A former employee of both WWE & TNA, Nick Cvjetkovich is a unique individual with an even more unique wrestling persona. With roots in the carnival industry, Nick was tailor-made for the circus known as professional wrestling. In this Wrestling 101 exclusive interview, the man known as Kizarny in WWE and Sinn in TNA gives his thoughts on his treatment in both companies, information on his SiNN BODHi & The Dynamite Death Monkiez shows as well as his passion for creating his own alternate universe through his self-written comic books.

Anyone for room service?

What made you decide to get into pro wrestling?

Spiderman, Dusty Rhodes and Twister Sister made me get into pro rasslin’…They were all superhuman and that is what I wanted to be! And NOW my journey to the dark side is complete!!!

Being childhood friends of Edge and Christian...what were they like growing up and do you still keep in touch with them?

They and I were goofy-ass Dorks growing up and STILL are today!!! Yes, we all still are bff’s to this day…

What was it like working in the same organization with them?

The three of us jumped around our hotel room like giddy children on the weekend of Christian’s ECW debut… Three goofy-ass peas in a pod!!! Aside from interrupting a Vicky Guererro segment—Kneizock! Kniezock!--- and being chased off by Edge lol that’s as close as we came to wrestling at WWE… Edge reeeally wanted us to wrestle each other on Smackdown to show what I can do but unfortunately that never ended up happening… We did wrestle at the FCW training center in Tampa and at the BSE gym in Toronto when Edge was test driving his body coming off injury… We even snuck Christian into a private workout once at the FCW gym when he was still working with TNA lol   

You joined TNA in August 2003, how did that come about and what was it like working there?

Scott D’Amore scouted me and brought me into TNA and I was soon a member of the New Church. I had a lot of fun working with Jim Mitchell, Slash, Shane Douglas and Vampiro… I learned a lot at TNA and realized wrestling was full of great people and snakes a like!!! Listening to the fans chant “Evil! Evil! Evil!” as the lights turned red and we the New Chruch entered ringside still gives me goose bumps to this day…

You joined WWE in 2007, who came up with the 'Kizarny' gimmick?

The Carnival Freak is me head-to-toe… Nobody, NOT Vince, NOT Jeff, NOT anyone gave me that… I was ready made… Vince, however asked me if I could speak authentic carny  to which I responded “Yeises eizI ceizan”… then he said “GOOD!” and re-named me Kizarny (Carny for Carny)… I liked the idea of speaking carny but NOT from beginning to end like in my Smackdown vignettes…I preferred the promos I was doing in FCW produced by Dusty Rhodes… I was cutting a darker-Jokerish-Jake Robertzy promo and droppin’ some nonsensical carny into it for effect… “Weizone fish Tiezoo fish Greizeen fish Bleizue fish!” That way it didn’t matter if you understood or not you would simply realize I am out to lunch… AND I AM!!! I think NOT explaining what I was saying in the Smackdown vignettes was irritated to fans because it was irritating to me… Just doing what I was told to do folks! Your boss says jump and you say how high boss or you’re fired!

Did you have to practice speaking carny or were there a lot of retakes for taping those promos?

I learned carny while learning my craft… Sleeping in my car on the road for the past decade at both wrestling shows and working on side shows and freakshows… Bleeding, sweating, paying dues that don’t count for sh*t in Vince’s eyes… I did all the vignettes in one take never flubbing my carny except when they said I was being too heelish and to repeat it again a ittle more f**kin’ friendly…

What was it like working for WWE, how does it compare to TNA?

Working with WWE was awesome and awful all at once… Being there was realizing my childhood dream and for that I will always be grateful to Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis… Getting to perform in front of sooo many excited fans at Smackdown and on the live events is an indescribable high! The glitz of Smackdown TV was awesome and made me felt like I was a rockstar but wrestling at the live events was more me because my producers would let me be me and the fans got everything I had! I was soooo flattered to come back through the curtains one night to be greeted by Ricky Steamboat imitating me and laughing about how entertained he was! I was sooo flattered that I had amused a legend that I looked up to since I was a weee lil circus run-a-way! Working at WWE was also awful because there is sooo much politics and back stabbing you never know who your enemies are because they are all gutlessly and unaccountably hiding in the shadows!

