Frankie Kazarian has had a long career in professional wrestling, but he became a fan of it by complete accident.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Frankie Kazarian recently sat down with CV Weekly to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about how he first became a fan of professional wrestling, Kazarian reflected on first discovering it as a video rental store and seeing the box for WrestleMania I with Mr. T and Hulk Hogan on it and thinking it was a behind-the-scenes video of Rocky III.
“I was like, this tape must be a behind-the-scenes of Rocky III. We need to rent it,” Frankie Kazarian said. “We put the tape in the machine and within minutes I was hooked, borderline obsessed. To this day, Tito is still one of my favorites. He and Curt Henning, Bret Hart, and of course, The Ultimate Warrior.”
Kazarian eventually decided he wanted to be a professional wrestler and decided to train with Killer Kowalksi in 1998, but the wrestling business was very different back then as compared to what it is today, and there was immediately a target on his back as the new guy.
“Back then the business was really protected. When you were the new guy and you walked in for the first time, you were a target,” Frankie Kazarian said. “There was no, hi nice to meet you. There were spots, and everyone wanted to be in the top spot, and none of those guys were giving it up. I was already homesick, and I’m literally thinking… I just made a mistake.”
Luckily for Frankie Kazarian, it wasn’t a mistake at all, as he went on to make a name for himself on the California independent scene before getting his first big break with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling in 2003.
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What do you make of Frankie Kazarian’s comments? What are your first memories of professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
