Few people are considered veterans when they still have almost two decades to go before they receive an AARP card, but professional wrestler TJ Perkins accomplished all he set out to do just as he could legally drink.

In the early stages, most professional wrestlers work wherever they can, trying to establish themselves in the most obscure promotions, the dingiest dance halls, and inside the dirtiest rings. However, Perkins' body had bounced off mats owned by all of the top companies in the world before his 22nd birthday.


“By the time I was 21 [years old], I had pretty much knocked out my bucket list of anything I really wanted to do,” said the 17-year veteran of the wrestling business. “I had wrestled in a WWE ring, I had wrestled for TNA, I had wrestled on pay-per-views, television, and then New Japan, my run in AAA.”