TJP Comments On Anthem Becoming AXS TV Majority Stakeholder, Praises Current Impact Product
Impact Wrestling's parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment recently announced that they acquired a majority interest in Mark Cuban's AXS TV. There had been rumblings for a few weeks that Anthem was looking to do this, but many of the Impact talent had no idea that the deal would be completed this soon.
TJP talked about being in the dark about the deal when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I don't know that anybody knew at the time that we were at TV because there was no meeting or maybe they weren't ready to tell everybody yet," said TJP. "Or maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I daydream a lot and am usually not too concerned about details of stuff that isn't something that somebody needs me to do.
"But it's a step in the right direction. I feel their show is about as complete a package as it's ever been. Having been there during various stages, this is the best form it's ever been and I felt their distribution deal was holding them back. Now they have a chance to make up a lot of that ground and I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
Perkins joked that with Impact, NJPW and WOW all on the same network it's kind of like the non-WWE network.
It's no secret that WWE with NXT and AEW will be going head-to-head shortly and TJP was asked if he'd like to see Impact go up against another promotion directly.
"I don't know. Part of the wrestling fan in me likes the idea of head-to-head competition. But part of me likes the progression approach of exploring all of the different mediums that we can present content on. At a certain point, the world that we live in?this wrestling bubble has gotten so big and it's hard to comprehend what head-to-head competition is anymore," admitted TJP.
"Concentrating on your own momentum first [should be our focus]?rather than thinking we've gotta compete with one specific place when there's like eight places to compete with."
In non-wrestling news as related to TJP, he recently received an offer from Bellator to fight in mixed martial arts. TJP has yet to commit to a fight and he was asked how Impact would feel about him taking a fight.
"I did mention it at the last tapings but it was casual and wasn't big news or anything. They were cool about it and supportive," stated TJP. "But it's not really a gateway or bridge for me. If I did one, I don't think I would do a second one ? win or lose.
"I'm not too stressed about never having done it vs. not doing at all. If it doesn't make sense, then I just won't do it. But if it does and I can have some fun with it, then I would love to do it."
Veteran wrestler/MMA figther Ken Shamrock was present at the last Impact TV tapings in Las Vegas and Perkins was asked if he was able to catch up with Shamrock about possible doing MMA.
"No, I saw him a little bit but I actually talked to [former MMA fighter] Stephen Bonner because I've been around him more than Shamrock in recent years. I haven't spoken to Ken in like 15 years so I didn't get a chance to chat with him about it," said Perkins who then added that he would like to physically look like Shamrock when he's that age.
"He's goals to what I would love to be able to ease into later in my career."
TJP's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it TJP discusses his MMA training background, the MMA legends he's trained with 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.