| T.J. Perkins | |
|---|---|
Perkins in June 2011. |
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| Ring name(s) | Cobra II[1] Havana Pitbull III[1] J.T. Quinn[2] Pinoy Boy[1][3] Puma / Puma[1][3] Sydistiko[4] T.J. Perkins[2] TJP[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1][3] |
| Billed weight | 172 lb (78 kg)[1][3] |
| Born | September 2, 1984 [1][3] Kansas City, Missouri[1] |
| Resides | Los Angeles, California |
| Billed from | Parts Unknown (as Puma) Los Angeles, California (as T.J. Perkins) Seattle, Washington (as Sydistiko) |
| Trained by | Bill Anderson[3] Jesse Hernandez[3] Kevin Quinn[3] Negro Casas[3] Antonio Inoki[3] |
| Debut | January 2000[3] |
T.J. Perkins is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Ring of Honor (ROH), while also working on the independent circuit under his real name, under his initials TJP or under a mask as Puma (also stylized as PUMA).
Perkins debuted in January 2000 against Sun Warrior for the local Riverside promotion IWC run by Bill Anderson.[3] He has been quoted as saying his first year he wrestled, his paychecks were free hotdogs and nachos. At 15 years old, he was perceived to look too young for pro wrestling cards anywhere and was forced to don a mask for the first several months, wrestling under the name "The Pinoy Boy" T.J. Perkins. In order to make most of his matches he had to have older wrestlers pick him up from school early on Fridays, ditching most of those days' classes. He would travel and stay with them during the weekend to make out of town shows from Friday to Sunday. Because of this he barely graduated and in fact had to retake most of his classes all the way back from freshman year when he began wrestling professionally. After wrestling independent cards in California, Nevada, Arizona and Mexico during his first two years he was picked up by New Japan Dojo in Los Angeles along with friends Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero, who would later become the tag team known as the Havana Pitbulls. Several months later, Bryan Danielson followed the trio and the first group of L.A. dojo wrestlers was formed. They all made their debut in New Japan on the same Korakuen Hall card in October 2002, with Perkins' debuting as the maskless "Pinoy Boy" T.J. Perkins.
Prior to his debut in New Japan, during a try out with fellow dojo training partners the Havana Pitbulls and Bryan Danielson, Director Uwai of the New Japan office noticed similarities in the wrestling styles between T.J. and the Original Tiger Mask. It was after a second tour of New Japan for the Young Lions Cup in March 2003 that T.J. was given the character Puma from New Japan, with the gimmick being an American answer to Tiger Mask and the one-word moniker being inspired by T.J.'s New Japan mentor Minoru Tanaka, who was then known as "Heat".
In January 2004, the masked Puma wrestled on two Major League Wrestling television tapings, losing to The Stampede Bulldogs (Harry Smith and TJ Wilson). On the second night of TV tapings, Puma lost a 4 way match featuring Jack Evans, Chasyn Rance and MLW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Sonjay Dutt. Both matches aired on MLW Underground television in January and February 2004 on the Sunshine Network, Fox Sports Net and DirecTV.
Puma wrestled in the 2005 Super 8 tournament and made it all the way to finals before ultimately losing to Petey Williams.
On day two of the 2005 Pacific Cup tournament on April 23, 2005, Aaron Idol beat Puma and Bryan Danielson in a triple threat match in the finals of the Pacific Cup tournament that lasted 30 minutes. After the match Danielson broke the Pacific Cup trophy and said that ECCW was inferior to New Japan Pro Wrestling. Puma and Danielson then beat down Idol. Promoter Dave Republic then issued a challenge to New Japan and gave Antonio Inoki 30 days to respond. Inoki did not reply and the challenge was then dropped as a result.
T.J. Perkins debuted in EWF on September 22, 2005 at Chaos. T.J. Perkins teamed with Dan Kobrick to defeat Big Ugly and Vinnie Massaro.
On December 23, 2005 at EWF's Holiday Fear T.J. Perkins got a shot at the EWF Cruiserweight Champion Joey Harder in a Triple-Threat EWF Cruiserweight Championship Match. The match pitted Joey Harder (Cruiserweight Champion) against Rocky Romero and T.J. Perkins. Joey had his work cut out for him as he faced off against two elite wrestlers, not just in the cruiserweight scene, but in the entire independent professional wrestling circuit. In a strange turn of events, Harder and Romero actually worked as a team to eliminate the explosive Perkins from the match up. Vicious Irish Whips into the corner, compounded by double boots to the chest, and a toss from the ring to the concrete floor were enough to debilitate Perkins and keep him from asserting himself during the match. The impromptu partnership quickly dissolved when Romero tried to pin Perkins for the victory. An enraged Harder quickly turned on Romero with a fury of chops to the chest. With Perkins dazed on the outside, Harder dodged a superkick from Romero and cinched in his Harder Driver, securing the victory and retaining his Cruiserweight Title.[5]
At Zero Tolerance on January 27, 2006, Perkins faced "The Russian Hooligan" Alex Pincheck. Pincheck had scouted Perkins at EWF's Holiday Fear and was impressed by the young superstar, calling him "one of the best cruiserweights in the world." After Pincheck pinned Perkins, the referee informed the ring announcer that his hand never fully hit the mat for the three count, and ordered the match restarted. Perkins took advantage and quickly rolled up Pincheck for the victory.[5]
After this, Perkins continued his quest for the Cruiserweight Championship on February 12, 2006. However, Joey Harder continued to prove his dominance in the Cruiserweight division. The match was a technical clinic with five minutes of solid chain wrestling. The two men never broke the test of strength hold that they used to start the match. With no clear cut favorite, TJ decided to take his ground game to the air. However, a missed plancha from the top rope would prove costly. Harder used the opening to go to work on the right arm of Perkins. The unrelenting Harder then executed a painful Fujiwara arm bar which caused the young cruiserweight to tap to the veteran champion, Harder.
