Suicide (wrestling)

Professional wrestling gimmick

This article is about the professional wrestling persona. For the cause of death, see Suicide. For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation).

Fictional character

Suicide

TNA Wrestling character

Suicide in 2010

First appearance| Video Games:
TNA Impact! (2008)
Real life:
Final Resolution (2008)
Last appearance| Video Games:
TNA Impact! (2008)
Real Life:
TNA Impact! (2020)[a]
Created by| TNA Wrestling
Portrayed by| Frankie Kazarian
Christopher Daniels
Akira Raijin
Kazuchika Okada
Austin Aries
T.J. Perkins
Jonathan Gresham
Caleb Konley
Zachary Wentz
Crazzy Steve
In-universe information
Alias| Manik
Height| Various
Weight| Various

Suicide is a professional wrestling persona, used by multiple wrestlers in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Suicide first appeared as a character in the 2008 video game TNA Impact!. In December 2008, the Suicide character was introduced on television as a real-life wrestler. Originally portrayed by Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels held the role for a time in early 2009 and went on to win the X Division Championship.[2] In June 2010, Kiyoshi became the third man to use the gimmick.[3]

By October 2010, the gimmick was dropped, but made a brief return in January 2011, once again being portrayed by Christopher Daniels,[4] before being dropped once again in April 2011. Suicide returned to television in May 2013 portrayed by T. J. Perkins.[5] Austin Aries wrestled under the Suicide gimmick on the episode of Impact Wrestling which aired on June 27, 2013, and won the TNA X Division Championship.[6] Suicide was "revealed" to be Perkins, who claimed Aries stole his ring gear, on the June 30, 2013, episode of Impact Wrestling. His ring name was changed to Manik, using a slightly altered version of the Suicide gear, with new music. Perkins remains the only man to have wrestled under the Manik persona.

The Suicide persona returned in July 2016 for TNA One Night Only X-Travaganza 2016, portrayed by Jonathan Gresham. In March 2017, Caleb Konley became the man behind the mask.

## History

[edit]

### Introduction as a video game character

[edit]

Main article: TNA Impact! (video game)

Suicide was originally created by Midway Games as an original character for the 2008 TNA Impact! video game.[7] The character is voiced by Low Ki, who also did motion capture for the game and appears as himself.[8]

In the game's storyline he is a professional wrestler moving up the ranks, when prior to his match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, he is approached by The Latin American Xchange, who tell him to throw the match.[7][9] When he instead goes on to win the title, he is beaten beyond recognition by LAX and left for dead in Mexico.[9] Doctors find him alive, but suffering from amnesia, and aid in his recovery while offering free plastic surgery as well. This allows the player to create their own look for Suicide, establishing his new identity in the process.[7] Finding he has a knack for wrestling, he is recruited for the TNA roster as Suicide, and forms a tag team with Eric Young called the Salty Biscuits. LAX kidnaps Young and orders Suicide to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship then drop the title to Jeff Jarrett.[9] After winning the title Suicide remembers his past,[9] saves Young with the help of other wrestlers, and gets revenge on Jarrett by defeating him in the match for the World Heavyweight Championship.[9]

### Wrestling Debut and X Division Champion (2008–2011)

[edit]

Suicide (portrayed by Kazarian) posing above Daniels, who once used the gimmick.

During every episode of TNA's primary television program, Impact!, after August 14, 2008, the words "whoissuicide.com" flashed on the screen for less than a second. On the website, it showed that Suicide was being taken from the game to real life television.[10] At Final Resolution, Suicide made his debut by attacking Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, the Motor City Machine Guns.[11] At Destination X, Christopher Daniels[2] won the X Division Championship in an Ultimate X match,[12] while using the Suicide gimmick, having replaced the injured Frankie Kazarian. On the May 14, 2009, episode of TNA, after weeks of accusing Daniels of being Suicide, the Motor City Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed) looked to remove the mask of Suicide. This prompted Daniels to come out and save Suicide from being exposed.[13] Suicide wrestled Daniels at the Sacrifice pay-per-view event, in which Suicide retained via time limit draw after Daniels refused a victory assisted by the Motor City Machine Guns.[14]

