On Wednesday night, TJ Perkins was crowned the inaugural winner of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic as well as the brand new Cruiserweight champion. Now before heading on the road with the WWE and the Monday Night Raw brand, Perkins spoke with Sporting News about his journey, working with Triple H and the moment of winning the tournament itself.
You can check out a couple highlights of the interview below.
What was the moment like in the ring? You win and they're getting ready to officially announce you. What was that moment like following two very physical, great matches?
It's crazy. For me, it's been such a long road. The bell rings and it's like this weight lifted off your shoulders. You just think about all the things that you went through to get there. And I think it's the same for a lot of athletes in that position. Then the ceremony starts and, for me, I thought about a lot of my heroes when they had their first big one. I thought about (Muhammad) Ali when he won his first world title against (Sonny) Liston and I thought about Shawn Michaels when he won his first world title. Eddie Guerrero, same thing. I could replay those celebrations in my head, like, I remember everything they did. I remember how the crowd looked, how the atmosphere felt, all those different things. Shawn Michaels, for example, I was there live, which was pretty cool for me. So before you know it, yours has unraveled and there's other people watching yours and you're like, wow, it's hard to believe it's real.
How does it feel to be kicked by Kota Ibushi?
It feels like death (laughs). Some people had commented about my blocking and catching the first few. My only return comment is I wish I had done that for the remaining 20, as well. It's pretty rough.
When did you find out that the finals match was not just going to decide the winner of the tournament but was the cruiserweight champion?
Pretty much when everybody saw the belt along with me in front of everybody. I didn't get a chance to see it or understand that that was what the stakes are. You get a feeling that a lot of this stuff is going to be correlated and, definitely, winning the tournament is going to mean something, but until everyone has a chance to see it ... I found out like everyone else (laughs).
It's really a spectacular interview that any fan should check out. You can read the full thing for yourself on SportingNews.com.
