Rohit Raju Interview: IMPACT Journey, X-Division Title Run, Favorite Matches, More
Is anyone notable among that group of supporters you mentioned?
Raju: My friends in wrestling have always supported me. The X-Division guys have helped me. There's a lot of legends that have said, “Hey, you're doing great things, you just have to bide your time.” D'Lo was one of them. Ross Forman was one of them. I would get frustrated and think they're not going to do anything with me. You don't want to show that. You don't want to be a whiner. You want to keep going and keep pushing. I would confide in people and they would tell me to keep going and that the cream would rise to the top, and as soon I got my opportunity, I felt like I rose to the top. The feeling of success after working so hard, I can't explain it. It feels so great.
What have been some of your favorite matches so far in IMPACT? Your X-Division Championship clash with TJP at No Surrender was stellar.
Raju: That was one of them. I've said this recently, but TJP is such a mentor to me backstage. He helped me find my confidence and help me grow into a better performer than I was a year ago. He's the guy. I don't think people realize how great he really is. He's been working 22 years, been everywhere, he knows how everything works. I've been in the ring with guys that don't want to give you the time of day and are absolute jerks, but then there's guys like TJP who are true professionals and really elevated me. That match might be one of my favorites because I had a ton of input in that match and that was something we created together.
It wasn't just me listening to the vet. It was me being on his level, not experience-wise but complete package-wise. Being able to work with him has elevated me and he also gave me one of the greatest compliments I've ever gotten. We were doing promos in the ring where he had to pour the tea on me and he said, “You made me step my game up. I knew I had to show up because I knew your promos are fire.” That made me feel like a million bucks. That would probably be one of my favorite matches. I've had a lot fun matches in IMPACT, a lot of great ones, but that one right there, even though I lost it, it's still one of my favorites because of the story we told and everything that happened in between. The feedback we got from the people made me feel really good.