At Slammiversary, Suicide retained the X Division Championship against Shelley, Sabin, Lethal, and Creed in a King of the Mountain match.[15] On July 16, Suicide lost his championship to Homicide after he cashed in his "Feast or Fired" briefcase.[16] After not being seen for a few weeks, Suicide made his return at Hard Justice to compete in the Steel Asylum match, which he lost because of D'Angelo Dinero.[17] On the August 20 edition of Impact! Suicide attacked Dinero after his match with Consequences Creed.[18] On the September 17 edition of Impact! Dinero defeated Suicide in a grudge match.[19] At No Surrender Dinero defeated Suicide again, this time in a Falls Count Anywhere match.[20] The following week on Impact! Suicide finally defeated Dinero, by doing the Suicide Solution on a trash can in a street fight.[21] On the October 15 edition of Impact! Homicide stole Suicide's costume and claims to now know his true identity.[22] On the December 3 edition Impact! Suicide made peace with Dinero and joined him, Matt Morgan and Hernandez in their war with Rhino, Team 3D and Jesse Neal.[23] At Final Resolution Morgan, Hernandez, Dinero and Suicide defeated Neal, Team 3D and Rhino in an eight-man elimination tag team match.[24]

On the February 18, 2010, edition of Impact! Kazarian returned to TNA, and would no longer use the Suicide gimmick.[25] The character made its return four months later on June 14, losing to Magnus in a match taped for Xplosion. This time it was portrayed by Japanese wrestler Akira Kawabata, known in TNA as Kiyoshi.[3][26] At the July 12 tapings of Xplosion, Kawabata picked up his first victory as Suicide, defeating Eric Young.[27] The gimmick was temporarily retired after a house show in Windsor, Ontario on September 12, 2010, where he was defeated by Kazarian,[28] which was followed by Kawabata returning to television as Kiyoshi on October 8 and the removal of Suicide's profile from TNA's official website on October 13.[29] Suicide returned at the January 31, 2011, tapings of Xplosion, with Christopher Daniels once again using the gimmick.[4] On the April 7 edition of Impact!, Suicide teamed with Brian Kendrick and Chris Sabin against Robbie E. and Generation Me (better known as The Young Bucks). For this night only, Suicide was portrayed by Kazuchika Okada, who would depart the company later that year.[30] Suicide wrestled his final match on the May 12 edition of Impact!, where he was defeated by Sangriento. Suicide's final appearance was at TNA Destination X 2011, where he was featured in a backstage segment with Eric Young.[31]

### Name change and The Revolution (2013–2016)

[edit]

After nearly two years of inactivity, vignettes began airing for Suicide's return to TNA on May 9, 2013.[32] Suicide made his official return defeating Joey Ryan and Petey Williams on the May 23 episode of Impact Wrestling earning an X Division Title shot at Slammiversary. For this return, Suicide was portrayed by T. J. Perkins.[5] Suicide received his title shot on June 2 at Slammiversary XI, but was defeated by Chris Sabin in an Ultimate X match, also involving Kenny King.[33] On the June 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, Perkins was revealed as the man behind the mask of Suicide as part of a storyline where he had been attacked and the Suicide costume and mask stolen and utilized by Austin Aries to win the X Division Championship.[34]

On June 29, at the tapings of the July 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Perkins began using the ring name Manik, while retaining a modified version of the Suicide costume and mask.[35][36] He participated in a three-way match for the X Division Championship against Sabin and Aries, which Sabin won to regain the championship; Manik was removed from the match after being attacked by Aces & Eights.[37] After Sabin vacated the championship, Manik entered the tournament to determine the new champion, and advanced to the final by defeating Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Kenny King.[38] On July 18, at the tapings of the July 25 episode of Impact Wrestling, Manik won the vacant X Division Championship by defeating Greg Marasciuolo and Sonjay Dutt in a three-way Ultimate X match.[39] Including a successful defense against Chris Sabin on the September 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Manik held the championship until Bound for Glory on October 20, when he lost it to Sabin in a five-way Ultimate X match.[40][41] Following a hiatus lasting several months, Manik returned to the promotion at Lockdown losing to Tigre Uno in a steel cage match.[42]

