Early career (1998–2001) Perkins first began his training at the age of 13, at a local
lucha libre school in his hometown of
Los Angeles, California. In December 2004, Puma won the
All Pro Wrestling (APW) Worldwide Internet Championship by defeating J.J. Perez. He held the championship until July 2005, when he lost it to Perez. In January 2005, Perkins as Puma debuted in
Full Impact Pro (FIP) by defeating Azrieal. At
Unfinished Business, Puma was attacked by Azrieal and his ally
CM Punk, and at the following show Puma lost a singles match to Punk. He developed a winning streak, defeating
Jay Bradley, Nigel McGuinness, and
Sal Rinauro. He also competed in
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling's
Pacific Cup in 2005, where he faced
Aaron Idol and Bryan Danielson in a three-way match in the final, which was won by Idol. In August 2005, Perkins debuted in UWA Hardcore Wrestling as Puma, in a loss to Ricky Reyes. In May 2006, Puma defeated
M-Dogg 20 to win the UWA Canadian Championship. He successfully defended the championship against Petey Williams the following month, before losing the championship to M-Dogg 20 in July. In October, Puma participated in UWA's Grand Prix Tournament, where he defeated
Kazuchika Okada and Dan Paysan en route to the final, where he lost to Sonjay Dutt. He continued wrestling for UWA throughout 2007, competing against wrestlers including
Último Dragón and Daisuke Hanaoka. in 2016 Perkins debuted in the
Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) on September 22, 2005, at
Chaos, teaming with Dan Kobrick to defeat Big Ugly and Vinnie Massaro. On December 23, at EWF's
Holiday Fear Perkins challenged EWF Cruiserweight Champion Joey Harder in a Triple Threat Championship match, which also involved Rocky Romero and was won by the defending champion Harder. Perkins continued to challenge Harder for the Cruiserweight Championship. In a match on February 12, 2006, Harder defeated Perkins by submission. On September 8, Perkins faced EWF World Champion Bino Gambino, defeating him by countout. When the match was restarted, they wrestled to a draw. On June 27, 2008, at
Knockdown Dragout 2, the team of Perkins and Liger Rivera (collectively known as Famous For Fearless) challenged La Ola Del Mal for the EWF Tag Team Championship, and were successful. In 2006, Puma wrestled as part of
MTV's inaugural television taping for the
Wrestling Society X (WSX) promotion, participating in a battle royal but being eliminated by
Vampiro and competing in dark matches against
Altar Boy Luke and
Human Tornado. In a 2009 interview, Perkins stated he asked to be released from his contract with WSX, calling the promotion "terrible". Over the next two years, Perkins competed for several different
National Wrestling Alliance promotions, and on June 1, 2008, at Mach One Wrestling's debut show, he won a battle royal to become the
NWA Heritage Champion. He began working for
Dragon Gate USA and
Evolve in 2010 as TJP. On Evolve's first show he faced
Munenori Sawa in a losing effort, before defeating Kyle O'Reilly at
Evolve 3. In Dragon Gate USA, he defeated
Gran Akuma at the
DGUSA Fearless pay-per-view. In March 2010, Perkins made his debut for
Westside Xtreme Wrestling at their debut show in the United States, losing to
Zack Sabre Jr. He also travelled to
Germany to wrestle for the promotion in July 2010.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2003–2015) Perkins first began competing in the
Southern California promotion
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) in 2003 as "Pinoy Boy" T.J. Perkins, appearing at
Are You Adequately Prepared To Rock?! where he pinned
Vito Thomaselli and
An Inch Longer Than Average where he was on the losing end of a
six-man tag team match. After changing his ring name to Puma in December 2003, he entered the Tango and Cash Invitational Tournament to determine the inaugural
PWG World Tag Team Champions with
Samoa Joe as his partner. The pair made it to the second round before being eliminated. Throughout the remainder of 2004, Puma competed regularly in singles matches, defeating competitors including Ricky Reyes,
Tony Kozina,
Brad Bradley, and
The UK Kid. In the first half of the following year, he competed sporadically in PWG, mainly in
elimination matches. In July 2005, he changed his ring name to TJ Perkins, and defeated
Davey Richards and
Hardkore Kidd in successive singles matches, but Perkins and
