TJ Perkins Says the Cruiserweight Talents Used to Work Under NXT Deals, Discusses the Differences Between NXT and 205 Live Creative Teams

– WrestlingInc.com recently interviewed former WWE Superstar and Cruiserweight champion TJ Perkins. Perkins was released from WWE earlier this year. Below are some highlights, courtesy of WrestlingInc.com

Perkins on 205 Live Superstars working under NXT deals: “We all had NXT deals. Mine was pretty big. They offered me two raises before I actually had a deal because they thought I might go somewhere else. I remember getting more than what was normal, but it was still an NXT deal.”

Perkins on the best deal is to be an NXT deal but working on the main roster: “If you’re on NXT and you’re wrestling on the main roster, that’s the best-case scenario because you’re making a lot extra and getting to keep a lot of it because you don’t have to handle rental cars and stuff like that.”

Perkins on how he did in WWE in terms of pay and merchandising: “I did really well at the gate. I think even to this day none of the cruiserweights lucked out as much as what I got initially. I got like six shirts and two action figures and some of the guys are just getting their first shirts and figures now, which sucks. That’s something that could have really helped the perception of the cruiserweights in terms of the fans if there was more stuff like that put out.”

Perkins on the main difference in the creative teams: “There’s not much difference in regards to tone, but I think that only comes up because one group knows that they are gonna have to work directly with Vince on some things. And the other group knows they really aren’t working with Vince on some things. Other than that, they are two separate teams. So, just because you work well with one and they are familiar with you doesn’t mean the other group will know anything about you.”

TJ Perkins on the different Cruiserweight title lineages: “I think because it was a different lineage, it’s kind of hard to explain without using a full sentence. So, they needed something that would fit on an index card-size writeup. It’s hard to say, ‘First-ever Cruiserweight Champion within the last 10 years of this generation only because we started a new title and are doing something totally different.’ That’s kind of hard to put on one thing, so you know what, just call him First-Ever.”

TJ Perkins on WWE keeping talent in the dark on how the Cruiserweight division would work: “I didn’t really know it would be a division. No one really did. I think around the last night of the tournament they were like, ‘Ok. We’re gonna have a bunch of you guys on Raw and include you like this…’ We found out at the end of the tournament – almost at the same time as everybody else. A little confusing but that’s kind of the way they do business in terms of communication. They are vague and don’t like to promise stuff because things are always changing. I can understand being in their shows because don’t communicate something that sounds a certain way, because if it turns out to change, you don’t wanna be left holding that bag. This is a perfect example of one of those cases where it was an ever-changing thing. So, it would have been a huge disappointment if it was communicated a certain way to us.”