TJP On Why He Returned To Impact Wrestling, Possibly Resurrecting His Suicide Persona

Earlier this year TJP's three-year WWE run came to an end and he became a free agent. He had many offers but returned to Impact Wrestling which is where he first appeared as a jobber way back in 2004.

TJP talked about why he returned to Impact when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.

"They had been one of the first places to reach out. I had touched base with a lot of places that could be potential landing spots to me, but they had more of an idea of what they wanted to do immediately. There was one other place similarly reaching out to me that I hope will unfold pretty quickly," teased TJP.

"[Impact] offered a lot of freedom to me and had an idea. I just wanna wrestle so I was looking forward to getting back in. I really like their roster and what they've built. If I compare being a freelance wrestler to NBA free agency, they're like a team that's just reloaded and have a ton of stars. So why wouldn't you want to be a part of something that is operating from a clean slate?"

Another thing about Impact that TJP likes is that in the few shows since he's been back for, there's no separation in the roster. People open or close shows nightly and he praised the heavyweights, tags, women and X-Division talent and how deep the divisions are.

The only Impact title that TJP has ever won is the X-Division Title and he was asked if he still sees himself as an X-Division performer.

"I just want to get in where I fit in, you know? I don't have a specific goal in mind as it's a place where everybody on the roster is capable of doing amazing things. So, it doesn't really matter what match I end up in because the sky's the limit for any of those matches. It's not one of those situations where I feel that this is the goal I need to make because every single one of those would be goals I would write down," said TJP.

TJP last appeared as Suicide in Impact in 2013 and he was asked if we could see a return of that gimmick.

"Man I get asked that question a lot [laughs]. I think it was such a cool character because – there's like Kane – but there's not a lot of masked American characters like Rey Mysterio or Liger," stated TJP.

"I thought Suicide was pretty cool. It was one of those things for American wrestling that had its own folklore and obviously different guys interchanged through the mask. I think it would be really cool for it to come back in its original form. It's been so long since I've seen it in full gear so I don't know how well it would fit in?But I would personally like to see it because, selfishly, it was an important part of my history and I know a lot of fans miss it."

TJP then talked about what goals he has for his latest run with Impact Wrestling.

"Well I'm still trying to fly without landing for a while. But I really like what I've done so far and they have a hell of a team. I've discovered a lot of stuff that I hope to be able to do there," said TJP.

"Fallah Bahh is a really interested and talented fellow and we share a kinship with being Filipino, so I'd love to be able to do stuff with him. There's a lot of matches to be made so that even if I'm not there for a long time, I hope I can make some matches that would be fun."

TJP then put over guys like Willie Mack and Rich Swann and how he's happy to share a locker room with them again. He also talked more about ideas for a run with Fallah Bahh.

"In a perfect world we could be the Filipino Los Guerreros, but we'll see. We did hit it off pretty much immediately because that's just how Filipinos roll. So, the chemistry is definitely there," said TJP.

Speaking of being Filipino, TJP recently got to perform in his mother's birthplace of Manila. He discussed that experience.

"My mom is from Manila and I got to go back there in April. I was on an Asian tour and visited Taiwan and Manila," stated TJP. "I had some meetings pertaining to wrestling and worked on organizing being able to come back out for a show. This PWR card in October is one of the events we're hoping to set a date and get done. Thankfully we did; so I'm looking forward to it.

"I'm gonna come out early and be out there for a week or so. Hopefully some family can come with me and I have some family out there that I missed the last time. Hopefully I can get everybody together and it can be a family affair."

TJP can be seen every Friday night at 10 pm on Pursuit and Twitch as part of Impact Wrestling. He will also be heading to Manilla on October 13th for PWR's Homecoming. Tickets for PWR's Homecoming will be released shortly, follow PWR on Twitter at @pwrofficial to know when they are! His full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of Thursday's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it TJP discusses getting to perform in his mother's home country of Manilla, what Manilla's pro wrestling scene is like, why he returned to Impact Wrestling, his desire to resurrect the Suicide character, the differences between Impact's X-Division and WWE's Cruiserweight Division, Impact and WWEs' creative structures, the Jon Moxley – Chris Jericho interview and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.