TJP On Fan Reception And Blurring The Lines In MLW: ‘There’s Magic To That’
TJP is OK being the bad guy.
TJP recently spoke with WrestleZone about the reception he’s been getting as of late in Major League Wrestling. He’s been portrayed as a babyface in many promotions he’s been part of, but there’s also a contingent of fans on social media that don’t embrace him. Leaning a bit more into heel territory with MLW, TJP cut a promo on Davey Richards and called him out for quitting the business, and the fans answered with some expletive-filled chants at a recent taping in Philadelphia.
Asked if he’s leaning into the perception that some fans have about him on social media, or if it was just a playful jab, TJP said he doesn’t want to pull the curtain back too much, but it’s nice blurring those lines a bit.
“It’s a little bit of ‘Column A’ and a little bit of ‘Column B’, I guess. I hate to pull back curtains as a magician but I guess I’ll do it in this case a little bit. People didn’t respect [‘Rowdy’ Roddy] Piper in 1984. We do now, but at the time, you wanted to set the guy on fire and I think there’s magic to that. So, I don’t know,” he said, “is it leaning in or is it really me? It’s kind of nice not letting people know if it is or isn’t.
“It definitely was a playful jab [calling out Davey Richards] and perhaps it’s what a lot of people were thinking and were maybe reluctant to say out loud. And in a lot of ways, it’s fun because Davey, like [Alex] Shelley is a good friend of mine, I’ve known him a long, long time, so it can be that as well. But as a ‘fourth wall’ sort of thing, if I’m supposed to be a bad guy, I don’t want you to respect me as an artist. If you don’t really hate me, then what am I doing right?” he added. “That’s how we identify the best magicians. In my opinion, that’s how we identify them.”
TJP ultimately became the man under the Suicide mask in TNA, but he recently shared how the mantle was passed on over the years, and how Frankie Kazarian was initially reluctant to take on the role. You can read his remarks on how he finally took over the mantle at this link.