Frankie Kazarian walked it.
Kazarian is a former AEW wrestler that is currently signed with IMPACT Wrestling. In late 2022, the inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champion decided to leave the Jacksonville-based promotion and signed with IMPACT Wrestling. He had previously mentioned that he wanted to leave the company as he wanted to do something different.
He recently took to Twitter to mention that the decision he made to leave AEW was difficult, but also the most rewarding.
“In January I made a difficult, but VERY necessary decision. I decided to bet on myself. It resulted in the most rewarding, successful & overall fun years of my career. I urge all of you who may be in a similar situation that action speaks louder than words. Don’t talk it, walk it,” Frankie Kazarian tweeted.
Eric Bishoff respects Frankie Kazarian for leaving AEW and signing with IMPACT Wrestling
When Kazarian left AEW and signed with IMPACT Wrestling, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff shared his thoughts on his 83 Weeks Podcast. Bischoff mentioned that he was extremely proud of Kazarian’s decision.
“I’ve talked so often about the amount of respect I have for Frankie as a talent,” Bischoff said. “As a person, first and foremost, and as a talent next. He is an amazing talent, but he is so underrated, so underrated. I don’t know how much Frankie wants to spend in the industry. You get to a point as you get older when you’ve done it all. You’ve been a part of some really big things. For Frankie to walk away from AEW, because let’s face it, yeah, it’s a big roster. There’s a lot of talent there that should be on TV that isn’t.
“It’s hard. It’s one of the challenges you have when you’ve got a roster that big. I know that. I had that, and I took a lot of criticism for having guys under contract and paying them anyway to sit at home. How many times have you heard that criticism of me and WCW? But I also understand. I understand why Tony’s doing it. I think he’s overdoing it, to a degree, but I get it. It’s a new company, and there’s a lot of opportunity there, so I get it,” Eric Bischoff said.
Have you enjoyed Frankie Kazarian’s run in IMPACT Wrestling?
More must-reads: