Are there any skills that you have learned from your yoyo career that you apply to your wrestling career?
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I loooooove AEW.
One of my trainers is actually Orange Cassidy hahaha. So many of my friends work for AEW at this point, itās a huge goal of mine. I actually just met Tony Khan earlier tonight. One day!
I love classic wwe stuff, but the direction their stuff has gone in recent years is justā¦not it.
Independent wrestling is the heart of pro wrestling though. Itās where all your favorites started and where the best wrestlers in world are, in my opinion. Thereās nothing quite like the intimacy of smaller venues over massive stadiums. There are lots of forms of performance art, but only one where the performers can literally land in your lap. Itās the best.
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Iāve been a wrestling fan my entire life, as long as I can remember. I started backyard wrestling around 2010, and thatās really when I really fell in love with wrestling. At the time I actually loved how different it was from yo-yo. Funny how things work out.
But yeah, basically when all of my friends were getting out of backyarding, I was at point where I didnāt want to stop, so I just said , eff it, Iām gonna get trained and do this for real. The rest is history hahaha.
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When Iām designing stuff and starting completely from scratch, I usually work outward from the bearing seat. I have a base file I use for that and go from there. Iāll usually try and flesh out the shape and get an overall profile started before I start working on the cup. When Iām using other yo-yos as reference Iāll have that next to the screen or have an image pulled up in a different window sorta go back and forth making sure angles and things are where I want them. I had the names Tiger Driver and Burning Hammer picked out before I started designing each, but my plan is to have a Four Pillars series, so there will also be Chokeslam for Akira Taue and Ganso Bomb for Toshiaki Kawada.
The packaging is one of my favorite parts of the entire project. I literally have the original rough sketch on graph paper and the finished product is SO close to that original vision and I couldnāt be happier
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Itās soooo hard to pick a favorite wrestler, there are so many.
When I was younger, I would have said undertaker in a second.
Now? Probably Kenny Omega.
Favorite move is called the Storm Cradle Driver.
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Itās hard to find better wrestling than 90s AJPW, between that and late 90s WCW Lucha matches, itās my favorite stuff to watch.
I love Turning Point. They make some of the absolute best yo-yos in the world. I love the shapes of basilisk and St. Elmo
And American wrestler? Super Dragon.
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Love this!!! Congrats on your success! Tiger Driver and Turnbuckle are friggin sick names to use!!! as a wrestling and yoyo fanā¦yes yes yes! keep up the great work!
Your Top 3 favorite wrestlin theme songs all time!?
The name Tiger Driver seems like a perfect opportunity to do a titanium model. Have you ever worked on a titanium design? Any plans on making a TI-ger Driver?
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To an extent! I feel like Iām always trying to be more innovative and creative both when building tricks and coming up with wrestling spots. Love trying new things and seeing what comes out of it.
Thank you so much! That really means a lot. More dope stuff is coming soon! 
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Iām not sure if any of these questions have been asked. Iām jumping on this kinda late, so I havenāt read every question above:
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What made you decide to start a yoyo business?
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Besides the brand name and the yoyo names, will there be any other special wrestling references or things to look out for to represent the fusion of wresting/yoyoing that is CJ Atkinson?
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When casually throwing, do you listen to the same music you do when youāre wrestling or do you have completely separate playlists you use for inspiration?
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
Top 3 themes is tough
Randy Ortonās old theme, Burn in my Light
Stone Cold Steve Austin
CM Punk - Cult of Personality
Honorable mentions : Minoru Suzukiās Kaze Ni Nare, Undertakerās Rollin theme.
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I actually hadnāt thought of that somehow hahaha.
Iāve never actually made a Ti design, but I have been playing around with Ti versions of some of my other designs here and there.
Never say never!
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Oh man hahahā tbh it can just depend on the week. Im not wrestling every single weekend at the moment, though my schedule recently has been picking up. I have a real job that Iām at at least 40 hours a week too, so finding the time for design stuff has been tough sometimes for sure, but the grind never stops hahaha.
I still yo-yo everyday, still always have one on me always, so collectively itās hard to quantify, but, a good amount hahah.
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Not that I can specifically think of, although playing to an audience, remembering that thereās people that came to see you make your art is something thatās carried over to an extent.
So!
After designing the handful of yo-yos I had for both Jake and Recess, and kind of seeing the overall response those yo-yos got made me want to have my own avenue for yo-yo design, where I could just make whatever ideas popped in my head without any other parameters.
So, I guess a small spoiler into future plans here, I actually have a yo-yo called that will be called Suplex planned. The idea is that it will be a more classic design and include a slim bearing for responsive play as well. Yo-yos like freehands and element-xās have been so influential to my yoyoing over the year and I really
As far as music goes, that doesnāt change too much between yo-yo and wrestling. In a very broad sense, if you heard it in a Tony Hawk game, I probably listen to it 
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I donāt know if this was already asked,
but what other hobbies do you have?
@UncleBenji920 had asked this as well and I missed it
I play video games here and there, Iāve been really into PokĆ©mon Legends: Arceus recently. I like cooking, Iāve been vegetarian for a little over a year now so Iām always making different stuff.
Beyond that I just really enjoy relaxing on the couch and watching TV with my fiancĆ© and our pets, thatās the best.
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Hey CJ! Its a pleasure to reply here!
If there is any, have you incorporated your āflowā from throwing into wrestling or other physical-requiring activities?
How different are wrestling sessions from throwing sessions?
Have you put any past philosophies of learning to yo-yo into wrestling?
Im excited to hear your answers!
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Hey! Thank you for playing along!
To an extent, The goal is always try to make smooth transitions from spot to spot in wrestling matches, the same way youād want to in putting together longer combos.
Nights at training tend to leave me a bit more sore than yo-yo, but there are times when being in the ring is more cathartic for me than yo-yo, honestly.
Thereās always going to be haters, and thereās always going to be people better than you, but as long as youāre true to yourself and believe in what youāre doing, know that youāre making the right moves.
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Hey There CJ,
Love to see somebody living out their passions! Lots of great questions and answers in here.
I see that the inspiration behind the yoyo is the finishing move, but with this being your first publicly released yoyo (correct me if Iām wrong) what made you want to make THIS specific yoyo. Is this the yoyo youāve always wanted? Was it made for a friend? Just a cool idea/overall package that struck you in the shower (or in the ring)?
Looks really cool and am excited to see another passionate creator join the space 
Best of luck with the yoyo release!
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