and the stuff that they’re doing is incredible. They kind of lead the curve and create the path that everyone else follows. What they’re doing currently is actually shaping the future of the industry. It would be incredibly exciting to be a part of that. Developmental is not a bad word to use for it; people need to open their mind on the connotation of that. It isn’t derogatory or a step down; they’re developing the future and the current. Sustaining the current path, there are not many times in history where the course is corrected sharply in a very specific way that changes what is going to follow it. It is a great time to be a wrestler and even be a wrestling fan.
You can listen to the entire interview here.