Alex Shelley subsequently lost a tag team match to the duo. Perkins went on to lose a singles match to Shelley at
After School Special. Perkins finished out the year in tag team matches with various partners, and began 2006 the same way. He transitioned back into singles competition at
Beyond The Thunderdome in March 2006, defeating Mr. Excitement, before embarking on a losing streak that lasted until June, when he defeated
Excalibur. His losing streak included a loss to Rocky Romero in singles competition and alongside him in a tag team match. The duo faced off again at
Self-Titled in October, which Perkins won, but he lost a rematch that same month. He later developed a
feud with Bino Gambino, facing him in several six-man tag team matches in early 2007. In May, Perkins defeated Gambino in a singles match, before they returned to being on opposite sides in tag team matches in mid-2007. 's
Scared Straight in 2008 In January 2008 Perkins formed a regular tag team with Hook Bomberry, and the pairing competed in the
Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament round robin qualifier series. At
Pearl Habra the team defeated
The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson), but lost their next match to
Los Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre) at
¡Dia de los Dangerous!. At
Scared Straight they defeated
Scorpio Sky and Ronin by
disqualification, and later in the night Perkins and Bomberry interrupted the match between the Young Bucks and Los Luchas, causing a
no contest. This led to a four-way elimination tag team match taking place at
1.21 Gigawatts, which was won by Los Luchas. After the qualifier series Perkins and Bomberry got one last chance to enter the DDT4, facing Scorpio Sky and Ronin once again at ''It's a Gift.... and a Curse'', in a losing effort. Perkins went on to defeat Charles Mercury and
Mikey Nicholls and Mark Davis and Ash Riot in tag team matches, before Perkins returned to singles competition. In November, Perkins participated in PWG's
Battle of Los Angeles for the first time. He defeated
Chuck Taylor in the first round, but was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Bryan Danielson in the second. In January and February 2009, Perkins lost singles matches to both
Austin Aries and
B-Boy. After moving to Florida in early 2009, Perkins stopped appearing for PWG. He competed regularly for the promotion in 2012 with mixed results. In September, he entered the
2012 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating
Joey Ryan in the first round before losing to
Sami Callihan in the quarter-finals.
Ring of Honor (2003–2012) in 2011, but asked for his release the following year Perkins debuted in
Ring of Honor (ROH) in December 2003, using the name Puma, and lost to Josh Daniels. Puma returned to ROH in February 2005, losing to
Homicide and
James Gibson in successive singles matches. His next appearances were in August 2005, where he was on the losing end of a tag team match alongside
Jimmy Rave and a singles match against Ricky Reyes. In his next appearance at ROH's
Fifth Year Festival: Philly show in February 2007, saw Perkins compete under his real name and lose to
Nigel McGuinness. In January 2011, Perkins appeared for ROH at their
WrestleReunion show
Showdown in the Sun II, where he lost to Davey Richards. In March, he lost to
Chris Hero and
El Generico, before ROH announced that Perkins had signed a contract with the promotion on October 6. He accrued further losses to
Jay Briscoe,
Jay Lethal, and
Mike Bennett in November and December. In March 2012 he appeared at the pay-per-view
10th Anniversary Show, suffering a tag team loss. As part of the
Chikara vs. ROH rivalry, Perkins wrestled at
Showdown in the Sun, defeating
Fire Ant. At
Unity, Fire Ant and his allies from
The Colony defeated Perkins, Jay Lethal, and
Adam Cole in a six-man tag team match. In April, Perkins began a feud with
Mike Mondo, defeating him in a singles match before teaming with the
All Night Express of
Kenny King and
Rhett Titus to defeat Mondo and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) at
Border Wars. On September 9, 2012, Perkins was released from his ROH contract. He asked for his release, as he felt his ROH contract was restricting other opportunities for him. Two years later, he returned to TNA as a representative of Japan in an International X-Division Showcase match at
Destination X, facing
Petey Williams,
Chris Sabin, and
