IMPACT star and former world champion Eric Young recently spoke with the Wrestling Epicenter about a wide range of topics, including how he felt about Triple H’s health scare and his thoughts on returning to IMPACT in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights from the interview are below.
On WWE not liking talent who was established in TNA:
“Well, going into NXT, I think it was the reason I was hired. I might not have had 2 million Instagram followers but if you were a fan and consumed professional wrestling, you knew who Eric Young was. They were going through a period where NXT was growing and they needed people who could carry the load. The PC was full of young, inexperienced talent… You can’t teach experience! You don’t know what you don’t know until you do it. For me, I couldn’t name another wrestler who has seen the card from every angle I’ve seen it from… I’ve done everything and done it at a high level. I’m not the best wrestler, the best talker, have the best body, or the best athlete. But, I’m very, very good at all of those things. I’ve been the opening show match, I’ve been the popcorn match, I’ve been the main event, I’ve been a bad guy, a good guy… I was wrestling women before it was even a thing! My experience is second to none. I’m sure if we sat down and really thought about it, we could come up with a few names. But, off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone who has done things as different as what I’ve done. Triple H saw that. I had talked to him for years before about coming over to work. It didn’t work out. But, it finally did. And, I’m still friends with him (Triple H) to this day. I talk to him quite regularly.” He continues, “But, on what Chris (Harris) said, I think it just depended on the talent. AJ Styles is a generational talent. No one is going to watch AJ Styles and see what he does and not realize that he’s great. As I’ve pointed out, I’m not the first person he (Vince McMahon) missed on and I won’t be the last – I point out Kenny Omega who is the best physical performer this business has seen in the past ten or twelve years – He didn’t last six months. It is a huge machine and you’re just a cog in the wheel. Everyone is replaceable. They replaced The Rock, they replaced Hulk Hogan. They’re a billion dollar industry and they’re not concerned about you or your opinions or any of that shit.”
How he felt about Triple H’s health scare:
“He’s old school, man. He won’t talk about it. He says, “I’m fine.” I’m sure he’s doing fine. It would be cool for him to get back in the mix of it again.”
Comments on his return to IMPACT:
“It is a completely different company! They’re still using the lineage of the titles because they are linked but the reality is, there is almost no one that is there now that was there when I left. It is owned by different people. It is ran by different people. It is on a different television station. There are a few people that are there and thank God – Scott D’Amore, Eric Tompkins, David Sahadi. Those are three people that were there – Not Scott, when I left. Without them and their vision, there might not be an Impact for me to go to. Guys like Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan, they were carrying the load when no one was watching it and nobody was talking about it. This company still exists because of those guys.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)