Frankie Kazarian
Monday, April 20, 2020Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of SoCal Uncensored. He is known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH) under the ring name Frankie Kazarian where he is a three-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and one time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under the ring names Kazarian, Suicide, and Kaz.
Kazarian also wrestled in the independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he won the PWG World Championship in 2003 and 2004. Also, he is the inaugural PWG World Champion when he won the Bad Ass Mother tournament. Kazarian is also a five-time TNA X Division Champion and a three-time TNA World Tag Team Champion.
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".
Impact Wrestling commentator Mike Tenay revealed in a late 2007 shoot interview that during a World Championship Wrestling event in San Diego, California in 2000, a fan appeared to him and boldly declared that "someday, [Tenay] will be calling one of [his] matches". That fan was none other than Kazarian himself.