Sonjay Dutt. The match was ultimately won by Sabin. He also competed in an Xscape match at the following month's
Lockdown. Puma was later a member of
Team Mexico in the
2006 World X-Cup, alongside
Incognito,
Magno and
Shocker. In that tournament, he lost a second round match to Team USA captain Chris Sabin. Puma was the last man eliminated in the third round gauntlet match, by Team Canada captain Petey Williams. Team Mexico finished third, with four points. In July 2007, Perkins returned to TNA as Puma, wrestling in a 10-man Ultimate X Gauntlet at
Victory Road, but was the first man eliminated. He returned at the
2008 Victory Road pay-per-view, representing Team Japan in an elimination match, where he was the second one eliminated. On September 22, 2009, Perkins, under his Puma gimmick, returned to TNA to wrestle in a
dark match, in which he was defeated by
Colt Cabana. Perkins worked two more dark matches under the ring name T.J. Perkins during the January 10–12, 2011, tapings of
TNA Impact! losing to
Shannon Moore and
El Generico. In September 2012, Perkins competed as Puma against
Zema Ion in a dark match main event of a September taping of
Impact!. On January 12, 2013, Perkins, as Puma, took part in the tapings of TNA's
One Night Only:
X-Travaganza special, wrestling in a seven-man
Xscape match, which was won by
Christian York.
Manik (2013–2016) On May 23, 2013, Perkins wrestled on an episode of
Impact Wrestling as
Suicide, defeating Petey Williams and
Joey Ryan. The win earned him an X Division Championship match against Kenny King and Chris Sabin at
Slammiversary XI in an Ultimate X match, which was won by Sabin. On the June 27 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Perkins was revealed as the man behind the mask of Suicide as part of a storyline where he had been attacked and the Suicide costume and mask stolen and utilized by Austin Aries to win the X Division Championship. On June 29, at the tapings of the July 4 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Perkins began using the ring name "Manik", while retaining a modified version of the Suicide costume and mask. He participated in a three-way match for the X Division Championship against Sabin and Aries, which Sabin won to regain the championship; Manik was removed from the match after being attacked by the
Aces & Eights. After Sabin
vacated the championship, Manik entered the tournament to determine the new champion, and advanced to the final by defeating
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Kenny King. On July 18, at the tapings of the July 25 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Manik won the vacant X Division Championship by defeating
Greg Marasciuolo and Sonjay Dutt in a three-way Ultimate X match. Including a successful defense against Chris Sabin on the September 26 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Manik held the championship until
Bound for Glory on October 20, when he lost it to Sabin in a five-way Ultimate X match. Following a hiatus lasting several months, Manik returned to the promotion at
2014 Lockdown losing to
Tigre Uno in a
steel cage match. At
Slammiversary, he participated in a Ladder match for the TNA X Division Championship, but lost the match. On the September 3, 2014, episode of
Impact Wrestling, Manik was kidnapped by
James Storm and
Sanada; the following week, Storm was shown initiating Manik into a new faction, later called "
The Revolution", and the trio later attacked
Samoa Joe and
Homicide, turning
heel in the process. At
Bound for Glory, Manik wrestled against
Minoru Tanaka but lost the match. At
Slammiversary, Manik wrestled in a three-way match for the TNA X Division Championship, in a losing effort. On the September 23, 2015, episode of
Impact Wrestling, Manik quit The Revolution and took his mask off, turning
face in the process. At
Bound for Glory, he participated in an Ultimate X match for the
TNA X Division Championship, in a losing effort. During October and November, Manik participated in
TNA World Title Series where he defeated
Mandrews and
DJ Z with the exception of
Tigre Uno to gain 6 points, however on the November 25 episode of
Impact Wrestling, he unexpectedly ended third of his block when he was pinned by DJ Z before Uno could pin him in the three-way match, thus failing to advance the round of 16. On January 12, 2016, Perkins stated that TNA had given him notice that his contract was not being renewed.
