Rocky Romero Talks Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJP Being In The Super J-Cup

NJPW1972.com sat down to chat with Rocky Romero about the 2019 Super J-Cup tournament lineup and to break down the first-round matches that fans will see in Tacoma, Washington.

When asked about being in the Super J-Cup, Rocky Romero said that he was pretty stoked about it. He also spoke about how the tournament got a lot of junior heavyweights hooked on pro wrestling.

"I'm pretty stoked about it, actually," Romero said. "For a junior heavyweight, the J-Cup is the tournament that got a lot of us hooked on pro wrestling. Even more than Best of the Super Juniors, that was the tournament that made the rounds among people who were getting into NJPW and Japanese wrestling in the late 90s and early 2000s. To be in it is a dream I never thought would be possible."

Romero talked about former WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJP's match against newbie Clark Connors as well as TJP's start in NJPW as Pinoy Boy.

"It's kind of cool," Romero admitted. "The old guard, the original LA Dojo versus the new LA Dojo. TJP's technical skills are going to mesh really well with Connors' amateur background, I think. And TJP was in a Young Lions Cup himself back in the day (in 2004 as Pinoy Boy, TJP went 2-2-3, including scoring a win over Hirooki Goto) so he's familiar with the Japanese system. New fans are in for a treat with him. He's so smooth, just flawless with his technical execution in the ring. He's a treat to watch."

Rocky Romero discussed Amazing Red's influence and how vocal Will Ospreay was about wanting to wrestle Amazing Red.

"He's so, so, influential," Romero said about Amazing Red. "Put simply, this guy has innovated more maneuvers than anyone can count that are still being used today. Look at his Code Red, which Goto uses a version of today. He's? Amazing! It's crazy, him being in the tournament. I think it all stemmed from (Will) Ospreay. Red said he was going to retire and take some time away from wrestling, which led Ospreay to become very vocal about wanting to wrestle him before he hung the boots up because Red was such an influence on him. Now we have the J-Cup, and Red versus Ospreay in the main event in Tacoma."

Romero also discussed the other first-round matches like Caristico vs BUSHI and how Jonathan Gresham and Ryusuke Taguchi could be a sleeper hit match. To read the whole interview, please click here.