T. J. Perkins
 |
 TJ Perkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | T. J. Perkins Cobra II Puma / PUMA Pinoy Boy |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
| Billed weight | 172 lb (78 kg) |
| Billed from | Parts Unknown (as PUMA) Riverside, California (as "The Pinoy Boy" T. J. Perkins) |
| Trained by | Bill Anderson, Jessie Hernandez, Kevin Quinn, Negro Casas, Antonio Inoki |
| Debut | January 2000 |
T. J. Perkins is an American professional wrestler from Southern California. Perkins wrestled under the alias "The Pinoy Boy" T. J. Perkins, and most notably, the mask-wearing Puma (also spelt as PUMA).
Early career
T. J. Perkins Debut in January 2000 for the local Riverside promotion IWC run by Bill Anderson. 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 the 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 L.A. along with friends Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero of the Havana Pitbulls. Several months later American Dragon 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. T.J. debut as the maskless Pinoy boy T. J. Perkins.
Masked PUMA
Prior to his debut in New Japan,during a try out with fellow dojo training partners the Pitbulls and American Dragon, Director Uwai of New Japan office noticed similarities in 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. The idea being an American answer to Tiger Mask, and the one-word moniker inspired by T.J.`s New Japan mentor Minoru Tanaka who was then known as "HEAT".
2005 ECWA Super 8 Tournament
Puma wrestled in the 2005 Super 8 tournament, losing to Petey Williams in the finals.
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
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.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004, 2006)
He has also made appearances as simply 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 TNA Destination X 2006, 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 would later be 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.
Wrestling Society X
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. He's a regular member of the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla roster, where he wrestles as T. J. Perkins (as well as PUMA).
New Japan Pro Wrestling/Ring of Honor
He also competes as a semi-regular in Japan, working for NJPW, 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 states, Perkins competed at Ring of Honor's Supercard of Honor II show, losing to Nigel McGuinness.
Return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007)
TNA Mobile sent out a text message saying Perkins (Reviving his "Puma" gimmick) and Elix Skipper would be returning at TNA Victory Road 2007 in the 10-Man Ultimate X Gauntlet. Puma ended up being eliminated 1st in the Gauntlet section of the match.
In wrestling
Finishing and signature moves
- Figure Four Deathlock (Leglock cloverleaf)
- Puma Driver (Tilt-a-Whirl tombstone piledriver)
- 720° DDT (Twisting springboard tornado DDT)
- Puma-Plex (Tiger suplex pin)
- Puma Spike (Tiger feint kick)
- Brainbuster
- Side slam backbreaker
- German suplex
- Various kicks
- European uppercut
- Double arm vertical suplex
- Spinning heel-kick
- Fisherman buster
- Flipping senton
- Baseball slide to headscissors takedown
- Corkscrew slingshot crossbody
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time APW World Internet Champion
- CMLL Best New Sensation 2003
- CMLL Match of the Year 2003
- UIWA
- 1-time UIWA Lightweight Champion
- Youngest American to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome (18)
- Youngest Gaijin in New Japan history (18 yrs 3 weeks)
Trivia
- T.J.`s favorite wrestlers are Eddie Guerrero, Satoru Sayama, Shawn Michaels and Nick Bockwinkel.
- His favorite match as a fan is the 1959 NWA World title match between Pat O'Connor and "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers.
- T.J. loves ice hockey and plays on his spare time in Riverside.
- Despite conflicting references to the nationality of PUMA in TNA, Perkins is actually of Filipino and Irish descent. Noted in his nickname "The Pinoy Boy." "Pinoy" is the Tagalog term for a Filipino male.