Return to NJPW (2011) In late May and early June 2011, Perkins, under the ring name TJP, took part in NJPW's
Best of the Super Juniors tournament. After winning three of his eight matches in the round robin stage of the tournament, TJP finished seventh out of the nine wrestlers in his block and did not advance to the semifinals.
WWE (2009; 2016–2019) Prior to signing to
WWE in 2016, Perkins competed in multiple tryouts for the promotion in 2009. The following day Perkins, under the name J.T. Quinn, appeared on
ECW in a match against
Sheamus. The match resulted in a disqualification after
Shelton Benjamin attacked Sheamus. He also wrestled at
Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's
developmental territory multiple times that year.
Johnny Gargano in the second round,
Rich Swann in the quarter-finals,
Kota Ibushi in the semifinals and
Gran Metalik in the finals to win the tournament and become the inaugural
WWE Cruiserweight Champion. His entrance paid homage to the
Nintendo Entertainment System. Perkins retained the title against
Brian Kendrick at
Clash of Champions, but lost the title in a rematch at
Hell in a Cell after Kendrick faked a knee injury. At
Roadblock: End of the Line, Perkins failed to regain the title in a triple threat match against Kendrick and new champion, Rich Swann. Beginning with an attack on
Austin Aries on the April 10, 2017, episode of
Raw, Perkins formed an alliance with Neville and turned
heel, shortening his ring name to "TJP". The alliance ended when Neville attacked TJP on the June 5 episode of
Raw. TJP failed to win the Cruiserweight Championship the following night on
205 Live and then took a hiatus in order to rehab his knee. TJP returned on the January 2, 2018, episode of
205 Live. At
Royal Rumble, he teamed with Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher in a losing effort against Gran Metalik, Kalisto and Lince Dorado. On the January 30 episode of
205 Live, TJP defeated
Tyler Bate in the first round of the
WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament. He would go on to face eventual winner Cedric Alexander in the quarterfinals on the February 27 episode in a losing effort. TJP appeared again on September 4, challenging Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander in a non-title losing effort. TJP then began feuding with the Lucha House Party, consisting of Kalisto, Metalik and Dorado, forming an alliance with
Mike and
Maria Kanellis. In February 2019, TJP took part in the
Worlds Collide tournament, but was eliminated by
Dominik Dijakovic in the first round. On the February 19 episode of
205 Live, TJP was defeated by
Humberto Carrillo in what would be his final WWE match in his first run. On February 22, 2019, Perkins was released from his WWE contract, ending his three year tenure with the company.
Return to independent circuit (2019–present) On May 3, 2019, Perkins returned to the ring following his release from WWE. In his first match back, he competed for
Empire Wrestling Federation in
Covina, California. A few days later he would wrestling for
Sami Callihan's promotion, The Wrestling Revolver in a triple-threat with
Rich Swann and
Ace Austin. Following that he would wrestle for various promotions including
AAW Wrestling, PCW Ultra and Defy Wrestling. On October 12, 2019, Perkins wrestled for the
Philippine Wrestling Revolution against former PWR Champion
Jake de Leon in PWR: Homecoming. Perkins won the match after he countered De Leon's submission move into a pinfall win. On November 16, 2019, Perkins appeared at
Amazing Red's promotion
House of Glory for their "No Limit" event and defeated Mantequilla to win the HOG Crown Jewel Championship.
