TNA’s Frankie Kazarian has discussed his TNA World Championship win against Mike Santana and the hate that followed the shock victory.

Kazarian won the TNA world title for the first time in his long career in November, just a few weeks after Santana’s win. He detailed his emotions after the win and how it was something that he had hoped would happen for a long time.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool, man,” he said. “A lot of times, guys get jaded and say, ‘The belt’s just a prop and this and that.’ And the belt is the company recognizing your ability and your talents and what you can do, not only inside the ring, but outside the ring, how you can represent the company. And it’s an honor to have this title. You get into this business — or at least I got into this business [for world titles] — I don’t want to just be a regular wrestler. I want to be a world champion wrestler. And took me a while, but here we are — TNA World Champion,” Kazarian said on “Insight.”

The veteran star wasn’t sure he would ever be a world champion, despite being a good wrestler, given the number of talented stars in the promotion during his earlier stints with TNA. And not many would have expected him to win the world title when he faced off against Mike Santana, who had become a beloved babyface, and the title change resulted in a lot of hate toward Kazarian. But Kazarian believes that sometimes the bad guy wins.

“It’s show business. Sometimes the Joker beats Batman. Sometimes the bad guy wins. What matters to me is that they’re angry, and that tells me that they care. Tells me that they’re paying attention, man,” he added. 

Batman, in this little duel, i.e., Santana, will get an opportunity to win back the title at the debut of TNA Impact on AMC on January 15, just over two months after Kazarian won the world title.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.