Caleb Konley Reveals How He Got the TNA Suicide Gimmick

Caleb Konley didn’t hesitate when the chance came to step into one of TNA Wrestling’s most recognizable roles.

During an appearance on Jasmin St. Claire’s Off the Rails podcast, Konley opened up about how months of inactivity pushed him to accept the Suicide character just to stay active. Konley explained that when he first signed with TNA in 2016, the company was going through major internal turmoil. Ownership changes and uncertainty behind the scenes left him stuck waiting for opportunities that rarely came.

“So, uh, 2016, I signed with TNA. It was at a point where it was like the dying days of Dixie Carter… I did like one X Division pay-per-view and like an Explosion match, and then I was gone for several months.”

He described how the company shifted through multiple leadership changes while he remained under contract but rarely used.

“They'd been like through like four owners all in the meantime. I was just sitting at home waiting for them to call me back.”

Even when he was occasionally booked, the appearances were limited, and he felt like the company didn’t have a clear plan for him.

“Every once in a while they would throw me a bone and let me come down for a day and do a match or whatever, but I was, you know, barely at all there. They signed me and had no idea what to do with me.”

That uncertainty eventually led to a call that changed his direction. Konley recalled Sonjay Dutt reaching out with a proposal tied to a character that had been absent from television.

“And then one day Sonjay Dutt called me… he's like, ‘Well, Caleb, we haven't, you know, done anything with you in like six months. You've wrestled like four times for us.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, kind of sucks.’”

According to Konley, he was told that Jeff Jarrett was pushing to bring the Suicide character back into rotation, which opened the door for him to stay consistently involved.

“He's like, ‘Well, you know, Jeff Jarrett's really high on the Suicide character, and no one's done it in a couple of years, and would you mind potentially doing it?’”

For Konley, the decision came down to one simple question — whether it meant he would finally be wrestling on a regular basis again.

“And I was like, ‘Do I get to wrestle more?’ And they go, ‘Yeah, you'd be with us all the time.’ And I go, ‘Well, [expletive] sign me up right now. Like, let— just all I want to do is wrestle. I don't care, you know?’”

After more than a decade chasing opportunities in wrestling, he made it clear that staying active mattered more than anything else.

“I spent at that point 12 years trying to be a professional wrestler. I signed a contract with an actual TV company, and they just let me sit at home. So, you know, whatever I got to do, just let me do it.”

Konley’s comments offer a blunt look at the reality behind the scenes in wrestling, where talent often waits months for direction and sometimes takes unexpected roles just to stay relevant. For him, stepping into the Suicide character wasn’t about image or prestige — it was about survival and momentum in a business where opportunities don’t always come twice.

What do you think about Caleb Konley’s decision to take the Suicide role just to stay active in TNA — was it the right move, or would you have handled it differently? Let us know your thoughts and drop your feedback below.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.