The new NXT debutant, Eric Young, who is also a former TNA World Champion, recently did a Q&A with TheRichest.com. Dailywrestlingnews.com reports that, it was done before his NXT TV debut aired. The highlights are provided below :
The experience he gained from his trainers :
“All those guys were a very integral part early on and even later on in my life. Waldo, he was pretty old and beat up when I met him, and he’s since passed on. A lot of what I learned from Waldo wasn’t any of the physical stuff, it was the mentality, it was the psychology of wrestling, being in character and making people believe. Those are the things that I hold near and dear still to this day. Scott, I’m not sitting here talking to you if it’s not for Scott D’Amore.
Kanyon, was actually shooting the Jesse Ventura story. He was outsourced by WCW to be the head fight choreographer and stunt coordinator for the Jesse Ventura movie which aired on, I believe, NBC. It was the unsanctioned, official/unofficial Jesse Ventura movie. I met him (Kanyon) up in Toronto. I did a small part in the movie, and up until I started wrestling for TNA it was the most money I had ever made in wrestling, which is hilarious because it’s about 30 seconds of wrestling. He was really innovative and was kind of ahead of his time, doing stuff that nobody was doing way back then.”
About his feud with the Main Event Mafia :
“For me it was my first step in a serious role, and there was a lot of doubters. I had been cast as the ‘don’t take him too serious because you will cheer for him and he’s a going to get beat‘ guy. Admittedly, it was a big stretch, but I was excited. I’m tagging with Kevin Nash, and on the other side you’ve got Steiner, Kurt Angle and Booker T, and I kind of proved that I could kind of hang with those guys whether it is verbally or in the ring. I didn’t let myself be intimidated by any of them, I stood up for myself and slid into the role as best I could, and it was really cool. It’s all a huge learning experience.”
Regarging his journey to NXT :
“My time came to an end in TNA, it didn’t end badly, but it didn’t end the way I wanted it to. People don’t get divorced because they’re happy. Twelve amazing years, which is insane to say, and I became a free agent. WWE reached out to me about coming down there for a meeting, and I met and talked with Hunter. Things went great; he is a straightforward and honest guy and so am I, and everything worked out.
They put the clip up and it airs May 4. It’s humbling; but I didn’t expect the volume, and the amount of reaction surprised me. It was an amazing experience to be there and to interrupt the new Heavyweight Champion, Samoa Joe, a really good friend of mine, a super talented guy. To get to share the ring with him in the main event on NXT is the first step of many for me and it’s an amazing step.”
