With a lot of exciting names within the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic, there are very few that can claim to have traveled the ups and downs of life that TJ Perkins has experienced.
The 31-year-old spoke during his introduction on the WWE Network about his past struggles which rendered him homeless, but how it has been the foundation to give him the opportunity that now stands before him.
On making it look easy
Wrestling by today's standards is much more rigorous than a decade ago with forms to be signed regarding injuries and contracts of similar standing being a basic part of performing for any promotion.
However, this is today, back when Perkins was aged just 13-years-old a long 18 years ago, he first began his 'unregulated' wrestling journey that has enabled him to get to The Cruiserweight Classic.
He said "I have been wrestling for 18 long years I was 13 years old when I first started wrestling, I was a freshman at high school I started in Los Angeles - we have a lot of Lucha Libre culture there and it turns out that local places are ready to take you on at a young age unregulated."
Perkins cuts a humble figure but feels his confidence has never wavered, he believes that there are a lot of 'good wrestlers' within the competition but feels that he is the one performer that is able to make it look easy because of his experience.
He said "There is a lot of good wrestlers in the world, there is a lot of good performers but I like to think I am the one that makes it look good; I like to make it look easy, everybody thinks you have got to make it look hard I make it look easy."
On wrestling as his 'escape'
With his career well under way from a young age he encountered a difficult situation later on in life when he was rendered homeless which was something he described as being 'tough' and that failing was the 'hardest' thing.
Now a veteran of the industry and well back on his feet as one of the best cruiserweight performers in the world, he has used his history to build a future from, starting with the Cruiserweight Classic.
He said "I was blessed at a young age to do some really great things in some really big places and also at a young age I lost it all trying to continue that path and I wound up homeless for a little while because sometimes you bet the farm and you lose being homeless was tough and the hardest thing to fail."
With wrestling eventually helping him out of his slump in life, he now uses it as an advantage seeing his experiences as helping him 'mentally' which he feels is something that a lot of people fail to consider.
He said, "It turns out that wrestling was my only way to get out of that hole and I think it was life's way of telling me to grow up and it creates a lot of mental toughness and I think that is something that a lot of people do not understand how important that is when you think about the physical things, but mental toughness is what will really carry you through anything else."
On representing Filipino culture
The performer despite being born in Los Angeles identifies as a person of Filipino origin and feels that with him being here in the global competition he is 'representing' his culture and has the 'responsibility' from this to 'inspire' others.
He said, "I would like for people to see me wrestle and feel loved hopefully I can have people look at me and say you know what if you could do that that I can do this I definitely feel like I am representing the Philippines and my culture and now that I'm here I feel like it is part of my responsibility to inspire others."
With the competition start date looming, Perkins sets out a direct but humble message to any opponent he is set to come up against as he plans to put the world on notice as he said "I am going to win the Cruiserweight classic, this would be the biggest thing that I have done on the largest stage that I have been blessed to be a part of."
On developing 'mental toughness'
One thing that seemed to radiate from Perkins upon sitting next to lead commentator Mauro Ranello and color commentator Daniel Bryan was his positive mentality to prove that his past will not define his future.
He said, "I think I lacked [mental toughness] in my younger years as I have done this a long long time; I may be in a young man's body but up here I have an older mind."
"When I was younger a lot of great things came to me really easily I was blessed with things that maybe I didn't really deserve and I worked really hard to make it up in aggregate."
As he has since accepted his experiences he remains intent on them not holding him back as he said, "Those experiences developed perseverance in me and I think you change me as a man and help me become a man and I think that is what really has got me to this point."
On confidence
Having already been at an all time low, nothing is going to stop Perkins reaching for the stars and everything that he has accomplished so far has only reinforced his belief in his own ability.
Despite a huge amount of talent on display from the other 31 competitors who are all vying to be the final performer left standing, the former Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action wrestler is radiating confidence and feels he can beat anybody who he is put in front of.
He said, "I make it look easy; I think what part of my experience is that I am very versatile, I may joke but I am pretty confident anybody who I'm standing across from I have the tools to beat them."
Perkins will stand as a tough opponent for anybody and feels that for every move his competitor tries to use his "IQ" will provide him with the "answer" if he looks "hard enough."
On what he is hoping for AFTER the competition
With so much attention fixated on what happens during the competition, it is a welcomed surprise to see that Perkins is also focused on life after the Cruiserweight Classic but can still the bigger picture and the importance of the competition for the industry.
He said, "Looking back in history there is going to be people 10 years from now looking at this the way we used to look at the super j-cup so to be more than just a tiny footnote it is incredible."
With the tournament set to air on Wednesday, July 13th, Perkins understands that it will be the "biggest stage" that he will have been on due to the "reach" and feels that it is an "incredible experience" on what he described as a "groundbreaking" event.
His Filipino culture once again shone through during the closing of his segment as he remarks about not having many "heroes" within his culture and had very few to cling to.
He said, "The opportunity to represent my heritage as a Filipino (is something I am looking forward to) we are passionate people and we do not have a lot of heroes and I am a big advocate of Batista because we really cling to our heroes because we do not have a whole lot of them and I needed a lot of inspiration when things were hard for me and I needed to get things back."
Now standing as a successful performer who has overcome homelessness, he plans to remain as a hero for his own culture and to hopefully inspire the youth of tomorrow.