Frankie Kazarian doesn't know when the end of his road will come, but he's not looking for the exit.
Frankie Kazarian is a veteran of the wrestling industry. One of the top names of the 2000s and 2010s, Kazarian has watched the industry go through cycles from the death of WCW and ECW to the birth of AEW and the rise of streaming giving new life to independent wrestling.
A veteran of IMPACT Wrestling and one of the pioneers of the X-Division, Kazarian find himself in a unique position in 2022 as he, a contracted AEW performer, will be challenging for the X-Division Championship at Bound For Glory. Having wrestled for nearly a quarter-century, Kazarian says, in a new interview with Darren Paltrowitz, he feels blessed to be in the position that he's in and has always had the mindset that he will continue to wrestle until he no longer physically can or feels as though he is being a parody of himself.
"I mean, I've always had the mindset that I'm going to do this until I physically can't, and/or I know that I'm gonna go out there, and I'm just a parody of myself. You know, early on in my career, there were certainly times, pitfalls, and perils.
"There were times when I was like, 'Why am I putting so much work into this?' and you're not seeing the results that you want, but you've just gotta work hard and push through that. Especially as I get older, I train smart, I eat smart, I'm very cognizant of health and fitness and, and it's almost now a, you know, a battle against myself to see how good I am; if I can still hang, if I can still have high-level matches, which I can, and I've proved that. I now have a greater appreciation for that, though. When I was younger, it was just, 'Oh, just another match.'I now have a greater appreciation, every time I'm in the ring, that this is something I've been blessed to do for, again, almost 25 years, and still do it at a top level and to still do it with guys that are coming up and going to be the next generation. It's a cool spot to be in."
Bound for Glory will take place on Friday, October 7. Fans can check out the full card here. We will have full coverage of the event throughout the night.
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