Frankie Kazarian On Why He Didn’t Make In WWE In 2005

In an interview with Sporting News, Frankie Kazarian spoke about his brief WWE run in 2005 and why he didn’t last long with the company. Here are highlights:

On his brief time in WWE and why he left: “I couldn’t do it mentally. I don’t think I was mature enough and there’s an awful lot you have to take in when you get to the WWE. If the move would’ve come another two or three years later, then absolutely I would’ve been ready. But you’re not just a wrestler when you arrive there. It’s run like a huge company and it becomes a place of work and you’re like an employee just as much as you’re a wrestler. I still wanted to just wrestle for the fun of it and I just feel at that moment that it was too serious for me and I didn’t think it was going to work out.”

On John Cena: “People can say what they want about John as a performer, but for as long as I’ve known him, he’s always been the most hardworking man in the room. His work ethic was like nothing I’ve ever seen before and having the chance to travel all around with him and become his friend meant a lot to me at the time. He’s always wanted to be the best and it wouldn’t matter what was in his way. If he wanted something he was going to have it.”

On the problems with TNA: “There are a lot of people in wrestling who love to stand up and say that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are to blame for the demise of TNA and that is simply not true. It was the management setup that caused so many problems in TNA. The wrestlers had no idea whatsoever who was running things. Was it (TNA President) Dixie Carter? Was it (founder and part-owner) Jeff Jarrett? Was it (writing team member) Vince Russo? Who do you go to if you have a problem? If you have this great creative idea you want to pitch, who do you go and speak to? Nobody knew and that was the big problem and everyone felt the same. Let me ask you this, if you want something in WWE, who do you think you go and ask? It’s (Chairman) Vince McMahon. Everybody over there (WWE) knows who’s in charge and nobody knew in TNA and that caused so much confusion and unrest.”