Frankie Arion

Francesco Roda (born November 22, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Frankie Arion. He is currently wrestling in the independent circuit in the Northeastern United States.

Professional wrestling career

After being trained by Kevin Landry, Roda made his debut in 2003.

In March 2006, Arion defeated Jonny Idol to win the Eastern Pro Wrestling Television Championship.

He debuted for MXW in 2006 at InterPromotional Incident, winning a battle royal. The following month at Golden Quest, Arion lost to Eddie Edwards in The Primary stage of the first round of the MXW Championship Tournament. In 2006, Arion began competing for Defiant Pro Wrestling (DPW). On August 12, 2006, at This Thing of Ours, Arion challenged Kid Mikaze for the DPW Cruiserweight Championship, but was unssuccesful. He challeged Mikaze for the championship again on April 29, 2007, at the Sunday, Bloody Sunday television taping, but was unsuccessful. On June 23, 2007, Arion won the DPW Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Kid Mikaze. He went on to successfully defend the championship against Mikey McFly, Cheech, and Mikaze in a Last Man Standing match. On December 15, 2007 at the Dark Tidings event, Arion lost the championship back to Mikaze in a three-way match, which also contained Nocturne. Arion was stripped of the DPW Championship due to recurring scheduling conflicts, which prevented him from defencing the championship.

In April and May 2007, Arion began wrestling for Northeast Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling, competing against wrestlers including Michael Sain and Antonio Thomas. On August 31, 2007, Arion teamed with Amber in a loss to Kid Mikaze and Lexxus in an intergender match. He went on to compete for promotions including Ultimate Ring Wars Wrestling, the Eastern Wrestling Alliance, NCW and Connecticut Wrestling Entertainment. Throughout 2008, Arion made several appearances for Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW) and Top Rope Promotions.

In 2008, Arion was announced as one of the competitors for the ECWA Super 8 Tournament. On September 19, 2008, Arion made his Ring of Honor debut, in a loss to "Dirty" Ernie Osiris in a dark match. He later appeared in dark matches prior to the Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings on May 29 and 30, 2009.

New England Championship Wrestling

On May 15, 2004, Arion lost to Antonio "The Promise" Thomas in a match for the NECW Tag Team Championship. On July 10, 2004, at United We Slam, Arion defeated Michael Sain to win the NECW Heavyweight Championship, becoming the sixth man to hold the championship. On August 13, he successfully defended the NECW Heavyweight Championship against "The Alphamale" Justin Powers, but lost it back to Sain on August 22. On August 21, he defeated his storyline brother, Alex Arion.

In June 2005, he exchanged victories with Paul Lombardi, before going on to defeat Johnny Idol in July. On July 16, Arion teamed with Mike Bennett, Maverick Wild, and Pride to defeat his trainer, Kevin Landry, Sabotage, Paul Lombardi and Michael Sain in an elimination match.

In late January 2006, Arion broke his ankle and fibula, and was forced to miss two months to rehabilitate the injury. He made his return in March, and won the NECW Television Championship on March 18, 2006, by defeating Johnny Idol. Over the next several months, Arion successfully defended the championship against Billy Black, Scott Reed, and Kid Mikaze. He also successfully defeated Max Bauer, Mike Bennett, Alex Arion and Eddie Edwards in non-title matches, and was part of the winning team in a WarGames match on August 13, 2006.

In late 2006, Arion was forced to leave NECW in storyline. On June 30, 2007, Arion's storyline brother, Alex Arion, challenged TJ Richter to a singles match to allow Arion to return to NECW. Richter declined, and instead proposed a gauntlet match in which Alex would have to defeat all three men or retire from wrestling, to which Alex agreed. On July 20, Alex won the gauntlet match, after defeating Scott Reed first, then Max Bauer via disqualification, and finally Richter to officially reinstate Arion. At NECW's Birthday Bash 7: Caged Fury on August 18, Bauer and Richter lost to The Arion Brothers.

Personal life

Arion is a life-long fan of professional wrestling, and was inspired by Rey Mysterio, Jr.. Arion trained regularly with Antonio Thomas.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • The Frankie Bulldog (Corner springboard bulldog)
  • Signature moves
    • Sunset flip powerbomb
  • Managers
    • Jim Shorts
  • Nicknames
    • "Big Guns"

Championships and accomplishments

Arion as the NEPW World Heavyweight Champion in August 2007
  • Defiant Pro Wrestling
    • DPW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
    • DPW Championship
  • East Coast Wrestling Association
    • ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Arion
  • Eastern Pro Wrestling
    • EPW Television Championship (1 time)
  • New England Championship Wrestling
    • NECW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • NECW Television Championship (1 time)
  • New England Pro Wrestling
    • NEPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • Rage in the Cage Tournament (2008)