How are you doing today sir?
Kaz: Good. How are you guys doing?
Doing pretty well, and I’d imagine that this Sunday is almost a culmination of sorts for you. Returning to TNA last year and now having a very high profile ladder match with Christian Cage this Sunday.
Kaz: Yeah definitely. It’s probably, by far, my highest profile match to date in TNA. Possibly in my career, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.
And I would assume with a guy like you that having the ladder in there has really got the creative juices flowing.
Kaz: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know it man. I’m looking to bring out some stuff a lot of people have never seen in ladder matches and you know there’s been some pretty awesome ladder matches.
Yeah, definitely a high standard for fans watching ladder matches. Now if you can, take us back first to 2005. You were involved in a tag team with Michael Shane at the time. You seemed to be getting over very well in TNA and you made the decision to go over to the WWE. What were the circumstances at that time that caused the change of scenery?
Kaz: Well basically I had been wrestling in TNA for about two or three months at the time without a contract. My deal had expired and I kind of just flew under the radar. Nobody’s fault, it’s just one of the things that happened and I had an offer on the table from WWE. You know I was really happy teaming with Matt Bently; Michael Shane at the time and I thought we were getting over with the crowd at least, but we weren’t really getting over with the right people who were in charge at the time. Dusty Rhodes and whoever else. But I had this offer on the table and it’s one of these things that you know, I kind of had to figure out on my own and find out on my own whether the grass was greener on the other side and what the other place had to offer and it was the point in my career and my life that I made the decision to leave and pursue what the WWE had to offer.
Looking back at your time in the WWE. Was it a case where the grass maybe wasn’t as greener on the other side of the fence?
Kaz: Here’s the thing. The grass may be greener but it just needs to be mowed just as much as the other grass. Like I said, the WWE for me was what it was. There’s a lot of things I expected and even more that I didn’t expect and at the time, I wasn’t a happy camper personally, professionally and that was no fault of theirs. It was a lot of my own issues and it just didn’t work out at the time.
I’m sure you’ve been asked this question a million times about the hair. Was it true that the WWE wanted you to cut your hair while you were in the company, and you refused?
Kaz: I’ve actually been asked a million and five. You’re now a million and six, so no. That was brought up, that was definitely not a reason for me leaving. You know, the decision was basically already made and I thought them asking me to do that was basically them power tripping and saying you know “just do this because we asked you to and want you to look like everyone else.” Me, you know, with my own ego, turned it down and went “no, screw you guys. I don’t want to be here anyway.” And that was just at the time that they basically just disagreed with me. Aside from that, everything was usually cool between me and them.
Now I don’t know how legit this is, but in doing my research here, is it true that while you were on TV in WWE, you never did lose a match on TV?
Kaz: That’s true. Yeah that is true.
That’s quite the interesting trivia note there.
Kaz: Yeah, so undefeated on WWE television.
Now what was the reception like when you did return to TNA? Was it difficult going back, or was it just a case of being welcomed back with open arms?
Kaz: Well, you know I had wanted to go back months before I actually came back. But it was one of those things where, you know, there’s only so many spots open at the time. They had only an hour program. I left on very good terms with TNA so I just kept biding my time before I did come back, which was last Janua…I’m sorry, last July. July 2006 and as far as the boys wanting me back, everyone was really happy; I have a lot of friends there and management was happy to have me back and I knew I was going to have to eat a lot of crap for leaving in the first place. So, you know, all in all, it was one those “glad to have you back” and I was ecstatic to be back.
Now as you look back at the evolution of your character in TNA, since coming back in July of last year. You were first saddled in the Serotonin angle. Was it a bit of a relief getting to break away from that group? Because it seemed that, as you mentioned, Impact being only 42 minutes at the time. You guys weren’t really showcased too much on the main show there.
Kaz: Well you know, there goal was to get everyone on television as much as possible and you know Serotonin was kind of a necessary evil. You know they had really no direction for Matt and myself at the time. Nor did they for Johnny Devine and I guess Raven either so we actually formed a stable and you know we were told they were going to do certain things with it but it just never happened for whatever reason. But you know, just a necessary evil. I just continued to show up, do my best and yeah, once I broke away from Serotonin, I was very happy to be back just kind of being myself and you know, a lot more comfortable out there just being me.
Tell us about the change of Impact going to two hours. Has it really helped add a lot of breathing room for the guys to go out there and not rush through things as much as when it was in the one hour incarnation?
Kaz: I think it has and obviously guys are getting a lot more time to go out there and show what they can do. There’s also a lot more statement time and backstage stuff, which a lot of people want; a lot of people don’t. You know it’s just sort of hit or miss. People want to see what the TNA wrestlers can do and you know, because they think they’re the most talented group of wrestlers there is. With that extra hour, it’s almost like a sigh of relief, you know, guys don’t have to go out there and rush around for four minutes. They can go out there for eight, ten, 12, sometimes 20 minutes and you know, give the crowd and the attendance of people at home what they want. So it’s definitely been a relief. Personally I think it’s great.
Yeah it seems to be, especially your character, seems to be benefiting very much from it. During this whole run of the last few months, doing to feud with Robert Roode. You seem to have avoided the label of being called “X division” wrestler that some TNA workers are pegged as. Do you see if there’s almost a curse or a glass ceiling that certain guys are labeled “X division” or “cruiserweight” wrestler in the industry?
