Exclusive interview with new TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eric Young
Hello,
My
name is Donald Wood from Bleacher Report and Ring Rust Radio. Fellow
Bleacher Report Featured Columnists Mike Chiari, Brandon Galvin and
myself had TNA World Heavyweight Champion ERIC YOUNG
on the show this week, and it was a great episode with
plenty of exclusive content and insight into the star’s TNA career, his
world championship victory, the comparisons to WWE's Daniel Bryan
and so much more!
Please help spread the word of this awesome interview!
And be sure to check out the weekly Ring Rust Radio article featuring this interview with Eric Young right here (from Bleacher Report).
Please help spread the word of this awesome interview!
And be sure to check out the weekly Ring Rust Radio article featuring this interview with Eric Young right here (from Bleacher Report).
YouTube interview: http://youtu.be/l8F_XyKmJo0
Donald
Wood: After
more than a decade with TNA Impact Wrestling, you were finally able to capture
the company’s most important title. Talk about your road to the top and how it
feels now that you’ve had time to soak it in.
Eric
Young: It’s wild. Yesterday was the best professional day
of my entire life. It almost doesn’t seem real. I haven’t had it that long, and
I’m still trying to soak it in. Talking to you guys, talking to people from all
over, and it’s a good place to be. A really good place.
Mike
Chiari: What has the overall reaction to your victory been
like and has there been any particular congratulatory messages that stuck out
to you?
Eric
Young: Yeah, man. It’s been from all walks of life. Not
just the wrestling community, but guys from other companies, guys that worked here
before, guys that work here who weren’t here, Robert Flores from ESPN, Michelle
Beadle from ESPN, and all kinds of people reached out to me to say they were
proud and happy for me. That’s a good feeling. There is always going to be
negativity and naysayers and that’s part of being in a creative field, but its
been 90 percent positive. It’s amazing. It’s overwhelming, really.
Brandon
Galvin: Your road to the Championship scene has been
covered by publications such as Bleacher Report and your TNA Championship
victory has been covered by publications such as the Miami Herald. What can
fans expect from EY as the new ambassador for TNA wrestling?
Eric
Young: For me, it’s more of the same. It’s crazy to hear
people say stuff like, “Eric Young is quite possibly the most entertaining
wrestler in the world today.” There is nothing more important to me than that.
Wrestling is about entertainment. Whether you’re entertaining people with physicality
or comedy or verbiage or emotion or characterization or whatever it is, the
name of the game is entertainment. It’s a television show and people are
watching it because they want to be entertained. So to be held at that level
and regarded in that way is the biggest compliment I could get. It’s not just
the fans, it’s my peers and people I work with. It feels like the lifetime achievement
award. It’s cool. I’m not going to win the Nobel Prize, but this as close as
its going to get.
Donald
Wood: You may have won the championship on the April 10th
edition of Impact Wrestling, but you will inevitably have to defend the title
at Sacrifice on April 27, likely in a rematch against Magnus. What are your
feelings as you look toward your first title defense with a target painted on
your back?
Eric
Young: The old saying goes; you have a target on your back.
That’s how it works in sports and that’s how it works in pro wrestling. Having
that target on your back is a huge compliment too. Now everyone is looking to
come after me. As crazy as that sounds, it sounds like fun. I want to create as
many memories and amazing moments for myself and wrestling fans as I can. That’s
what pro wrestling is to me. I don’t remember whole matches from 20 years ago,
but I remember moments from matches. I remember where I was and who I was with
and how it made me feel. I’m ready to do that as world heavyweight champion. That’s
my No. 1 goal. It’s to have as many amazing matches and memories as I can
possibly make while I have this belt.
Mike
Chiari: Now that you’re world champion, do you feel any
added pressure to continue trending in the direction of a more serious character
as you try to establish yourself in the main event?
Eric
Young: For the storylines I’ve been involved in, that’s
what it called for. I’m never going to lose my sense of humor. I was a class
clown when I was a kid, I’ve always been the funny guy and I’ve always liked
making people laugh, and that’s not going to stop. It will just be a different
brand, a different style, a different way of being funny. I’m funny on my show
that airs on Animal Planet. I’m not silly on the show, I’m not goofy and all
that other stuff; I’m just kinda me. That’s the version of Eric Young that you’re
going to get. It’s important for me to be funny, and that’s what made me
popular. That’s what got me over with the fans in the first place and I won’t
lose that. As far as adding an edge, when you’re rolling around in tacks with
the monster Abyss, it’s hard to crack jokes. There’s nothing really funny about
that. But yeah, it’s a cool challenge for me because that’s what I have been
for the last five to eight years, and this is a whole new world for me. I can
do it. I know I can. I’ve always known that and I’m dying to show people.
Brandon
Galvin: Eric, you've been playing the underdog role for the
majority of your career. Now that you're champion and everybody is targeting
you, will this change your state of mind on how you approach your matches?
Eric
Young: I still look at it as being the underdog. My face
is not really the face of a champion and my body may not be the body of a
champion, but I bring something completely different and I think that is what
wrestling fans have latched onto. I’m a wrestling fan since I was five and I am
one of them. People can relate to me. I’m a wrestling fan. I’ve been a
wrestling geek my whole life. My VHS tapes are still at my house and my VCR is
still hooked up so I can watch old tapes. I’m a bit of a nerd that way.
Donald
Wood: There have been comparisons between your
championship victory and Daniel Bryan’s in WWE at WrestleMania—you both won two
matches in one night and have a super-sweet beard—What are your thoughts on the
comparisons?
Eric
Young: I definitely see the comparisons. Like you said, we
both have sweet beards, we both won two matches, were both world heavyweight
champion and I don’t think either of us are prototypical champions. That’s what
makes us special. Anytime someone wants to make a comparison between me and
Daniel Bryan, go ahead and knock yourself out. He’s a super talented guy. I
never met him personally, but I know lots of guys that know him and he’s a nice
guy. I listened to his interview on Steve Austin’s podcast and he sounds like he’s
a cool dude. Anytime anyone wants to compare me to him, they can go right
ahead.
Mike
Chiari: There was once a time in pro wrestling where guys
had to be a certain size to get the top title, but do you feel wrestlers like
yourself and Daniel Bryan have helped throw those prerequisites out the window?
Eric
Young: I think that kind of world has been on a downward
spiral for awhile. Guys like Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero opened the door
for guys my size and Daniel Bryan’s size. It’s not so much about being 6’5” and
this massive person anymore. I’m not a huge guy, but I’m a good size. I’m about
235 pounds. Comparatively, I’m a pretty decent sized guy, but I think that
perception is a thing of the past. People just care about having a good product
and I know we can supply that.
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