TJP On How He Got Chosen To Play Suicide In Impact Wrestling

The Suicide character in Impact Wrestling has been portrayed by more than half a dozen wrestlers over the years. One of them is the former WWE star TJP. The former cruiserweight champion recently had an interview with Cageside Seats. Among other things, he explained how he got chosen to play the character.

TJP first recalled the time the character made its debut in December 2007 portrayed by Frankie Kazarian. The high flying star remembered how Kazarian was reluctant about it and Christopher Daniels had joked that he should play the character instead:

“He [Frankie Kazarian] didn’t want to do it, he wasn’t having it. We all sat around the locker room and Christopher Daniels joked, ‘TJ should just be Suicide, he’s already in a mask,’ because I was Puma at the time.”

Perkins finally got the chance to play the character in May 2013. Explaining how he got the role, TJP revealed the officials originally wanted to bring it back for one night only. Since his Puma character was not being used at the time, the former 205 live star volunteered for the role:

“They were bringing it back for one night only as maybe nostalgia. I don’t think they knew who they wanted to portray it. I said, ‘If you don’t have any idea for this, I’d be happy to do it.’ At the time, I was tired of sitting at home. They said, ‘Good idea.’ One night turned into two, turned into three.”

The former Impact star continued to portray the character for a while before Suicide was revealed to be Perkins during an episode of Impact in June 30, 2013. His ring name was changed to Manik. TJP continued portraying the Manik character till he took his mask off in September 2015. Suicide has since made a few appearances on Impact and he even teamed with Manik in March 2020.