Frankie Kazarian Talks About Working In Impact Now That The 'Stink Is Off The Brand'

In a move that surprised many, Impact Wrestling is currently preparing to return to its original moniker — TNA. The rebranding is set to be made official early next month with the promotion's upcoming Hard To Kill pay-per-view, and Frankie Kazarian is one of the old TNA regulars who will be a part of the revival. Kazarian described the differences between the old company and today's version during a recent appearance on the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast.

"First and foremost, management is completely different," Kazarian said. "It's night and day. It's a completely different company."

When Kazarian left Impact in 2014, "Big" John Gaburick was in control of the company's creative direction, and Kazarian stated that Gaburick was not a fan of himself or his tag partner, Christopher Daniels. With the company's current President Scott D'Amore in charge, Kazarian seems to feel things are in a much better place, and he began noticing it during visits to the promotion while still working with AEW.

"Everybody genuinely gets along," Kazarian continued. "Scott D'Amore runs a really tight ship, and he and his team have worked really hard getting that stink off the brand, because — let's be honest — there was, for a long time."

The announcement of TNA's return was made at the Impact Bound for Glory PPV back in October. Since then, it has also been revealed that TNA will partner with WWE owner Endeavor to revamp its streaming service, which will become known as TNA+. While that is far from an indication that TNA and WWE will have a working relationship, D'Amore has made it clear the company is open to partnering with other wrestling promotions, as seen by Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada's upcoming participation at TNA Snake Eyes.

While it hasn't always been the prettiest sight, the fact that TNA/Impact has been able to stay in business for more than 20 years is certainly something to celebrate. With the impending shift back to TNA, 2024 is set to be the company's biggest year in quite some time, and Kazarian gives the credit to both the locker room and management.

"Scott D'Amore's brought a lot of consistency," Kazarian said. "He's really got the company set on the right path."

When the topic of TNA comes up among many wrestling fans, the blame for the company's downturn often gets placed at the feet of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan, with the claim that they came in and turned the promotion into their own vanity project. Kazarian pushed back on this version of events, however.

"Hulk Hogan — he's done a few things," Kazarian continued. "When he does a major move like [going to TNA], people within the industry and people that are just novice fans are gonna open their eyes. ... Eric Bischoff was the guy that championed Chris Daniels and I. ... All I can say is my interactions personally with those guys were nothing but positive."

Kazarian joined the TNA roster very early into the company's existence and stayed with the promotion for much of his career since. The former AEW star counts himself as one of the core parts of the promotion's "X Division," especially in its early days. Though he didn't think he'd return after leaving about 10 years ago, the veteran is now clearly proud to still be a major part of the company, which continues to run strong.