After spending time in WWE’s developmental system, PJ Black would burst onto the WWE main roster in a big way. After first taking part in NXT, he would debut alongside other NXT rookies as the Nexus stable.
He would eventually leave WWE in 2015, wrestling around the world and for several companies before signing a deal with Ring Of Honor (ROH).
Formerly known as Justin Gabriel, PJ Black recently sat down with Joey G. from Wrestling Inc. to talk about his past, as well as his future in ROH.
One of the topics of discussion revolved around Black’s decision to not return to NXT, choosing instead to sign with ROH.
“I had an opportunity to go back to NXT. It was the same money for 200 shows more, so really that was a no-brainer for me,” Black said. “I have creative freedom and freedom outside because I do a lot of things outside of wrestling that they let me do whenever. And with creative freedom in wrestling – just to be yourself [is important].”
He points at ROH’s storytelling and the promotion’s Code of Honor as factors that helped his choice.
“I love the storytelling of ROH and the old-school Code of Honor of shaking hands before and after matches. I feel like fans appreciate wrestling different now than they did years ago. …As NXT shows, in-ring performance is very important right now, and that’s what I like about wrestling: it keeps on evolving.”
PJ Black recently aligned himself ROH’s newest stable. This came in the wake of a personal journey, where he decided he didn’t like the person he had become and wanted to make a conscious effort to change, ultimately siding with LifeBlood.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