You were released from your WWE contract on March 9 of this year. What reasons, if any, were you given for your release?

Somebody hiding in the shadows???... Their knife holstered in my back…

I wasn’t given a straight reason why I was released… One minute I was being told how unique I was and how great of a work ethic I had the next minute they had nothing for me… Even though I gave them idea after idea… I have heard many different theories… I guess I just didn’t fit their mould of cookie cutter…? Not enough abs showing I guess even though in the ring I can run circles around every ex-NFL player or jacked-up underwear model collecting a paycheck in the WWE developmental system… Ask Doc Tom or Kidman!!! I never breached the WWE ‘Wellness’ Program but I guess they want their wrestlers to read between the lines??? I don’t wanna sound like a whiner but I do want to deliver an honest interview… I have been complimented by my peers and legends and nobody can take that away…

Do you find it a bit ironic that WWE had nothing for you despite the carnival history of professional wrestling?

My skills were never in question… Reviews from my producers and coaches like Arn Anderson, Ricky Steamboat, Mike Rotundo, Dean Malenko, Dr Tom, Dusty Rhodes were very good… I think it was more a case of lack of fitting some B.S. cookie cutter mould… Vince and his billion dollar case of A.D.D. wants Ken Dolls sports entertaining (not wrestling) against other Ken Dolls at the moment. Me looking weird or different didn’t compute with the tunnel vision that WWE sometimes has even though Rob Zombie, Marlylin Mason and Hot f**kin’ Topic retail stores are all the rage with the kiddiez… I have no idea why different isn’t a good thing at WWE…? If everyone looks and wrestles the same--- where is the fun in that? When you go to the circus you want the variety of Elephants, tight rope walkers, clowns, monkeys, fire eaters etc… Sooo why does that NOT apply to wrestling as well???

If asked, would you ever make a return to the WWE?

I would love to return to WWE on my own terms… I am the ONLY wrestler in the world to have worked for the top companies in BOTH wrestling and freakshow… WWE, TNA and the Jim Rose Circus… I am the only wrestler in the world that has both skills in the ring and on the masochistic sideshow… I think WWE can have tunnel vision and NOT see a unique character’s potential…I will be the first to admit that I am NOT conventional… But I do know my craft and I am a hell-on-wheels competitor that would give any opponent a run for his money… How many wrestler’s do you know that can drink boiling water with thumb-tacks and razor blades, have darts thrown at their body, nail a nail to their nose, juggle live rabbits, shatter concrete blocks with their skulls, impale themselves with shark hooks and regurgitate rubber chickens?!?! Let’s see John whop-dee-doo Cena do that!!!

Mental note: never tell Kizarny to hold his tongue...

Having worked for both WWE & TNA, would you consider working for Ring of Honor?

Yup I would work for ROH--- I would wrestle anywhere because rasslin’ iz my crack!… I think my style is unique and I would surprise some of those lil wrestling snobs that look down their noses at any wrestler with any semblance of personality (In rasslin’ terms--- a gimmick!) Just ‘cause I am flashy or creepy or whatever deosn’t mean I am not a student of the game… My name isn’t Boogey Man (No offence Marty!) I am old enough to have wrestled and learned from many legends however I am young enough to hang with the rug rats of rasslin’ (meaning anyone in ROH)… I have wrestled CM Punk at NWA-TNA,  and Nigel McGuiness many times in the UK and abroad--- If I can kick the sh*t outta them I am sure yourz truly can handle some scrawny high flyer hiding behind a wife-beater, shiny shorts and kick-pads !!!LOL

You have wrestled under many different gimmicks in your almost decade-long wrestling career. Which one is your personal favorite and which one, if any, is most related to you?

I have always been SiNN just in different moods… I am a human roller-coaster… A dark and sinister disciple of the New Church or colourful carnival freak… It is all me… Fur coats (ask John Morrison where he got that idea or just watch an early PPV episode of NWA-TNA) or wearing bunny slippers and making balloon puppys or getting electrocuted in an electric chair… What you get is the world’s funnest masochist!!! ME!!! SiNN BODHi!!!

How do you feel you compare to the “unique” characters of wrestling’s past and present (The Undertaker, Goldust, The Boogeyman, Jeff Hardy, ICP, etc.)?