On March 19, 2006, Perkins teamed with Brandon Nitro to take on Jason King and Dan "The Man" Kobrick. The match began as King and Perkins, who went hold to hold to start the match om a technical wrestling clinic. Perkins would toss King to the outside to taunt his opponent. King made his way back and both men tagged their partners. Nitro and Kobrick slugged it out in the ring as Nitro goaded Kobrick to the ropes. Nitro then locked in Kobrick in the illegal Tarantula submission maneuver but was forced to break the hold after a five count. The damage was done as an injured Kobrick made his way to his corner and tagged in King. Nitro tagged in Perkins who entered with a Springboard Centon landing on King! The two high flyers had the match well in hand as Nitro hit the Nitrous 450 splash to win the match![5]
On EWF's card on September 8, 2006, Perkins made a bid to obtain EWF gold by taking on the World Champion Bino Gmabino. T.J. Perkins defeated Bino Gambino by countout. Both men demanded an additional 5 minutes which EWF officials gave them. They wrestled to a draw. The EWF gold remained out of reach for T.J.[5] On November 21, 2006; T.J. Perkins took on the new EWF Cruiserweight Champion Ryan Taylor for the Cruiserweight title. However; T.J. bids for EWF gold ended in failure when Ryan pinned him.[5]
In November 2006, T.J. Perkins entered in the EWF's Inland Title Series Tournament against Joey Harder, Jason King, and Hook Bomberry. Round One of the ITS was Joey Harder vs T.J. Perkins on November 24. T.J. Perkins and Joey Harder wrestled to a draw. In Round Two, T.J. defeated Hook Bomberry. In Round Three, T.J. managed to pull out the victory over Jason King to become 2-0-1 in the Inland Title Series. The final match of the tournament was held on January 5, 2007 in Covina CA. The finalist were T.J. Perkins and Joey Harder. The two started off with a hand shake, surprisingly initiated by Joey. The two battled it out on the mat where Perkins kept getting the upper hand on Harder. It seemed at times Perkins was just toying with Harder by making every counter look simple and letting the fans know it. A frustrated Harder questioned TJ's respect for the match by asking him if he was a clown or a wrestler and at that point it was all business from there. The two go to the mat yet again but this time Joey is on the offense and stays there for quite some time. As Joey was moments away from taking this match Perkins cam back with unbelievable speed and gained a ton of momentum with fierce kicks to the leg and back. It seemed like it was TJ's match until Joey applied his signature Lion Tamer. On this night, Perkins heart was too big to tap out so quickly. After suffering and suffering, he managed to grab the ropes to break the hold. Joey sent him to the ropes and Perkins shocked fans with a hurricanrana that was quickly countered into another Lion Tamer from Harder, this time in the middle of the ring forcing TJ to submit. He placed second in the tournament with a final score of 2-1-1.[6]
On June 27, 2008 at EWF's Knockdown Dragout 2 in Covina CA; Famous For Fearless (T.J. Perkins & Liger Rivera) took on La Ola Del Mal in their last chance at the EWF Tag Team Titles.Black Metal and Extreme Loco isolated Liger Rivera for a good portion of the match and it looked as though they would retain the titles yet again. However, Liger Rivera and TJ Perkins scored the pinfall victory and became the new EWF Tag Team Champions.[7]
Perkins has also made appearances as Puma with TNA, debuting in 2004, when he worked as a jobber in several TNA Xplosion tapings. He was also the first man eliminated in the 2004 Super X-Cup. His first significant performance in TNA was representing Japan in an "International X Showcase" match at Destination X, facing Petey Williams, Chris Sabin and Sonjay Dutt, but ultimately losing to Sabin. He also competed in an Xscape match at the following month's Lockdown. Puma was later a member of Team Mexico in the 2006 World X-Cup, alongside Incognito, Magno and Shocker. In that tournament, he lost a second round match to Team USA captain Chris Sabin, and was the last man eliminated in the third round gauntlet match, by Team Canada captain Petey Williams. Team Mexico finished third of four in the event with four points.
On February 9, 2006, Puma wrestled as part of MTV's inaugural TV taping for their new Wrestling Society X promotion in Los Angeles, California. In addition to WSX, he was a regular member of the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla roster, where he wrestled as T.J. Perkins and Puma.
