TJP Told WWE He Wanted Zack Sabre Jr. In Cruiserweight Classic Final, Was Rejected

Former WWE superstar TJ Perkins won the Cruiserweight Classic in the Summer of 2016, capturing the Cruiserweight Championship in the process after defeating Gran Metalik in the tournament final.

TJP recently sat down with Wrestling Epicenter’s Interactive Wrestling Radio and discussed a variety of topics, including finding out he was winning the Cruiserweight Classic.

Perkins revealed that the company even asked him who he wanted to face in the finals. He explained what he requested Zack Sabre Jr., but higher-ups went with Gran Metalik instead:

I knew I was going to win because they asked me who I wanted to wrestle in the finals after round 1. (laughs) I knew everyone was looking at Zack and Kota (Ibushi) and they were in separate brackets. Something I came to find out about WWE is they do stuff like that on purpose because they know a certain subculture of fans is going to fantasy book that. So, they plant that seed because then they know they don’t have to do any more work because that group is already going to be hooked on it. So, they asked me who I wanted and they gave me a choice between Zack (Sabre Jr) and Metalik and I actually chose Zack. I’m good friends with Metalik, I’m good friends with Zack. But, I really wanted Zack. In the end, I think they felt that maybe Zack and I were a little too similar – Not too similar but with Metalik, maybe they’d get a more diverse match and maybe a more diverse demographic as well. So, I knew right from the beginning that I was going to go to the final at least on my side of the bracket anyway.”

Perkins also spoke about his feelings on smaller guys like Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston having reigns with the WWE Championship:

“The real reason to that is the world is getting greener. That’s just the way it is. People are getting closer to their natural… (laughs) You know, like, that is just not the way the world was for the longest time. Technically speaking, almost everyone is obese at least by definition because we’re not the healthiest version of ourselves or as we could be as God intended. So, I think the world being greener contributed to it – People are leaner now and operating differently. Conversely, in the carnival days, what made wrestling different in an archaic system where guys weren’t as talented and the system wasn’t as much of a well oiled machine as far as having an upbringing in wrestling, people wanted to see the unattainable, the literally larger than life. But, now that there are a lot more elements to it, the necessity for guys like that is a lot lower.”

Thanks to Fightful for the transcription.

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• TJ Perkins
• Zack Sabre Jr
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