Hardcore. What is hardcore? Well that is simple for a man such as TJP, he knows all to well what hardcore is. In games, it is the hardest difficulty. It is the game cranked up to the hardest setting, it is a mode not for the faint of hearted. It is truly a mode for the most determined and the truly the best out there. TJP is not like most of the people in this company, he does not treat life the same way they all do, life to him is a game and like games - TJP plays to win no matter. Hardcore - to someone like him, Hardcore is not a challenge, Hardcore does not force him to lean forward and give it his all, Hardcore for a man such as he, is easy mode at best.

“I have been all around the world. I have wrestled in so many countries that I have filled a dozen passports with stamps. I have done it all, seen it all, but even with that, even after everything I have done, even with me having paid my dues ten times over, I am still looked down upon. There are people out there who still hold their noses up at him. Who take one look at me and laugh not behind my back, no they don’t do that kindness for me, they laugh right in my face. Telling me I am too small, telling me that I am not good enough. Telling me that I should go back to wherever it is I came from and each and every time this is said to me, a smirk crawls over my and I look them in the eyes and I tell them this, that I have came to play and when I play, I play to win.”

There would be a small smirk that forms on his face as he would run his hand through his hair as he slicks it back. This was his first night here in the company, this would be his first match here and he would be walking out on one of the grandest stages of them all, his debut will be at Summerslam and what better way to show just how good he is than by winning the Hardcore Championship.

“It is no secret that I am not favoured to win this match, not when you have guys like Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens entering this match and I mean, I get it, I really do. I understand it. You look at them, these big guys. These guys who look far larger than life. These guys who are bigger than any normal guys out there, they look like if they wanted to, they could kill you. Then you see, you got a guy like me. I am half there size, I properly weigh just about as much as one of there shoes, but if you think for a moment that makes them better than me, that my height and my weight is what holds me back, then buddy, you have been dropped on your head one too many times. There are things that I can do, that is like magic in the ring. There are moves that I do, that you would blink twice for a second and believe you were watching a video game. I know, I truly know just how good I am and that is not me being arrogant of full of myself, that is me being straight with you all. I know I am good. I know I am the best. I have said it before and I will say it again. This is a game for me and I am at stage one here, the settings are on hardcore, the rules are out the window here, everything wants to kill me and I only have one life, well I am not going to hide or use some cheat codes, I am going to stand there and just say this, bring it on!”

He sounded confident and he had every single right to be. He was without a doubt one of the best in the world. There where things this man could do, that defied all sense and logic. He was that damn good and like he had said, this was a game. He had only just loaded it up and turned it on. The controller was now in his hands and he was going in blind here, level one, on the hardest settings, the level had countless bosses, but the loot he would get if he could run through this level and win, would make it all worth it.

“I know, I really do know that I don’t have it easy. This is my first night here after all. I am the new kid on the block and this is Summerslam, one of if not the biggest show of the year and here I am, my ink is barely dry and I am looking to get started, throwing myself into the deep end. Alot of people would have stayed in the back. Bowing there heads and shaking hands and kissing backsides, but me - hell I am not like that. If I wanted respect, I would have stayed in my home country where I was a mega star, I had everything I ever wanted, ut it was not enough, because back there - it was game over. I did it all. I beat the levels. I ended the bosses. I had all the loot, what was the point in staying, no. Here for me it is a new game, a brand new game that I know very little about and that is the way I like it. I am going in blind, I am going Hardcore tonight and no matter what comes my way, I will take that gold at the end, take all the powerrups and blast on up to the next level!”

Once again a small smirk would appear on his face as he speaks as if this was nothing more than a game and to him it was. This was just the opening level and while he was playing this game on hardcore mode, on the very first run through, he was sure enough of himself that he had the skills to beat the level.

“I came to play and I came to win. I did not get to where I am today by losing. I got here, because I am a gamer and as a gamer we all play to win. When we get a new game, we don’t just play it once and toss it to the side, we want that thousand gamerpoints. We want that score added to our list, we want to complete the game fully and we will not stop until we do that. My gamerscore speaks for itself, I play to win and that applies here and now. I have came here to win. I will not stop nor will I rest until every single weapon is beaten and that means going through all the levels one at a time. This is level one, this is the start of the game and I am the main character. There will be some hard bosses here, but I have faced bigger and better with less and I have beaten them and the same will happen tonight. This is my moment. This is my time. I am the present and the future of this company and it is about time that we have a Hardcore Champion who truly values the title and will carry it with pride. I will take my prize tonight. I will be the winner, I will not get a game over and anyone, anyone at all who steps up and tries to stop me there going to run out of there three life’s and it will be game over for them.”

He smirks once more as he would lean back in his chair. He was relaxed and calm, he knew in his heart that this was his moment and everyone else was just living in it. This was a brand new game for him, a new game he has waited months for and he was not going to lose on his very first playthrough, such a thought was foolish. He came to play. He came to win.