In TurunbuckleTimes’ latest exclusive interview, TJ Crawford (@TJCWrestling) sits down with Scott Mitchell (@scott44mitchell) to talk about his time in Beyond Wrestling so far, including his upcoming match against Brad Hollister on Wrestling Open, Big Business, and his upcoming match with Allie Katch this weekend, working with B3CCA at Blitzkrieg! Pro, and so much more. You can watch the interview in its entirety down below.

What has it meant to you to be a part of the Beyond Wrestling locker room and the BIO Pro School, helping to mentor the next generation?

“It’s definitely been very, very, very rewarding. Especially, when you see someone like an Eye Black Jack get a WWE tryout or Rain Conway going to main event random shows he’s going to, or he’s just having barn burner style matches with a Marcus Mathers or something like that. Like, there is obviously a good crop of talent that has come out of BIO Pro, but I’d say those two are like the top top. Every single person who’s at the BIO Pro school, if you’re listening to this right now, those are the two guys you need to model yourself after.

They’re the epitome of hard work. And, I can’t not give him his flowers, Ref Tiger. He’s just so willing to jump in a car and just drive to whatever show, just for an opportunity to try and get seen, just for a spot on the show, reffing the show.

So, Eye Black Jack, Rain Conway, Ref Tiger. Those are my three guys. They are TJ Crawford-approved, no doubt. But being a part of the Beyond roster has been really cool. The history of Beyond Wrestling dates back to whenever it started, like 2012, when they had one of their first shows. It has to be the company that has the highest success rate, as far as the talent who have been booked who have gone on to not only being on television, but being major players and major stars on television. So, being a part of that roster and having that weight on my shoulders right now, I feel, it’s kind of cool. It’s a challenge I’m really excited for, to see where I can take Beyond Wrestling going forward.”

On Thursday, you’ll be going one-on-one with Big Bacon Brad Hollister, your former Big Business partner. What’s your mindset heading into this one?

“Man, it’s really going to be weird to say this. It’s going to pain me to do what I have to do to Brad on Thursday. I don’t want to. As you saw, he tried to attack me. After my match with All Go Nelli. He tried to bum-rush the ring, completely blindsiding me for no reason. You saw the way I reacted to that. I don’t want to hurt Brad. I really don’t. It’s just that times have changed, and he’s not ready to step aside and let me take leadership, ownership, and the top spot at Wrestling Open and Beyond Wrestling that I’m rightfully owed.

From day one of Big Business, it was always made clear to me by Brad that once he’s done, once he loses the championship, it’s mine. The championship becomes mine, Big Business becomes mine. Wrestling Open becomes mine. That’s always been the plan. Then, what happened? He loses the Wrestling Open Championship to Ryan Clancy, which we can go on for 35 minutes about just that alone. Then, I had the chance, I was the very first person to challenge Ryan Clancy for the title, and I was maybe that close to becoming the Wrestling Open Champion, claiming my rightful spot at the top of Wrestling Open.

Brad had to come back and ruin it. Maybe that’s where it all started for me. I realized that Brad’s not who I thought he was. He doesn’t care about me, and he doesn’t want me to succeed or be the top guy. He just wants me to help him continue to be the top guy, to help him continue to stay relevant, to help him continue to manipulate and fool all these people to think that Brad Hollister is the star. Brad Hollister has been wrestling for 20 years. You’re not a star now. You’ll never be a star.”

This came about after you “betrayed” Big Business. What was your reasoning behind this?

“Love Doug will always be by my side. He’s always going to be my number one. He’s my boo, he’s my love. I love that man to death. But, with that said, I do need to branch out and do things on my own. I thought Big Business, at least for the last two years of Big Business’s existence, had been doing nothing but holding me back. The whole plan has been to get Love Doug into Big Business so that we can take over the world as “Shot Through The Heart” and represent Big Business and do things for the group.

Then, Brad decided to try to take Doug for himself, and he was like, ‘Oh, TJ, you have to go try and do your own thing.’ Like, who are you to try to tell me to do my own thing? If I want to team with my best friend, I’ll team with my best friend. If I want to go after the Wrestling Open Championship, I’ll go after the Wrestling Open Championship. Certainly, if I want to go after the IWTV Championship, I’ll go after the IWTV Championship. By the way, Mance Warner, count your days.”

You, Brad Hollister, Love Doug, J-Cruz, and Victor Chase ran roughshod over Beyond for quite some time in Big Business. What was it like to work with them and run things over there?