Return to Impact Wrestling (2019–2021) TJP returned to
Impact Wrestling on the June 21, 2019, episode of
Impact, defeating
Ace Austin. TJP made an unannounced appearance at
Slammiversary XVII, where he competed in a four-way match, which was won by
Willie Mack. In September, he forged an alliance with
Fallah Bahh and they began feuding with
Michael Elgin. On the March 31, 2020, special episode of
Impact, TJP returned as
Manik, teaming with Suicide as his two former personas joined to pick up a victory. On the
August 18 special episode of
Impact, TJP would fail to win the
Impact X Division Championship after
Rohit Raju pinned the champion
Chris Bey. He would then fail to win the championship from Raju at
Bound for Glory in a Scramble match and on the November 10 episode of
Impact. At
Final Resolution, TJP revived his Manik persona and defeated Raju to win the Impact X Division Championship, using a loophole through a clause that said TJP could not compete for the title as long as Raju was champion. Raju and Chris Bey would attempt to prove that TJP was in fact Manik but all attempts failed. He retained at
Hard To Kill despite attempts to unmask him (which he thwarted by simply wearing face paint). TJP lost the title to Ace Austin at
Sacrifice, ending his reign at 92 days. He was released by Impact in November 2021, clarifying he had never been signed to the promotion.
Second return to NJPW (2019–2025) Teaming with LA Dojo (2019–2020) In late July it was announced that Perkins would be wrestling during
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's
Super J-Cup tournament that would take place during August. He would reach the second round of the tournament after defeating
Clark Connors, before being eliminated by
El Phantasmo. After the tournament, TJP began teaming with Connors regularly. He would then be booked for the
Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour that took place in September. In October, TJP would team with Connors in the
Super Junior Tag League tournament, where they lost all but one match, therefore finishing the tournament with 2 points and failing to advance to the finals. Perkins would be booked for the New Beginning in USA tour in January and February. In June, TJP took part in secret TV tapings at NJPW's Los Angeles Dojo for a new show named Lion's Break Collision where he teamed with
Karl Fredericks to defeat
Jeff Cobb and
Rocky Romero. Perkins once again teamed with Connors in the Tag Team Turbulence tournament, however they lost to eventual winners
The Good Brothers, in the first round.
United Empire (2021–2025) On September 26, TJP joined up with
Will Ospreay and joined the
United Empire, turning his back on Connors and beginning a feud between the two. The feud ended when Connors defeated TJP. On May 1, 2022, TJP was announced to be competing in the
Best of the Super Juniors. He competed in the B-block, ending with a record of 4 wins and 5 losses, resulting in 8 points, therefore failing to advance to the finals. On the finals day, TJP and United Empire stablemate
Francesco Akira defeated the
IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Master Wato and
Ryusuke Taguchi in a non-title match. On June 20, Perkins and Akira would win the titles. TJP failed to win more championships, as he was unsuccessful against
Stong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser. Back in Japan, TJP and Akira defended the championships against Wato and Taguchi at
Burning Spirit. The duo, now going under the name
Catch 2/2, defended the titles once more against
Los Ingobernables de Japon (
Bushi and
Titán). In November, the team entered the
Super Junior Tag League, although they failed to make it to the final, finishing with 12 points. At
Wrestle Kingdom 17, the duo defeated tournament winners
Lio Rush and
Yoh. TJP and Akira continued to defend the titles into the new year, defeating Douki and
Yoshinobu Kanemaru at
The New Beginning in Sapporo in February. In April, the duo lost the titles to Jet Setters (
Kushida and
Kevin Knight), ending their reign at 311 days. The following month, TJP entered the
Best of the Super Juniors 30 tournament, competing in the A Block. TJP finished his campaign with a total of 10 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals. On June 4 at
Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Catch 2/2 regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships in a rematch against Jet Setters. After the match, the duo was confronted by Clark Connors who berated the duo from the entrance ramp, only for the duo to be attacked from behind by United Empire stablemate
Dan Moloney, who defected to