On September 3, Manik was kidnapped by James Storm and Sanada; the following week, Storm was shown initiating Manik into a new faction, later called The Revolution, and the trio later attacked Samoa Joe and Homicide.[43] On a September 23, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling Manik quit The Revolution and took his mask off revealing his face on TNA for the first time since debuting as Manik. On January 12, 2016, T. J. Perkins was released from TNA, removing the character from TV.[44]

In July 2016, the Suicide character was brought back for a TNA One Night Only X-Travaganza 2016 taping, this time being portrayed by independent wrestler Jonathan Gresham.[45]

### Return (2017–2021)

[edit]

In March 2017, Impact announced that Suicide would be returning on March 16 episode of Impact Wrestling.[46] Suicide returned on March 16 Impact Wrestling, now being portrayed by Caleb Konley,[47] in a four-way match for the X Division Championship, in which he was unsuccessful. The character went on a hiatus, due to the departure of Caleb Konley on March 1, 2019.[48][49]

The Suicide character made its return to Impact Wrestling on March 24, 2020, attacking Moose after his match against Chase Stevens, with Caleb Konley using the gimmick once again.[50] On March 31, 2020, at the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Special! event, T. J. Perkins returned as Manik teaming with Suicide defeating the tag team of TNA Originals Johnny Swinger and Kid Kash.[51] On May 19, 2020, Suicide unsuccessfully challenged Moose for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.[52]

On the August 12, 2021, episode of Impact!, Suicide made his final appearance competing in a number one contenders battle royal for the Impact World Championship which was won by Brian Myers.[53] After Konley announced his departure from Impact Wrestling on April 14, 2022, the Suicide gimmick was once again dropped and it is officially unknown if the character will return again anytime soon.[54][55]

## Wrestlers who have portrayed Suicide

[edit]

Suicide performing a simultaneous neckbreaker/DDT combination on The Motor City Machine Guns. Suicide performing a leg drop on Chris Sabin.

Low Ki provided the voice and motion-capture for the character in the TNA Impact! video game.[56]

Wrestler(s)  | Years  | Notes

|
|

Frankie Kazarian | 2008–2010  | Portrayed Suicide with Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniels | 2009
2011  | Portrayed Suicide with Frankie Kazarian
Akira Raijin | 2010  | Portrayed the character for only three months
Kazuchika Okada | 2011  | Portrayed the character for one night only
T. J. Perkins | 2013–2016  | Portrayed the character under the Manik name
Jonathan Gresham | 2016  | Portrayed the character for one night only, during TNA One Night Only X-Travaganza 2016
Kaleb Konley | 2017–2021  | Became the longest running performer to portray the Suicide character for a total of four years
Zachary Wentz | 2020  | Portrayed the character for a brief period

On the June 27, 2013, edition of Impact Wrestling, Austin Aries stole the costume in order to win the X Division Championship in order to use "Option C" at that year's Destination X.[57]

On the November 24, 2020, episode of Impact!, Crazzy Steve disguised himself as Suicide and defeated Rohit Raju to get a shot at his X Division Championship, but lost the following week.[58][59]

## Championships and accomplishments

[edit]

Suicide during his first reign as X Division Champion.

* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* TNA X Division Championship (2 times)[b][60]
* TNA X Division Championship Tournament (2013)
* X Division King of the Mountain (2009)[15]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Caleb Konley continues to portray Suicide on the independent cirucit in an unofficial capacity.[1]
2. ^ During the first reign Daniels and Kazarian won the title under the Suicide name and Perkins won the title under the Manik name during the second reign.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Caleb Konley". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
2. ^ a b Caldwell, James (2009-03-21). "TNA News: "Suicide" character expected to have lengthy X Division Title run, details on how TNA brought the character to TV". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
3. ^ a b Csonka, Larry (2010-06-18). "Various News: Suicide Correction, Summerslam Weekend Update". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
4. ^ a b Meltzer, Dave (2011-02-01). "ROH star debuted last night in TNA and will continue to work". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
5. ^ a b Johnson, Mike (2013-05-23). "Suicide in TNA was..." Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
6. ^ Caldwell, James (2013-06-27). "TNA NEWS: Impact SPOILERS 6/27 - results and news for this week's Impact episode". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
7. ^ a b c Miller, Greg (2008-09-08). "TNA Impact! Review". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
8. ^ Ashish (2008-09-15). "TNA News: Disco Correction, D'Amore At No Surrender, Senshi's Voice". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
9. ^ a b c d e Campbell, Mike (2008-09-16). "TNA iMPACT! (PS2) Review". 411Mania. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
10. ^ "Who Is Suicide?". Who is suicide.com. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
11. ^ "Keller's TNA Final Resolution PPV report 12/7: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live event". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
12. ^ "Destination X 2009". Pro Wrestling History.com. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
13. ^ "Impact: Sometimes you can't go home". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012.
14. ^ "Sacrifice: Sting the new face to Main Event Mafia". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012.
15. ^ a b "Caldwell's TNA Slammiversary PPV report 6/21: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of King of the Mountain PPV". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
16. ^ "Keller's TNA Impact report 7/16: Results, star ratings, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, quotebook". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
17. ^ "Caldwell's TNA Hard Justice PPV report 8/16: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Matt Morgan". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
18. ^ "Impact Results - 8/20/09". WrestleView. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
19. ^ "Impact Results - 9/17/09". WrestleView. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
20. ^ Caldwell, James (2009-09-20). "Caldwell's TNA No Surrender PPV report 9/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Kurt Angle vs. Sting vs. Matt Morgan vs. A.J. Styles". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
21. ^ "Impact: Bound for Glory takes shape". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
22. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2009-10-15). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 10/15: Ongoing (but suffering an hour lag) "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
23. ^ Keller, Wade (2009-12-03). "Keller's TNA iMPACT Report 12/3: Dixie Carter interview, Raven & Stevie vs. Angle, Foley obsesses about Hogan, Kristal talks for Bobby". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
24. ^ Caldwell, James (2009-12-20). "Caldwell's TNA Final Resolution PPV report 12/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Daniels, Angle vs. Wolfe". PWTorch. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
25. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2010-02-18). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 2/18: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". PWTorch. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
26. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-06-15). "Spoilers: TNA Impact TV tapings for June 17". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
27. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-12). "Spoilers: TNA Xplosion tapings in Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
28. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-09-13). "9/12 TNA Results: Windsor, Ontario". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
29. ^ Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010-10-08). "TNA Xplosion ep. 315". TNA Xplosion. approx. 28 minutes in. Extreme Sports Channel.
30. ^ "TNA iMPACT #132". Retrieved 2024-05-18.
31. ^ Baxendell, Matt (2011-04-08). "Bax's TNA Impact report 4/7: Sting vs. RVD main event, tag teams split, Jarrett climbs the cage with ease, Overall Show Grade". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
32. ^ "Suicide Making a Return to TNA Wrestling". RingsideNews. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2013-05-16.
33. ^ "CALDWELL'S TNA SLAMMIVERSARY PPV RESULTS (Hour 1): New X Division champion starts the show, Hogan has a potty-mouth, big TNA vs. Aces & Eights six-man tag match".
34. ^ Boutwell, Josh (June 27, 2013). "TNA Impact Wrestling Results – 6/27/13 (Suicide revealed)". WrestleView. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
35. ^ Simon, Harry (July 1, 2013). "TNA News: Impact Spoilers 7/4 & 7/11 – very detailed report from Las Vegas TV taping, including live show notes". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
36. ^ "Manik". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
37. ^ Waldman, Jon (July 5, 2013). "Impact:The evening after". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
38. ^ Caldwell, James (July 18, 2013). "Caldwell's TNA Impact Results 7/18: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of "Destination X" Impact – TNA Title main event, BFG Series, three X Division qualifying matches, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
39. ^ Madden, Justin (July 18, 2013). "TNA News: Impact Spoilers 7/25 – full results for next week's Impact following up on Destination X". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
40. ^ Howell, Nolan (September 27, 2013). "TNA Impact: Styles, Aces & Eights both face troubling reality". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
41. ^ Kapur, Bob; Asher, Matthew C. (October 21, 2013). "Title changes a-plenty at Bound for Glory". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
42. ^ Howell, Nolan (March 9, 2014). "Lockdown: Magnus retains while power shifts in TNA". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
43. ^ Boutwell, Josh (September 17, 2014). "TNA Impact Wrestling Results - 9/17/14 (Lashley vs. Roode)". WrestleView. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
44. ^ "Tna Star Gone From Company". PWInsider.com. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
45. ^ "Moose, Edwards, Suicide, Bfg And More Tna News". PWInsider.com. 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
46. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Suicide Returns to Impact Wrestling TONIGHT! | IMPACT Digital Exclusive". YouTube.
47. ^ "BACKSTAGE NOTES FROM LAST NIGHT'S IMPACT TAPING (SPOILERS)". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
48. ^ "X-Division Star Caleb Konley is Reportedly Finishing up with IMPACT WRESTLING". 29 January 2019.
49. ^ "Wrestler announces departure from Impact Wrestling | Wrestling News". Archived from the original on 2019-10-26. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
50. ^ "Impact Wrestling News: Suicide Returns Once Again - the Overtimer". 25 March 2020.
51. ^ "TNA One Night Only Results – 3/31/20 (Hernandez, Scott Steiner and Raven)". April 2020.
52. ^ "Impact Wrestling Results – May 19, 2020". 20 May 2020.
53. ^ "Impact Wrestling #888 - 8/12/2021".
54. ^ "Kaleb with a K anuncia su marcha de Impact Wrestling". April 15, 2022.
55. ^ Wilen, Jerome (April 15, 2022). "IMPACT star finishes up with the company; IMPACT Results for 4/14/22 on AXS TV". WrestleView. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
56. ^ "The Wrestler Suicide Had His Origins In... The TNA Impact Video Game?". www.thesportscaster.com. 11 November 2021.
57. ^ "PWTorch.com - CALDWELL'S TNA IMPACT RESULTS 6/27: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Impact - BFG Series continues, two title matches, Suicide, Joe added to Mafia, Hogan plays principal, more". www.pwtorch.com.
58. ^ Toro, Carlos (November 24, 2020). "The Wee-nomenal One AJ Swoggle Appears On IMPACT Wrestling, Pins Ethan Page". Fightful. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
59. ^ Beaston, Erik (December 1, 2020). "IMPACT Wrestling Results: Winners, Grades and Reaction from December 1". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
60. ^ "T.N.A. X Division Title". Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 2010-02-19.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Suicide (wrestler).

