Kazarian Compares Current TNA Stint To His First One, Overcoming Stigma Of Being A "Cruiserweight"

Steven Muehlhausen of The Fight Club radio show in Chicago recently interviewed Kazarian, who was promoting this Sunday's Slammiversary pay-per-view. Here are some highlights:

His first TNA run compared to the current one: "That was the early times of TNA were just different times. It was so grassroots and we just starting out. Everything was new and different. You had this thing called the X division, which everyone was talking about. It was awesome. Ultimate X matches, which I was in the first one. It was cool. It was different because it was so kind of unstable. I say unstable and I mean it in a good way because it was just. We were on weekly PPV. We got a TV deal with Fox Sports. It was ever evolving which it is now, but just on a more grand scale now."

If he's overcome the stigma of being labeled a cruiserweight wrestler: "I think so and I hope so. A lot of has to do when I started out size wise. I seemed like I was small. A few years passed and I was like, 'Wow, there's a lot of guys smaller than me.'

"All be it, they're incredible athletes. But you know, I've always been drawn to the cruiserweight style. I love the action, thought it was cool and I still really like to incorporate that into my wrestling. I never want to be labeled as just a cruiserweight wrestler. I think having matches with guys like Kurt Angle, the AJ Styles' and guys like that. I can definitely have stepped away from that. I think a lot of us have. I think a lot of guys were kind of labeled as that early on at least in the early inception of TNA."

You can listen to full full interview by clicking here.