by Robby Deming
After APW-LA’s “Nemesis II”, I got the
opportunity to speak with Frankie “The Future” Kazarian.
In this interview, Frankie talks about his experiences in TNA,
what it’s like coming home to SoCal, and of course, the now infamous
Styles Clash.
Robby Deming: First off man, I just want
to say thank you.
Frankie Kazarian: Thank you.
RD: So, how do you feel about your match
tonight [with Colt Cabana]?
FK: Cool, good. It was my first time wrestling
with Colt. He’s very talented, there’s a lot of mutual respect
there. He’s just one of the good guys in the scene right now,
I had a great time. I think it went well.
RD: It was fun to watch man.
FK: Thank you. It was fun to be in.
RD: Can you give us a brief history of how
you started in wrestling and how you got to where you are now?
FK: I was a fan, just like you and everyone
here. I first got turned on watching Wrestlemania I because it
had Mr. T, and I was a big fan of Rocky 3. I saw Hulk Hogan playing
Thunderlips. So, Wrestlemania I, I was about 7 or 8. I just got
hooked, just caught on to Tito, Ricky Steamboat, you know Tito
Santana. It just started snowballing, I started watching every
week. I became a big obsessed fan, all the toys, video games,
everything. And I just pretty much said, “I’m gonna be a
pro-wrestler”. And just after high school I was just kinda
working around, you know, trying to save some money. Basically,
saved up enough money to move to Massachusetts to get trained
by Killer Kowalski. I was out there for close to a year learning
everything, I had my first few matches out there. I came back
to California, started working with EWF and from there just started
to get myself out there, getting exposed, getting exposed, and
ya know, six years later hear I am.
RD: About two months ago you started working
for TNA. How has that experience been?
FK: It’s awesome. It’s probably the best
company I’ve worked for so far. They let me do my stuff; let me
wrestle the way I want. It’s been very rewarding so far. (Scott
Lost and Joey Ryan come up and say hi to Frankie). These are my
two bi-curious friends, Joey Ryan and Scott Lost. They’re big
fans of spooning. They’re bi-curios, willing to try, which I’m
cool with because they’re cute. (Laughter from everyone). Put
that in there.
RD: That will definitely be in there.
FK: Alright cool, I got enough heat already.
Now I’m dragging you guys down with me.
RD: So, what’s it been like working with
people like Chris Sabin & AJ Styles.
FK: Great, AJ, he’s just one of the best
talents out there. One of the best wrestlers on the planet if
you ask me. Chris Sabin, I’ve been married to him this whole year,
starting back as early as February. For only being in wrestling
for two years, he’s way ahead of his time. Tremendous talent,
and just a very good person, we have similar styles. And it’s
been fun working with him for TNA and I’m thankful to TNA for
giving us a good program to go with.
RD: Alright, I gotta ask you: What went through
your head with that Styles Clash?
FK: What went through my head? My sternum
went through my head (laughter). Yeah, it was just one of those
somewhat-botched, just one of those things you kinda happen –
that’s wrestling. Initially, just everything from the top of my
head to my waist was just completely stiff, almost paralyzed,
but I could immediately move so I was like, “Alright, I’m
not paralyzed”. And after the match, I just collapsed back-stage.
My neck never really took the full effect. I went to the doctor,
to the hospital and got it x-rayed and I bruised my sternum real
bad, some vertebrae in my back. I’m still feeling the effects
of it but ya know, thank God I’m a very lucky man. But, it hurt
and it’s just one of those things that happen in wrestling.
RD: Well, we’re glad you’re ok man.
FK: Thank you.
RD: When I saw that live, I was like, “Holy
Shit”.
FK: Yeah, I’ve watched it about a thousand
times and it doesn’t ever get any prettier.
RD: You kind of already touched on this that
being in TNA; you haven’t really had to adopt any different style.
Have you noticed any changes though in your work?
FK: No, not really, cuz you know, I’ve always
geared my style towards just real sports entertainment oriented,
I try to give the fans what they want to see. I like to think
that I blend a little bit of everything. I’m not the best high-flyer,
I’m not the best mat-wrestler, I’m not the best technical guy,
I’m not the best strong style. But I feel like I do a little bit
of all that, and I feel like I do it well. There’s a lot of guys
with similar styles so they haven’t told me to slow it down or
change anything. They just pretty much gave me the ball and let
me run with it.
RD: Next week you’re set to take place in
a match which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been attempted
before.
FK: No [it hasn’t].
RD: How do you prepare for something like
this and what’s your mind-set going in?
FK: The match that you’re talking about is
the Ultimate X match. In this match there’s gonna be cables making
an “X” about fifteen feet above the ring. It’s a different
concept so just pretty much climb up the pole and shimmy across.
I guess, as far as prepping for it I could watch some old American
Gladiators or climb on the monkey bars. But it’s just one of those
things. I think its one of those things that makes TNA entertaining
and a lot more entertaining than a lot of the other stuff on TV
because of the new concepts and everything. I just hope that we
set a high standard for this kind of match, and I hope everyone
tunes in because I guarantee it will be fun to watch.
