TJ Blade Says Goodbye To UWA Elite
He’ll bid farewell at Setting the Standard on April 17.
UWA Elite begins a new chapter on April 17 at Setting the Standard, kicking off its 20th season. But it also closes the book on TJ Blade, a staple of the South River, NJ-based promotion for the past decade.
In December, the 30-year-old Jersey boy informed the locker room that he would be leaving the sport. Clarifying that he’s stepping away rather than retiring, Blade says that pro wrestling has to go on the backburner while he explores different opportunities in his personal life. At Setting the Standard, he’ll say goodbye to the fans.
“TJ Blade has been a cornerstone of the company for a long time,” says Dave Swan, founder and owner of UWA Elite. “The locker room and the fans would like to see him get a proper sendoff.”
A lifelong wrestling diehard who was hooked as soon as he discovered The Undertaker, Blade began going to local indie shows in 2004. Amazed by the up-close action, he made graphics and custom music videos, posting them to message boards. His creativity caught the eye of Jersey All Pro Wrestling’s production team, who invited him to help at the events.
“They asked if I knew how to operate a video camera, and I said, ‘Oh yeah, of course,’ but I had no idea what I was doing,” TJ Blade laughs. “It was super intimidating, but it got my foot in the door.”
After joining the production team, he designed JAPW’s DVD covers. Promoter “Fat” Frank Iadevia was so impressed that he asked Blade to produce the company’s online show. Every month, Blade would rush home after an event, edit the footage and post it on Sunday morning. Along the way, he befriended wrestlers like Eric Corvis, who began hosting training sessions in his newly acquired ring. Blade expressed interest and Corvis spent the summer teaching him the ropes.
“TJ Blade was one of the first guys that really showed interest in training and bettering himself,” Corvis says. “That’s what TJ always does, work really hard at bettering himself. In ring, in life, in anything he applies himself to. He picked up things rapidly and each year became even better and an even bigger part of what UWA Elite was.”
In 2011, he debuted for UWA Elite as “The Shore Thing” TJ Blade, capitalizing on the hit MTV series Jersey Shore. “Some fans complained about the amount of body spray I was spraying, and it was cool to get heat for that,” Blade says.
A product of its time, the character was an effective way to get Blade instantly noticed, while his work between the ropes established his credibility. In his rookie year, he and Archadia had the Match of the Year at UWA Elite’s Last Breath. He also won the UWA Elite Tag Team Titles with Jon Rome and became the first UWA Elite Iron Man Champion. Then, his responsibilities outside the ring sidelined him, and when he returned in 2014, “The Shore Thing” TJ Blade became a babyface.
If you’ve ever wasted a half hour watching “The Situation,” you know that turn was ill-advised. “It was the worst run I had in UWA Elite,” Blade says. “Doing that same character wasn’t working. It was frustrating because I wanted to come back to this thing that I love so much and then I was hating it.”
Do You Even Lift, Bro?
Blade’s fortune changed at the Middlesex County Fair, which traditionally draws the biggest crowd of the year for UWA Elite. He was part of a generic babyface team with Tommy Kobryn and they were scheduled to face “DynaMike” Davis and Mike C-Way. As part of the festivities, fans were able to vote on the type of match: standard tag, tornado tag or a dance off. The latter was picked much to Blade’s chagrin. “I wanted to pack my bags,” he says. “I was excited for the show all week. It’s the biggest crowd and they just wanted us to do a dance off.”
Realizing the talented grappler was spinning his wheels, UWA Elite owner Dave Swan nixed Blade’s babyface run and paired him with Davis and C-Way. Luckily, the trio clicked right away, and a natural extension of “The Shore Thing” was born: The BROtein Pack.
Frat bros obsessed with their physiques, the trio became the scourge of the company. The gym rats got matching gear with their names in the iconic red and yellow (for Retro Fitness, of course). Squatting and flexing during matches, they’d resort to any tactic to get the job done. They also racked up all the gold: two-time Tag Team Champions, the final Trios Champions, the 2016 Tag Team Combat Cup winners, back-to-back Tag Team of the Year honors in 2016-2017 and 2019-2020.
In 2016, The BROtein Pack were voted Most Hated Wrestlers of the Year. One year later, they were voted Most Popular.
“It’s the most fun I’ve had in UWA Elite,” Blade says. “We spent a lot of time designing gear, trying to find the right music and coming up with a trios finisher. We all had the same goal in mind: putting on the best performance.”
It was a meteoric rise for the trio before tragedy struck.
“DynaMike” Davis was murdered on November 21, 2016. According to police, two men planning to rob a Verizon Wireless store in Forks Township, PA, were following employees home from their shifts, The Morning Call reported. The goal was to abduct a worker and bring him back to the store, forcing him to unlock the door and disable the alarm. Davis was the first employee targeted. He apparently resisted the gunmen and was killed outside his home in Palmer Township, PA.
He was 25 years old.
“It was a real punch to the gut,” says Blade, who has worn Davis’ headband in every match since. “Mike’s death sucked the air out of everything. But it also motivated me because he would want us to keep going.”
In December 2017, police arrested the two men long suspected of Davis’ slaying. In June 2019, the two men – both 29 years old – were sentenced to life in prison, Lehigh Valley Live reported.
Right before Davis’ death, The BROtein Pack ended a rivalry with Brandon Kirk and Jeff Cannonball, known as The Rogues. As a result of their loss, The Rogues were forced to disband. Mocking their “The Rogues Til Forever” T-shirt, The BROtein Pack wore “BTF: Bros Til Forever” shirts.
“That shirt has a lot more meaning now,” Blade says.
Until We Meet Again
Although they’ve been the most decorated team in UWA Elite history, The BROtein Pack has also allowed for individual success.
In 2017, TJ Blade won the Brawl For It All, UWA Elite’s version of the Royal Rumble. As a result, he earned a shot against old rival Archadia for the UWA Elite Championship one month later, emerging victorious and holding the gold for 295 days. Meanwhile, C-Way won the UWA Elite iChampionship, the Iron Man Championship and the 2020 Crossroads Tournament.
And at Setting the Standard – the same night that his best bro bids adieu – C-Way will challenge Vincent Valentine for the UWA Elite Championship.
“TJ has meant everything to my career,” C-Way says. “My favorite matches, my favorite moments, the best times I had in wrestling, TJ was there. It’s funny, but he didn’t tell me about his retirement ahead of time. He told me the same time as the rest of the roster because he knew I would try to talk him out of it. It saddens me to say goodbye, but I’m excited to celebrate his career at Setting the Standard.”
Stepping away has been on Blade’s mind for quite some time. Admittedly, he’s been going through the motions as of late, which makes him feel like he’s cheating the fans. After all, there’s a pool of hungry talent eager to take his spot and give 100% every night.
Until he can fully dedicate himself to his craft again, it’s best that he watches C-Way, Corvis and the rest of his peers.
“When I’m working 9-to-5 Monday through Friday, there’s no TJ Blade,” he says. “But on the weekends, when I get to be TJ Blade and people come up to me and say ‘great match’ or ‘good luck tonight,’ it’s a cool feeling. I just want to thank the fans for taking time out of their day and spending their hard-earned money to watch me wrestle.”
Setting the Standard takes place April 17 at the South River VFW in South River, NJ.
For tickets and more information, visit https://www.uwaelite.
You can watch all of UWA Elite’s past events on the UWA Elite Network.
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