Kaz: Well you know, for many years I was just a cruiserweight wrestler; an X division wrestler. When I actually first went over to WWE, the main reason they brought me in, or so I was told, is because they were revamping their cruiserweight division, whether that has happened or it will happen, I don’t know. And in TNA at the time, I was kind of bigger than most X division guys, but I guess in WWE I would be considered a cruiserweight. Coming back to TNA, I know the X division isn’t about weight limits, but you know I’m still a bit bigger than a lot of the X division guys. But that’s not to say that I don’t want to be an X division wrestler, because I think a lot of the guys are very talented and I do like that style, but I personally like where I’m at now. Not labeled an X division wrestler and not labeled not an X division wrestler. I think for some guys it can be a curse, but if you’re able to work your way through it, then you can kind of release those boundaries on yourself in character.
Yeah now one X division match you were involved with was this past summer. TNA Victory Road in the X division gauntlet battle royal and what might get voted spot of the year, taking a neck breaker from Christopher Daniels while you were hanging upside down on the wire of the ring. I’ve got to ask you, who thought up of the spot and did you insist that Chris Daniels be the guy to deliver it to you?
Kaz: Actually I gave it to him. He was hanging.
Oh I’m sorry, I have the move backwards in my head I apologize
Kaz: That’s alright, just complete opposite. Yeah he was hanging, that was something I had thought of. I really love the Ultimate X concept. I was in the first ever Ultimate X and I’m constantly brainstorming whether it would be a standard match or a gimmicky match like that. That idea’s been in my head for months; maybe even a year. Chris Daniels is probably one of my best friends and you know, one of the most talented guys I know and he was the guy I went to, to discuss that and it sounded good. I don’t know how possible it was for the move to actually come off as well as it did. But you know it’s everything started aligned and it came off without a hitch and yeah I was very proud of that and a very strong reaction we received. All the guys worked really hard in that match.
Oh yeah, that one’s going to be etched on the highlight reel for a number of years to come. Was it UPW where you and Daniels first met up? Or did you guys know each other prior?
Kaz: I had actually met up with Chris Daniels, I was trained by Killer Kowalski. I moved back to Southern California after being out in Massachusetts for a while and started training and wrestling while I was here. I was actually in a promotion called VWF and Christopher Daniels was the top guy in Southern California and was one of the top wrestlers in the country at the time and he kind of helped me out in getting things in my career and then obviously through UPW, you know we worked together a lot. We became friends and you know, he started in TNA about a year before I did and I started there and we just kind of grew with the business together. He’s been there obviously longer than I have, but we’ve been in the locker room and became good friends.
It’s quite something when you look back at that roster Rick Bassman had at the start of the decade. Aside from yourself, Samoa Joe, Chris Daniels, John Cena, Sylvester Terkay; a ton of talent coming out of Southern Carolina at that time period.
Kaz: Yeah, you also had, at one point, you had Paul London, you had “Spanky” Brian Kendrick, you had a whole lot of guys. A whole lot of guys come out of there and people are flocking to UPW to get work you know to be showcased. Because at the time they were one of the toughest old mills for WWF at the time, so yeah are shows that used to run out here in Santa Ana would just be off the charts and he had a great group of guys.
And I hear that yourself, Joe and Cena were quite the freestyle machines back in the day?
Kaz: Yeah we used to, you know after practicing, training or after shows, we would end up back at Samoa Joe’s house eating some Korean barbecue. You know, a lot of the time we’d just start free styling, we’d talk about video games and you know, we’re just, we were buds back then. We saw each other obviously, you know, I saw Joe and John three, four, five days a week between training and doing local indies. We used to definitely hang out whenever we got a chance and just lay low.
Can you give us a little freestyle about Genesis this Sunday? I got to put you on the spot.
Kaz: I’ve since then moved on from free styling, you know, I was never really good to begin with. I’m more of a heavy metal guy; I kind of left the freestyle to them.
All right, well I really want to thank you for chatting with us. Before we let you go, I know the name comes from the Back to the Future movie and I’ve got to ask you, of the three, which of the Back to the Futures stand out for you as above the other?
Kaz: Obviously the original. You know, the original is the best and you know, I think as a trilogy though. Back to the Future, the movie as a trilogy is the best original concept, it is you know it was never done before and I think it’ll be done in the future.
Were you a fan of the western in the third one? Because that’s the one that’s kind of the weak link to me.
Kaz: Yes, that was, you know, but monetarily that one did better than part two in the box office. I just read that this morning and obviously I don’t think the sequels held up to the original, but I don’t think any sequel does. But they’re all good and I was a big fan of Michael J. Fox back in the day and that’s how I got my first nickname “the future” back in the day when I first started.
That’s excellent. I want to wish you the best of luck with the ladder match Sunday night at Genesis, 8 p.m. Eastern on pay per view and best of luck in the future Frankie, we really appreciate you sitting down and chatting with us.
Kaz: Thanks, I appreciate it any time and I’m sure it’s going to be a great pay per view.
(Transcribed by Blaine van der Griend) {plug}
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