TJP Discusses His Early Training at the New Japan Dojo, Reveals He Slept in Chris Benoit’s Bed and Washed the Backs of Veterans

– WWE Superstar TJP recently discussed his time coming up at the NJPW dojo in an interview with the Wrassle Rap podcast. Below are some highlights (h/t Fightful.com).

TJP on his early training in the New Japan Dojo: “We had a lot of different guys coming in and teaching us stuff, which was really cool and then you know, [Antonio] Inoki himself, [Tatsumi] Fujinami and guys from early New Japan days. Like year one. They were [teaching] all the Karl Gotch stuff. The way that the Tokyo dojo is built on. They were showing us what they learned and how they were brought up so we probably got a more authentic New Japan young boy training. At least I did, because the other guys were a little older so I got the young boy treatment but we probably got more authentic lessons than a lot of actual New Japan guys have had for generations because a lot of that started to get lost in Tokyo but Inoki really grinded the year one stuff into us. So we’re basically just fighting everyday.”

TJP on how he slept in Chris Benoit’s bed in the dojo and washed the backs of veterans: “Yeah I did [sleep in the dojo]. They also shipped me off to Tokyo whereas the other guys, they may have spent another night or two in the dojo in Tokyo just if they arrived the day before a tour and they didn’t go to a hotel or something like that, but I actually had to go and be in the dorm rooms in Tokyo. I slept in Chris Benoit’s bed. I was in those dorm rooms and I would sweep the floors and help cook the meals. Thankfully, one of the young boys in my class, [Inzowa] was his name. He wanted to be chef. He didn’t really want to be a wrestler, he was just wrestling. So thankfully he cooked most of the meals because he loved cooking so I didn’t have to do that. But I’d sweep floors and wash Nakanishi’s back, Liger’s back, carry their bags. I did all that stuff. The other guys really didn’t have to do that sort of thing. If I had to go on tour, they would ship me out a month early, two weeks early and I would live in the dojo. Sometimes I would stay there between tours. I’d be there for three months at a time or something like that.”