RD: I’ll definitely be watching, cuz I watch
every week.;
FK: Awesome, awesome.
RD: Since being in TNA, have you had any
dealings with Vince Russo and what’s he like?
FK: I’ve had not a whole lot of dealings,
just a few conversations regarding this and that. He’s busy a
lot, ya know, doing a lot of the booking and the writing and the
production stuff. So I haven’t had that many opportunities to
talk to him, but he’s been nothing but cordial and polite and
cool in every conversation we’ve had. I know there’s a lot of
stuff said good or bad about him, but he’s totally cool.
RD: I saw you in a dark match in San Diego
on RAW. Now being backstage in WWE and being in TNA, how do they
compare? Ya know, what’s the overall sense from each one?
FK: Well, every time I do shows with the
RAW locker room, I always feel good. I know and have met a lot
of those guys and so I always feel somewhat comfortable. Smackdown,
there’s still a little bit the feeling of walking on egg-shells.
Ya know, it’s the WWE. It’s where everyone wants to go, and Vince
is there. So you know you’re always a little bit on your toes.
TNA is really like a family atmosphere, everyone’s totally cool.
There’s no real egos, you know, everyone’s real laid back and
just want to do their best to make the product better.
RD: Now, going back a little bit, in 2002
you were tagging with Nova. When he got the call from WWE to go
up, what was that like?
FK: I was happy for him ya know, he’d been
wrestling 10 years at that point, and I thought it was long over-due.
I thought that they should have immediately put him on TV if you
ask me. But yeah, I was, part of me was sad because we had a good
thing going as a tag team, we were getting a lot of exposure all
over the country really, all over the world. And we were just
totally hitting our stride, but when he got the call, I couldn’t
have been happier for him. We’re still really good friends, we
still talk all the time, and I just can’t wait to see him on TV.
RD: Well, SoCal is pretty much your home.
FK: Yes.
RD: So what’s it like coming back here and
working here after being on national PPV for a couple months?
FK: You know, it depends on what fed you’re
talking about. There’s a lot of good shows being put out by APW-LA,
Pro Wrestling Guerilla, and ya know, since doing the PPV thing
the response has been really good. Everyone’s really supportive
and every time I wrestle in Southern California it’s like home-coming
kind of and the crowd responds really well. I have fun and there’s
still a lot of guys that are very very good wrestlers, and are
very credible opponents and I still like to wrestle with them.
RD: Where is your overall favorite place
to work?
FK: Well, so far, hopefully I haven’t worked
in my favorite place yet, but so far, Kouraken Hall in Japan.
I worked there my last tour in Japan which was phenomenal -it
was really fun. The crowd was just completely into it, start to
finish. Auckland, New Zealand was really good. But I’d have to
say the funnest place to wrestle in front of a hot-crowd is Kouraken
Hall in Japan.
RD: What’s the best experience you’ve had
in the business so far, and what’s the worst?
FK: Well again, hopefully I haven’t had the
best experience. Hopefully, that’s still to come. Definitely,
the first time I ever worked for WWE back in 99, 2000, whenever,
it was a dream come true. Winning my first title was fun. Finally,
being part of TNA. Something I always wanted to do was main-event
a PPV and I’ve done that in TNA so it’s been really rewarding.
Worst experience, uh… I’ve been really lucky as far as injuries.
Of course there was the injury a few weeks ago with AJ, that was
one of the worst. I’ve never broke a bone and I’ve been very,
very fortunate since I’ve been in some brutal matches. The worst
would probably be ya know, getting screwed by promoters, having
checks bounce, this and that. Just backstage politics. But I’m
very optimistic and I try not to worry about those things.
RD: So, ultimately, what’s your goal?
FK: My goal…my goal is to be the top
guy in the top fed, whatever that may be, if its WWE or TNA. Just
continue to improve in the ring, out of the ring, just continue
to put on good matches. I just want to entertain. Love me or hate
me, I just want people to walk out and say, “Hey, Kazarian’s
match was good”. I just want to keep doing this until it’s
not fun anymore.
RD: Right now, if you had the chance to go
to WWE and work in a role something like how Spanky has been used,
would you go?
FK: That’s another tough question because
ever since I was a little kid, that was my dream, all I saw was
WWE. But uh, the spot I’m in right now with TNA, I’m extremely
happy there. I really can’t give you an honest answer, but as
it stands right now, I’m extremely happy where I am and I don’t
think I’m going anywhere.
RD: Is there anything you’d like to say,
you know just for anyone to hear?
FK: Just uh, thanks for continuing to support
indy wrestling, indy wrestling web-sites. The reason that we do
this, regardless of what anyone wants to say is because we’re
fans. We were all fans once, we still are fans, I’m still a huge
fan. Just ya know, whether you give positive or negative feed-back
or whatever, it’s your right and just thanks for watching wrestling,
supporting us and letting us live our dream.
RD: Alright man, well thank you very much
man. It’s great to meet you.
FK: Thank you bro, you too.