* TNA Wrestling profile
* IMPACT Wrestling profile
* WhoIsSuicide.com

* v
* t
* e

King/Queen of the Mountain winners

NWA World Heavyweight Championship|

* Jeff Jarrett (2004, 2006)
* Raven (2005)

TNA World Heavyweight Championship|

* Kurt Angle (2007, 2009)
* Samoa Joe (2008)

TNA X Division Championship|

* Suicide (2009)

TNA King of the Mountain Championship|

* Jeff Jarrett (2015)
* P. J. Black (2015)
* Eric Young (2016)
* Bram (2016)

Impact Knockouts World Championship|

* Jordynne Grace (2022)

Non-Title|

* Kaz (2008)

* v
* t
* e

TNA X Division Champions

2000s|

* A.J. Styles
* Low Ki/Senshi
* Jerry Lynn
* Syxx-Pac
* Sonny Siaki
* Kid Kash
* Amazing Red
* Chris Sabin
* Michael Shane
* Frankie Kazarian/Kazarian
* Petey Williams
* Christopher Daniels
* Samoa Joe
* Jay Lethal
* Kurt Angle
* Johnny Devine
* Sheik Abdul Bashir
* Eric Young
* Alex Shelley
* Suicide
* Homicide

2010s|

* Doug/Douglas Williams
* Robbie E
* Abyss
* Brian Kendrick
* Austin Aries
* Zema Ion/DJZ
* Rob Van Dam
* Kenny King
* Manik
* Sanada
* Rockstar Spud
* Tigre Uno
* Trevor Lee
* Eddie Edwards
* Mike Bennett
* Lashley
* Sonjay Dutt
* Taiji Ishimori
* Matt Sydal
* Brian Cage
* Rich Swann
* Jake Crist
* Ace Austin

2020s|

* Willie Mack
* Chris Bey
* TJP
* Rohit Raju
* Josh Alexander
* Trey Miguel
* Mike Bailey
* Lio Rush
* Mustafa Ali
* Zachary Wentz
* Moose
* Leon Slater (current)

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