Vince McMahon told me that he thought of KiZARNY as ‘UnderTaker with a smile’… I respect everyone on this list… I am flattered to be mentioned next to all of them… I think they all have great imagination and skill… Everyone on that list has always been friendly to me and I will not forget that…Undertaker especially has better things to do then give advice to new guys and yet he makes the time! I know that character-wise and skill-wise I can hang with any of the above mentioned… Hopefully with the fans support and enough ‘Bring back KiZARNY’ signs in the audience Vinnie Mac might just pay attention!!!

You are the protégé of the legendary Jake “The Snake” Roberts. What was it like working with him and do you still keep in contact?

Yup Uncky Jake and I are very close to this day… Jake will be appearing in an interview on my Full-Contact Freakshow dvd that is currently in the works… Working with Jake is like being a musician and asking Elvis for tips on how to play the guitar. Jake is the smartest and most creative wrestling mind I have ever met… He deserves to be in the WWE Hall-of-Fame!!!... Even though I teased him every night on the Jim Rose Circus vs Jake the Snake Roberts Tour that Koko B. Ware deserved it more than him! LOL I would be honored and tickled pink to induct Uncky Jake!!!

What would you say is the proudest moment of your wrestling career thus far?

Having Dusty Rhodes hug me and say great job… You are the second coming of Kevin Sullivan was a proud moment… Having Uncky Jake tell me that I was too dangerous for Vince to control was a proud moment… BUT…Walking backstage at a Smackdown Live Event and having Edge say to me that my match against FCW Champ Eric Perez was ‘awesome’… Edge is my dorky bff and would tell me the unpretty truth if my match was the sh*tz but he smiled proudly and that moment in Tupelo Mississippi reeked of awesomeness!!!  

You have been fortunate enough to face some of the legendary names in wrestling history. Is it safe to say that you would not be where you are today without these legends?

I have learned many-a-trick from the legends I have faced in the ring…Things---I think---nobody knows to teach these days…? Carny tricks. Old school road hooker tricks. Catch-as-catch-can. Walkin’ and talkin’ as they say. Long lost tidbits of gold I keep from each legend I have wrestled! Even just sitting on Jake The Snake’s couch watching videos of him wrestle Ricky Steamboat, Macho Man, Ted Dibiase, Rick Rude etc… and having him pause and play explaining what he did and thought from moment to moment was priceless info to a student of the game!

You have a brother, Steven, who works in the wrestling business as well. What is it like working with your brother?

My brother wrestles as Kobra Kai… He is very different from me in the ring and out… His style is very X-Divisiony-acrobatic and lucha-ish… Whereas I am more smash mouth and unorthodox and creepily playful… He is comedy-ninja and I am a bi-polar-artzy-devil-full-contact-birthday-clown… Tagging with Steve and wrestling him has been some of the funnest matches I have ever had! I am very proud of him in and out of the ring!!! His first year of wrestling training he kept secret from me so I wouldn’t worry about him getting hurt and/or kicking his ass out of love! lol

Which came first- your passion for wrestling or your passion as a writer, author, and publisher?

I have always been creative and imaginative… Wrestling to me was real-life fiction… Super heroes… Good vs evil etc… Wrestling cures that itch and so does writing and illustrating BUT performing in front of a live audience is like nothing else! Now I wrestle and produce my own Full-Contact Freakshow called SiNN BODHi & The dYNAMITE dEATH mONKIEZ where I perform all the stunts Vince or Jeff never let me do on their shows… People watch the show in awe and ask afterward WHY didn’t you ever do that at WWE or TNA and I simply say because I wasn’t in charge… When you come to see my freakshow you will witness my art collide with my violence in a way that has never been done before!!!… SiNN BODHi & The dYNAMITE dEATH mONKIEZ has been described by some as Rob Zombie vs Jackass at Arkham Asylum!!! Soooo steizay  teizuned!!!...

The most elaborate tag team finishing move in history?

If you had one message for anyone looking to get into the wrestling business, what would it be?

Geizood leizuck meizuther feizucker!!

To find out more about SiNN BODHi see: Myspace / Twitter

Cassidy Haslett