TJ Perkins/Manik talks dealing with being in the ring when Perro Aguayo Jr. died

One of the things that the tragic passing of Perro Aguayo, Jr. has reminded us is what a small professional community wrestling is.

It has to be difficult to get away from any work-related issue when your job is a never-ending grind, and because of that many of your friends and daily acquaintences are all in the same business. That has to only be amplified when the literal act of performing the job is involved in the death or injury of a co-worker.

That's why no one was shocked to her that Rey Mysterio might be retiring following the Tijuana match. It's good to hear that he's not, that one horrible moment won't be the last impression we have a lifetime spent performing to entertain people. But if that was the only way Rey knew to get away, we understood it.

TJ Perkins, who also performs in TNA and other places as the character Manik, was in the ring as well that Friday night when Perro died. And when he was a guest on the V2 Wrestling Podcast recently, he became the second in-ring participant to share on that match, and how he's dealing with the loss of Aguayo:

I probably replayed about a minute of time, over and over and over, all day and all night for days. I haven't really thought about it much since then. There was a definite period of feeling like I was still in the ring, for several days. With a family member I always dealt with hardship and tragedy through my work. I just try to drown myself in my work. It's weird, because in this case that's what it was. I just reached a point - I'm usually pretty active [on social media] talking to everybody, but there was a period where I was just gone for a while, and Rey [Mysterio] was too.

I just got to a point where it was a good time to move on with the community. I felt like the impact of Perro and everything that had happened was being absorbed the right way. People were starting to heal, and rather than letting it linger and do more damage, everyone started to come together.

You can listen to the whole show at this link. You can't begrudge Perkins, or Mysterio, or Konnan or Tigre Uno, their greiving and healing process, and it's excellent to hear that that process is happening for TJP.

But it does raise some questions that, now that the shock has passed, still remain. Do you agree that Perro Aguayo, Jr's death is being absorbed the right way? Is what's occurred healing, or just moving on? Is there some action that the pro wrestling community should be striving for to not only honor Perro, but to avoid another tragic loss?