Who is Frankie Kazarian?: TNA superstar who appeared on WWE NXT

Frankie Kazarian is called “The King” of TNA

Frankie Kazarian is an American professional wrestler and musician who is currently signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is known under different ring names including, Frankie, Frankie Gerdelman, Frankie Kazarian, Kaz, Kazarian and Suicide.

He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and has worked for a number of professional wrestling promotions. He is better known as a tag team wrestler and won multiple tag team championships and some singles championships throughout his career.

Independent Circuit (1998 – 2004)

Frankie Kazarian began his professional wrestling career in 1998 and worked for a number of pro wrestling promotions for the first six years. In 2001, he found his long-time tag team partner Nova at Ultimate Pro Wrestling and the tag team duo won a lot of titles in the Indies and fought against some of the biggest professional wrestlers in the industry in the early stages of their careers.

Pro Wrestling Guerilla (2003 – 2004)

While wrestling for Independent industries, Kazarian had a long tenure with the Pro-Wrestling Guerilla. In 2003, Kazarian participated in the Bad Ass Mother 3000 tournament to become the first-ever PWG Champion.

He had major feuds with AJ Styles, Adam Pearce, Daniel Bryan and Colt Cabana in the championship bout. However, he lost the title to Super Dragon. He then had a long pursuit to win the world title again but came short after being attacked by other wrestlers then he later got busy working on independent circuits.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003 – 2005)

Frankie Kazarian had a try-out for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003 and quickly got into the competition for the TNA X Division Championship. He had a very brief first run and came back to feud against AJ Styles for the TNA X Division Championship. He then formed a tag team with Shane to form a tag team named ‘Shazarian’.

The duo won the X Division title declaring themselves as the co-champions, but lost it too soon while defending it in the Gauntlet match. They had a tag team championship pursuit, but the duo had a misunderstanding and resulted in a split.

WWE (2005, 2024)

In 2005, Frankie Kazarian made his WWE debut by entering OVW. Months later he made his WWE TV debut under the name The Future Frankie Kazarian. He was undefeated for a month, however, left the company due to issues with the company over forcing him to cut his hair and for not extending the cruiserweight division.

In 2024, Frankie Kazarian returned to WWE and participated in the 25 Men Battle Royal to determine the #1 Contender for the NXT Championship on the June 18, 2024, episode of WWE NXT, where he was in the final four, but got eliminated.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006 – 2014)

In 2006, Frankie Kazarian came back to TNA to pursue his TNA X-Division Championship. He then shortened his name to Kaz. He went on to team up with Johnny Devine and Raven to form the stable Serotonin. He worked on a number of tag team matches and won the TNA World Tag Team Championship with Eric Young, however vacated the title to end their reign.

In 2008, Kaz made his return to TNA under the name Suicide with the luchador mask. He soon became one of the top stars in the X-Division, by becoming the TNA X Division Champion in his debut match. He held the title for so long and has multiple storylines and feuds with the title. On losing the title, he ended his Suicide gimmick.

He returned with his real name Kazarian and again chased the X Division title, however he turned heel in the process. He then aligned with Ric Flair and AJ Styles where Ric Flair claimed that he would reform the Four Horseman under the new name Fortune. He had pursued a number of titles but was only able to win the X Division and tag team title. In 2011, Fortune was disbanded, however, Frankie Kazarian and Styles worked as a team, however, the team later split and had multiple tag team partners. In 2014 he left TNA after his contract expired.

Ring of Honor (2014 – 2018)

After leaving TNA, Frankie Kazarian made his ROH debut, teaming up with Christopher Daniels. They formed a trio faction ‘SoCal Uncensored’, where they won the ROH World Tag Team Championship thrice and the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Christopher Daniels and Scorpio Sky. In 2018, after losing their tag team titles, the faction left ROH.

All Elite Wrestling (2019 – 2022)

In 2019 the SoCal Uncensored made their AEW debut under the name SCU and went on to become the inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champions by winning the tag team tournament, by defeating the Lucha Brothers in the finals. They held the title for 83 days and lost to Kenny Omega and Hangman Page. They failed to regain the title and the team was disbanded.

He began a feud with Elite and formed a team against them naming Elite Hunder with Eddie Kingston, Pac and Penta el Zero M. He then began a feud over Scorpio Sky for the TNT title, but failed to win the title. In 2022, he asked for his release and moved to TNA.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2021 – 2024*)

In 2021, Frankie Kazarian returned to Impact Wrestling as a part of the AEW TNA crossover he later joined TNA as a full-timer to win the X-Division Champion for the first time. He is currently in TNA and is in a feud with his former partner Eric Young.

Championships & Accomplishments

All Elite Wrestling

• AEW World Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural)

Big Time Wrestling

• BTW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

California Wrestling Coalition

• CWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• CWC Tag Team Championship (1 time)

DDT Pro-Wrestling

• Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)

East Coast Wrestling Alliance

• ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Empire Wrestling Federation

• EWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• EWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
• EWF Hall of Fame

International Wrestling Coalition

• IWC United States Championship (1 time)

Jersey All Pro Wrestling

• JAPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• JAPW New Jersey State Championship (1 time)

Millennium Pro Wrestling

• MPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Phoenix Championship Wrestling

• PCW Television Championship (1 time)
• PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Primos Wrestling Canada

• Primos Television Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla

• PWG World Championship (2 times)

Ring of Honor

• ROH World Tag Team Championship (3 times)
• ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) 

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling/Impact Wrestling

• TNA/Impact X Division Championship (5 times)
• TNA World Tag Team Championship (3 times)

Ultimate Pro Wrestling

• UPW Lightweight Championship (1 time)
• UPW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

United States Xtreme Wrestling

• UXW Xtreme Championship (1 time)

West Coast Wrestling Alliance

• WCWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Series Wrestling

• WSW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

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