Frankie Kazarian
Encyclopedia : F : FR : FRA : Frankie Kazarian
Frankie Kazarian (born August 4, 1977 in Yucca Valley, California) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for numerous promotions, most prominently Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in its X Division and World Wrestling Entertainment in its cruiserweight division.
Career
Frankie Kazarian began training with Killer Kowalski in Malden, Massachusetts in 1998, and wrestled his debut match after one month's training, facing Freight Train Dan. After remaining at Kowalski's school for eight months, Kazarian returned to Southern California and began wrestling on the independent circuit, primarily in the Empire Wrestling Federation, where he continued his training and teamed with Josh Galaxy as Bad Influence.Californian Independent Circuit
In 2000 Kazarian joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling, and in March 2001 he formed a tag team with Nova known as Evolution. Evolution won the vacant UPW Tag Team Championships on May 30, 2001. He travelled to Japan as part of the UPW roster in 2002, where he faced Steve Corino.He toured Australia and New Zealand with the now defunct World Wrestling All-Stars promotion in May 2003, where he met Glenn Gilberti and Scott D'Amore, leading to his being offered a job by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Kazarian also worked for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and won a tournament to become the first ever PWG Heavyweight Champion on August 30, 2003. He held the title until February 22, 2004 when he was defeated by Adam Pearce.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Kazarian joined TNA in the summer of 2003, and quickly began pursuing the TNA X Division Championship. He was part of the first ever Ultimate X Match, on August 20, 2003 along with Michael Shane and Chris Sabin, which was won by Shane. Kazarian did not appear with TNA between October 2003 and March 2004.After Chris Sabin was stripped of the title while sidelined with a knee injury, Kazarian eventually won the X-Division title on March 31, 2004, defeating The Amazing Red in a match for the vacant title. He lost the belt to A.J. Styles on June 9, 2004.
In June 2004 he and Shane formed a tag team (informally known as Shazarian) managed by Traci Brooks. They claimed to resent the fact that A.J. Styles had held the TNA X-Division Championship, then the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, then had won the X-Division Championship once more. This was purportedly illegal according to a previously unknown bylaw of the TNA rulebook, which stated that an X-Division competitor who participated for the Heavyweight Championship could not return to the X Division. On July 28, 2004 he and Shane faced Styles in an Ultimate X match. Kazarian and Shane were declared co-champions when both took possession of the title belt at the same time. On August 11 they defended the title in a twenty two man Gauntlet for the Gold Match. Kazarian started at number one and was one of the final three participants, but was eliminated by The Amazing Red, who in turn was eliminated by Petey Williams.
Kazarian was put in the same situation at November's Victory Road where he entered number one in a 20-man X Division Gauntlet and was the last man eliminated.
Throughout late 2004 and early 2005, Kazarian and Shane competed in the TNA tag division. Kazarian's contract with TNA expired in September 2004 and was not renewed, but he continued working with the company on a per appearance basis. The duo eventually began a feud with the 3Live Kru and Jeff Hammond, a NASCAR analyst who was working with TNA as a commentator. This led to a match at the Against All Odds pay-per-view on February 13, 2005 between Hammond and Kru member B.G. James and Shane and Kazarian. Kazarian was pinned by Hammond after Shane miscued on a superkick and knocked him out.
World Wrestling Entertainment
On February 15, 2005, Kazarian left TNA on good terms and signed with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, the primary developmental territory of WWE. He made his WWE television debut during an episode of Velocity on July 16, 2005, defeating Nunzio, and remained undefeated throughout July and into August. During this time, he picked up victories against Scotty 2 Hotty, Funaki, and Paul London respectively. On August 15, Kazarian announced on his website that he had left WWE two days earlier. The reasons for the departure were said to be WWE's writers desire to have Kazarian cut his hair to change his image.Independent circuit
Kazarian returned to the Californian independent circuit shortly after his release. He wrestled on the August 19 Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show in Los Angeles, "Smells Like Steen Spirit", where he teamed with Petey Williams to (unsuccessfully) challenge El Generico and Human Tornado for the PWG Tag Team Championships. He also wrestled on the International Assault tour of Australia in October. During Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's "(Please Don't Call It) The O.C." on May 6, 2006, Kazarian publically cut his signature ponytail.Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Kazarian returned to TNA on July 16, 2006 at TNA Victory Road 2006, unsuccessfully challenging Senshi for the TNA X Division Championship.Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- *Back to the Future (wrist-lock electric chair drop, bridged backwards into a pin)
- *Flux Capacitator (moonsault side slam)
- *Tazzmission (katahajime)
- *Wave of the Future (swinging reverse STO)
- *Fisherman suplex
- *Slingshot DDT
- *Slingshot diving leg drop
Championships and accomplishments
- Big Time Wrestling
- *BTW Tag Team Championship (with Jason Styles)
- :Defeated Shane and Shannon Ballard on June 2 2006 in Hollister, California, USA
- :Current
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- International Wrestling Coalition
- *IWC United States Championship
- :Defeated Ricky Reyes on October 13 2000 in Riverside, California, USA
- :Lost to Mike Valley by forfeit on December 10 2000 in San Bernadino, California, USA
- Millennium Pro Wrestling
- Phoenix Championship Wrestling
- *PWG Championship
- :Defeated Joey Ryan in a tournament final on August 30 2003 in City of Industry, California, USA (first champion)
- :Lost to Adam Pearce on February 22 2004 in Santa Ana, California, USA
- *PWG Championship (2)
- :Defeated Adam Pearce on July 10 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA
- :Lost to Super Dragon on November 13 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA
- *TNA X Division Championship
- :Defeated Chris Sabin on January 7 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- :Lost to A.J. Styles on June 9 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- *TNA X Division Championship (2) (with Michael Shane)
- :Defeated A.J. Styles on July 28 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- :Lost to Petey Williams in a gauntlet match on August 11 2004 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- *UPW Tag Team Championship (with Nova)
- :Won a tournament on May 30 2001 in Santa Ana, California, USA
- :Lost to Shane and Shannon Ballard on May 8 2002 in Santa Ana, California, USA
- *UPW Lightweight Championship
- :Defeated B-Boy (champion) and Spanky on August 15 2002 in Santa Ana, California, USA
- :Lost to Lil' Nate on February 23 2005 in Santa Ana, California, USA
- USA Xtreme Wrestling
- *UXW Xtreme Championship
- :Defeated Elix Skipper on September 24 2005
- :Stripped on November 26 2005
- West Coast Wrestling Alliance
Trivia
- Kazarian made a cameo appearance on an episode of The Man Show where Jimmy Kimmel & Adam Carolla learned on how to wrestle.
- Kazarian appeared in the film Backyard Dogs in 2000 as "Snake Duggan".
- Kazarian was on an episode of Distraction with Curry Man (an alter-ego of "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels) and Samoa Joe.
- Kazarian is an avid Metallica fan.
- Kazarian has stated that he would love to have a match with his trainer Killer Kowalski.
- Kazarian has said that his favorite move to use in the ring is his "wave of the future" finisher.
- Kazarian used to freestyle rap along with his close friends John Cena and Samoa Joe while the three of them were on the road.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.