Frankie Kazarian believes TNA had something special with the Suicide character—and then stripped away everything that made it interesting.
During his appearance on RVD’s 1 of a Kind podcast, Kazarian explained that he initially resisted taking on the masked role. Once he agreed to do it, however, he wanted to turn Suicide into a silent and mysterious character unlike anyone else on the TNA roster. Kazarian’s original vision did not involve Suicide talking at all.
“I didn’t want the character to speak—ever. I just thought it would be cool if there was some mystique to him. Eventually, they made him cut promos, and it just watered the character down.”
Kazarian wanted TNA to use production tricks and multiple performers to make it appear as though Suicide could be in more than one place at the same time.
“I had ideas about having Suicide in the ring, then the lights go out and there’s a spotlight up in the balcony—and Suicide is there.”
He also believed the mask could have been passed from wrestler to wrestler, allowing the Suicide identity to survive long after Kazarian stopped portraying him.
“When my time was done being Suicide, somebody else could take over. It could be our version of Tiger Mask. There could always be a Suicide, but he’s portrayed by a different guy.”
Instead, Kazarian said the character eventually became another standard member of the X-Division. In his eyes, that killed the mystery and wasted a concept that began as a major part of the TNA video game.
“Ultimately, he started talking and became like a regular X-Division guy. That’s weak. It was a wasted opportunity. This character came from a video game, and we just turned him into another dude on the roster. It was another swing and a miss.”
Suicide had the look, the backstory and the chance to become a character TNA could have kept alive for years. Kazarian believes the company threw that potential away by making him speak and treating him like everyone else.
Was Frankie Kazarian’s original vision for Suicide better than what TNA eventually put on television? Let us know how you would have booked the character in the comments.
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