Frankie Kazarian On The Gimmick Behind The Most Miserable Time Of His Career

When you've had a career in professional wrestling as long as Frankie Kazarian, you're bound to have some ups and downs. While he's found success in a number of companies around the world, including some impressive championship reigns, not everything he did in the squared circle is worthy of his highlight reel. 

Now he's opened up about his least favorite period between the ropes. On "The Kurt Angle Show," Kaz reminisced about playing Suicide, an original character from the TNA video game that was brought to life. 

"The Heavy Metal Rebel" was in the middle of a transition from the X-Division to the heavyweight division when management presented him with the mask in 2008. Despite a string of great matches against top guys like Angle, Christian Cage, and Booker T, he was pulled right back to where he started with very little explanation.

"I could not get a straight answer why when I talked to Dixie [Carter,] when I talked to Jeff [Jarrett,] when I talked to Vince Russo, when I talked to everybody," he said. "It was just, 'We need somebody we can trust in this role.' I fought it and they were having none of it. So they put me in this mask and this body suit and just kind of cut my legs off for the next year. [Then] I got injured. I tore my bicep and my tricep while I was doing that character and it just stopped any momentum I had ... That was probably the darkest place I've ever gone to professionally."

The Impact legend went on to describe this experience as "draining" and "not fun anymore." Luckily, his time under the red hood was relatively brief because it was passed on to other performers such as  TJ Perkins, Jonathan Gresham, and Kazarian's long-time tag team partner Christopher Daniels.