“I mean, Brad Hollister was just the person we needed to help us get the opportunities. But, Brick City, Julio Cruz, and Victor Chase, we’ve been best friends for 10 years. I’ve known those guys since Day 1. Julio and I started maybe a month apart from each other. Vic started maybe three, four, or five months after us. We all just became such close friends right off the bat. Getting to do anything with those two was just so special and so important to me because the three of us worked so hard, especially throughout the pandemic, throughout the year 2020. I feel like we worked really hard and made ourselves a perfect unit.

At the time, it just worked out perfectly. Brad needed some guys to help him out, and Brick City and I happened to be the best of the best. Why wouldn’t you recruit the best of the best? We were paid pretty well to do it, and we ran the show. We ran Wrestling Open for the entirety of 2023, the entirety of 2024, a majority of 2025, but now we’re in the chapter of Big Business is dead. We’re writing a whole new book of TJ Crawford.”

Then, this weekend, you will be facing off with Allie Katch at Beyond Wrestling’s big “RRD Pain Olympics” event. What’s your mindset heading into this one?

“I’d say I’ll finish the match in under three minutes. That’s what I’d say. It’s going to be a hot day, so I’m not really looking to stay out there for too long. If you’ve watched any of my matches on Wrestling Open or Beyond Wrestling in the last few weeks or a month or so. It’s very, very, very, very, very, very, rare that my matches go longer than a minute and a half. Against Brad Hollister, it’s going to be a quick one. Against Allie Katch, it’s going to be a quick one. I’m going to get paid. I’m going to go home, and I’m going to have myself a good night…

Allie is awesome, isn’t she? She’s great. She did the same thing that I did. She kicked EFFY to the curb. However, now, she’s out there making a name for herself. It’s just unfortunate that now she’s going to have to step into the ring with me. She’s doing great. She’s absolutely killing it right now, and she’s been killing it the past couple of years. Just not your night, kid.”

You also took part in one of Beyond Wrestling’s biggest shows ever, “Break The Walls Down.” What was it like to just be a part of this card?

“It was cool. It was cool to be a part of the show. I wish that my match had just stood what it was supposed to be. Also, I wish Rickey Shane Page and I had just had a one-on-one match, because I would have won if it were a one-on-one match and if there weren’t Flyin’ Ryan O’Neill and Kylon King to mess with it. I don’t know if you realize, but those were the two people involved in the finish of the match. Rickey and I were nowhere to be seen. So, yeah. It was fun. It was cool, I guess. Fun show. I left the second my match was over because I got paid, so I was like, I’m out. I’m out.”

What are your future goals at Beyond Wrestling?

“Just to continue to grow it. Make it bigger. It’s already the biggest independent wrestling company in the entire world, and probably the most well-known independent wrestling company in the entire world. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. Especially with TJ Crawford at the top.”

Switching gears, we’ve also seen you embroiled with B3CCA in a personal rivalry at Blitzkrieg! Pro. What has it been like to work with her there?

“I have B3CCA completely in my rear view mirror. I have no reason to go after B3CCA again. Look, I will admit. She beat me, and she beat me fair and square. She locked in her submission and made me tap out. I’m a man. I can admit when I’ve been beaten. B3CCA was the better competitor that night. But, it was fun to get in the ring with B3CCA from the first match to the last match we just had. It was fun to be able to kick her in the face. Even when we got to team together, that was, I can confidently say, that was some of the most fun I’ve had in my career, getting to team with B3CCA. She’s absolutely tremendous, and I wish nothing but the best for her.”

Looking ahead, do you have any future goals you’d like to accomplish?

“I just want to continue taking over the world. I want to continue to show everybody my brand of professional wrestling, and I think that my brand of wrestling is better than everyone else’s. There’s no specific, at least in my mind right now, there’s no specific goals, no specific places, no specific championships that I’m working towards right now. The only thing that I want is for the world to notice TJ Crawford. It’s been 10 years of me grinding, and grinding, and grinding, and really trying to get out there. I think I’ve accomplished so much in the past 10 years, and I think I can accomplish even more. I’m ready for the entire world to notice it.”

Anyone you’d like to share the ring with?

“We were just talking about the ‘Break The Walls Down’ show. I’d love to get into the ring with someone like Andrade. I’d love to wrestle Lio Rush. I’ve never gotten the opportunity to wrestle Lio Rush. I would love to wrestle MJF. If that was ever an opportunity that presented itself again. Those are the first three guys off the top of my head that I can think of. I think Lio Rush is probably my top dream match that I really want… He’s nuts. He’s crazy, man. But, how crazy can you be when you have a Silver Bullet flying towards him?”