Bullet Club alongside Connors. Moloney and Connors received their title shot on July 4 on night 1 of
NJPW Independence Day, defeating Catch 2/2 to win the titles, ending TJP and Akira's second reign at 30 days. In August at
Multiverse United 2, Catch 2/2 defeated
TMDK (
Kosei Fujita and
Robbie Eagles). In October at
Royal Quest III, TJP teamed with United Empire stablemates,
Henare and
Jeff Cobb in a losing effort to
Eddie Kingston,
Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Oku. Later that month, TJP teamed with Akira once again in the annual
Super Junior Tag League, where the duo finished joint top of the block with 12 points, thus advancing to the tournament finals. In the finals, Catch 2/2 defeated
House of Torture, to win their first Super Junior Tag League tournament, thus earning an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship rematch against Connors and Moloney at
Wrestle Kingdom 18. Ahead of the match at Wrestle Kingdom, the two teams faced off in NJPW's first ever
coffin match, which was won by Bullet Club, after they locked TJP in the coffin. TJP remained out of NJPW programming including being absent at the Wrestle Kingdom 18 press conference. On January 4, 2024, at Wrestle Kingdom 18, TJP returned alongside Akira, wearing a monstrous mask with red eyes and using mist, in reference to the
Aswang, which are evil creatures in Filipino folklore. Ultimately at the event, TJP and Akira defeated Bullet Club's Connors and Moloney, to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for a third time, only to lose it back to them a month later. On March 12, 2024, TJP claimed himself as leader the NJPW branch of United Empire due to Ospreay leaving NJPW, but would be pushed back by
Great-O-Khan due to the stable losing. On April 22 however, after defeating
Just 5 Guys in a
gauntlet match, the remaining members fully accepted TJP as the new leader of United Empire. In April 2025, TJP was quietly removed as leader of United Empire and was replaced by
Callum Newman due to TJP becoming a freelancer after his NJPW contract expired, though he was still recognized as a member of the group. On May 9 at
Resurgence, TJP teamed with
Templario to defeat
World Class Wrecking Crew (
Royce Isaacs and
Jorel Nelson) to win the
Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships for the first time. On November 14, 2025, at
CMLL Viernes Espectacular, TJP and Templario lost the Strong Openweight Tag team Championship to
Los Hermanos Chavez (
Ángel de Oro and
Niebla Roja), marking TJP's final appearance as part of United Empire.
Return to MLW (2019–2022, 2024) In December 2019,
MLW announced that TJP would be returning for the company for the first time since 2004, as a part of the
Opera Cup tournament on December 5, 2019. His return match was in the opening round of the Opera Cup against
Brian Pillman Jr. in a losing effort. TJP returned to MLW, the following year for the
Opera Cup, in which he lost to
Richard Holliday in the opening round on the November 25 episode of
Fusion. During 2021 he got an opportunity at the MLW World Tag Team Championships with Bu Ku Dao but failed to win them. In November, in his third participation in the Opera Cup, he reached the final, however, losing to Davey Richards. In 2022 he will also challenge the MLW world middleweight champion,
Myron Reed, among others. In 2024, he appeared in the Opera Cup tournament again, as an "injury" alternate for
Davey Boy Smith Jr. He won a quarterfinals match against
"Filthy" Tom Lawlor only to lose a semifinals match to
KENTA.
Return to CMLL (2021–2025) In October 2021 he returns to
CMLL for the first time since 2008, fighting in some tag team matches among others with his
United Empire partner,
Jeff Cobb. In November he gets a match for
Volador Jr.'s
NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship. TJP returned to CMLL in August 2023 to participate in the
CMLL International Gran Prix in Team International. On November 14, 2025, at
CMLL Viernes Espectacular, TJP and
Templario lost the
Strong Openweight Tag team Championship to
Los Hermanos Chavez (
Ángel de Oro and
Niebla Roja). Perkins, reprising his role as TJP, made his in-ring return to the WWE after a six-year absence, under the
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) banner which the WWE acquired the promotion in 2025, debuting on the January 31, 2026 episode of
AAA on FOX, where he won a number one contender's match against Chris Carter, Mini Vinkingo and
Elio LeFleur, earning an
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship match, but failed to win the title a month later against
Laredo Kid. ==Personal life==