He also competed as a semi-regular in Japan, working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he owns the record of the youngest non-Japanese wrestler to compete for the promotion (only 18 years and 3 weeks of age). A common misconception is that he was a student of Bryan Danielson at this point, however they were actually training partners along with the Havana Pitbulls. He also competed and received training in the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre.
After returning to the United States, Perkins competed at Ring of Honor's Fifth Year Festival: Philly show, losing to Nigel McGuinness.
TNA Mobile sent out a text message saying Perkins, as Puma, and Elix Skipper would be returning at Victory Road in the 10-Man Ultimate X Gauntlet. Puma ended up being eliminated first in the Gauntlet section of the match. Puma made another appearance in the 2008 TNA World X Cup finals at Victory Road in an elimination match, where he was the second one eliminated.
After brief stints in ROH and TNA, Perkins has since returned to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and has been a regular since 2007. In 2008 TJ Perkins competed in the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament (DDT4) round robin qualifier series, teaming with Hook Bomberry. Throughout the whole series the team used dirty tactics to pick up wins. At "Pearl Habra" the team defeated The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) after Perkins rolled up Matt and Bomberry held onto his legs, rendering him unable to kick out. After the match The Young Bucks complained to the referee about this, but the referee said he didn't see anything. Perkins claimed he didn't know it happened and apologized to The Young Bucks by shaking their hands. The teams next match in the series saw them face Los Luchas at "¡Dia de los Dangerous!" in a losing effort. At "Scared Straight" they defeated Scorpio Sky and Ronin via disqualification after the referee got knocked down and Perkins used "the old Eddie Guerrero tactic" to trick the referee into thinking Ronin used a chair. Later in the night Perkins and Bomberry interrupted the match between the Young Bucks and Los Luchas, causing a double disqualification. This led to a fatal-four way elimination tag team match taking place at "1.21 Gigawatts". Perkins and Bomberry managed to eliminate the team of Scorpio Sky and Ronin in the same way they defeated the Young Bucks in their first match. However, they were eliminated from the match after Bomberry took a double team powerbomb from Los Luchas. Los Luchas would go on to win the match. After the qualifier series Perkins and Bomberry got one last chance to enter the DDT4, facing Scorpio Sky and Ronin once again at "It's a Gift.... and a Curse", in a losing effort.
Later in 2008 Perkins would participate in PWG's Battle of Los Angeles. This would be his first time entering the tournament. He was supposed to enter it in previous years, but could not due to injury. On the first night of the event Perkins defeated Chuck Taylor via reverse decision when it was discovered that Taylor had used to brass knuckles. On the second night of the tournament Perkins faced Bryan Danielson in what has been called Perkins best match to date. Perkins was defeated via sunset flip, thus being eliminated from the tournament.
On February 21, 2009, Perkins wrestled his last match in PWG, losing to B-Boy, before moving from California to the East Coast.[8] Once there, he joined the rosters of FIP, Pro Wrestling eKlipse, and I Believe In Wrestling, all located in Florida. His debut match in FIP was a loss against now FIP champion Davey Richards. He has also defeated CJ O'Doyle and recently lost his first eKlipse title match against PWe Hybrid Champion Josh Rayne.
On September 22, 2009, Perkins, under his Puma gimmick, returned to TNA to wrestle in a dark match, where he was defeated by Colt Cabana.[9] Perkins worked two more dark matches under the ring name T.J. Perkins during the January 10–12, 2011, tapings of TNA Impact!.[10]
On the October 19 episode of WWE Raw, Perkins appeared and was scheduled to face The Miz, but ended up being replaced by Marty Jannetty before the match got under way.[11] The following day Perkins, under the name J.T. Quinn, appeared on ECW on Syfy in a match against Sheamus. The match resulted in a disqualification after Shelton Benjamin attacked Sheamus. Matt Striker mentioned Perkins' Puma name during commentary for the match, relating to his speed and agility.[12]
TJ has recently began going by just TJP in matches. He begun working for Dragon Gate USA and Evolve in 2009 and 2010. He also went to Japan for a match against Ultimo Dragon using his real name. In Dragon Gate USA he faced Akuma and Brad Allen then stopped appearing at Dragon Gate USA. On Evolve's first show he faced Munenori Sawa in what many thought was the match of the night though TJP ended up losing. Then he had a match with newcomer Kyle O'Reily which he won then challenged Sawa to a rematch. TJ has yet to appear at Evolve since.
Perkins faced off against Colt Cabana at Final Battle 2010 Internet pay-per-view (iPPV) on December 18 in which he lost. On October 6, 2011, ROH announced that Perkins had signed a contract with the promotion.[13]
In late May-early June 2011, Perkins, under the ring name TJP, took part in New Japan Pro Wrestling's Best of the Super Juniors tournament. After winning three of his eight matches in the round robin stage of the tournament, TJP finished seventh out of the nine wrestlers in his block and didn't advance to the semifinals.[14]
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