Frankie Kazarian

"Kaz (wrestler)" redirects here. For the American wrestler born 1953, see Bill Kazmaier. For the Japanese wrestler, see Kaz Hayashi.

Frankie Kazarian
Kazarian in 2016
Birth nameFrank Benedict Gerdelman[1]
Born (1977-08-04) August 4, 1977 (age 47)[2]
Palm Springs, California, U.S.[2]
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2010)​
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Frankie[3]
Frankie Gerdelman[3]
Frankie Kazarian[4][5]
Kaz[5]
Kazarian[3]
Suicide[3]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[6]
Billed weight210 lb (95 kg)[6]
Billed fromAnaheim, California[6]
"Beautiful" Southern California
Yucca Valley, California
Trained byKiller Kowalski[2]
Jesse Hernandez
Bill Anderson
Ultimate Pro Wrestling
DebutMay 15, 1998[3]

Frank Benedict Gerdelman[1][7] (born August 4, 1977)[2] is an American professional wrestler and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), as well as several independent promotions, most notably Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he has won multiple tag-team and singles championships.

Kazarian began his career in 1998 and performed on several independent promotions. During the 2000s, he worked for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he became the inaugural and two-time PWG World Champion. From 2003 until 2014, he wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He began a tag team with Michael Shane known as Shazarian. In 2007, he shortened his name to Kaz and briefly worked under the Suicide character between 2008 and 2010. After returning to the Kazarian name, he joined the Fourtune stable, where he stayed until 2012. In 2012, he began to work with Christopher Daniels as a tag team named Bad Influence, winning the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice. With a total of 4 reigns as X Division champion (one as co-champion with Shane and one as Suicide) and three as World Tag Team Champion, he left the company in 2014.

After leaving TNA, Daniels and Kazarian reunited in Ring of Honor, where they stayed until 2018. They changed the name of the tag team to The Addiction and later, they were joined by Scorpio Sky as SoCal Uncensored. He won the ROH Tag Team Championship twice with Daniels and once with Sky and the trio won the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. During this time, Daniels and Kazarian appeared in international promotions, such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling. After leaving ROH, the trio joined the new promotion All Elite Wrestling, where Kazarian and Sky became the first AEW World Tag Team Champions. In 2022, Kazarian also worked with Impact Wrestling, where he won his fifth X Division Championship (becoming the title’s 100th champion in the process), later signing with the company in 2023, after being granted his release from AEW.

  1. ^ a b "Frank Gerdelman United States". Intelius. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Milner, John M. "Frankie Kazarian". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  4. ^ Sinclair, Todd. "Frankie Kazarian ROH profile". Ring of Honor Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Kaz profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c "TNA Wrestling profile". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2010.
  7. ^ "Free Family Tree, Genealogy and Family History - MyHeritage". www.familytreelegends.com.