TNA Champion Admits Not Being Ready For WWE Earlier In Career

A veteran TNA wrestler has admitted that when he was under WWE contract, he wasn’t ready for a spot there.

Frankie Kazarian became the TNA World Champion for the first time in November 2025 after spending the majority of his nearly 30-year pro wrestling career in the company.

For the majority of his career, Kazarian has been a TNA guy from the 2000s through the 2010s, and then he went to AEW when they launched in 2019. After a few years there, he returned to the company that had been home for him for many years.

What some wrestling fans may not know is that Kazarian was actually under a WWE contract in 2005. During a recent conversation with Insight’s Chris Van Vliet, Kazarian spoke about his WWE journey from over 20 years ago.

“They put five matches on television. They put me on the road immediately, just to let me get a little bit of money and some reps. So I went on the road the first couple weeks and did some more matches, and then went home, and they’re just like, ‘Well, when we have something for you, we’ll call you.’ Because I wasn’t on a developmental deal, was just a deal. And then it was like, I’m not doing indies or anything. So time is going by and going by.

I would call them like, ‘Hey, can I do something?’ At one point they said, ‘Well, do you want to move to Atlanta?’ I’m like, No, I don’t want to move to Atlanta. I didn’t sign a developmental deal. But, if you want me to. But it’s no, just hold tight. We’re working on stuff.

I got called again, like, why don’t you go to OVW for a week? They sent me and Kid Cash OVW for a week, which is cool. Trained under Ricky Steamboat, one of my heroes, awesome master class. Had a match, look great. Everything’s great still.

And then finally, I get a call from one of the writers. He’s like, ‘Okay, we got something for you. We’re gonna start you. We’re gonna call you “The Future” Frankie Kazarian.’ I’m like, it’s brilliant. I’ve been calling myself that for the previous five years, but I’ve been sitting at home for months, and that’s what you came up with? It’s befuddling.

But anyways, yeah, you know, the whole premise of even signing me was they’re revamping the cruiserweight division and this and that. And when I got there, I kind of saw the writing on the wall very early on.

“I Was Not Ready To Be There” – TNA World Champion Kazarian

As the discussion continued, TNA’s World Champion Kazarian admitted he wasn’t ready to be in WWE when he was under contract in 2005.

“Look, I was not ready to be there. I was physically ready. I was ready as a pro wrestler, but I didn’t have the business mentality. WWE is a business, and before I got there, it was just my passion, and I was having fun.

And, you know, TNA was a business, but there was a lot more freedom. You know, WWE is a very structured environment, and I just was not ready. I was not mature enough, just as a man, to be there. Just wasn’t my time.”

Kazarian eventually found a role in TNA, won multiple X-Division and Tag Team Titles, and carved out a great career for himself without being part of WWE long-term.