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Eric Young talks new heel persona

EY joined The Big Mosh, Blade, & The Mayhem's National TNA Correspondent, "Wild" Bill Brown for his return appearance to "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio." To begin, Eric educated The Mayhem Nation on whether Canadians actually celebrate the Fourth Of July holiday. "Canadians don't actually celebrate Independence Day, we do that on the 1st (of July), which is Canada Day in Canada."

TNA is starting to branch out into different markets, with the hometown of The Mayhem (Buffalo, NY) being one of them, and The Mayhem Crew wanted to know how excited is Eric to be coming to the Western New York area & to see TNA stretch out all around the country. "We're always excited to go into a new market & new areas. Obviously iMPACT airs all around the United States & around the world, but a lot of those people don't get a chance to see it live, unless they could make it to a Pay-Per-View or whatever. It's a opportunity for the real die-hard fans to come & experience the show live, and if you've never been to a live wrestling event, especially a TNA live event, there's nothing like it.

At this year's Lockdown PPV event in Philadelphia, Eric Young faced Danny Bonaduce (of "The Partridge Family" & "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling") in the Six Sides Of Steel. Prior to the match, there was some build-up to the match, with Eric coming on Danny's radio show in Philadelphia & a huge melee ensuing at his station. Mosh, Blade, & Bill asked Eric how successful he thinks that experience was with Bonaduce. "It kinda' started out has a small thing & blew up to something completely big with the help of YouTube, TNAWrestling.com, & stuff like that. It was just intended for me to go there, be on the show, be his opponent, & have a regular wrestling match. There is a saying in wrestling that 'Things can get pretty real pretty quick.' I've never done anything like that, and it's the first time I've ever beat up someone that was close to being a senior citizen, and it was interesting from start to finish."

Currently, Eric is having a bit of a "mood swing" in TNA, as he having weekly issues with some TNA stars, most importantly with TNA founder & former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarett. Eric explained the situation between the two & why his sudden change of heart. "Sometimes a change is good, and you could only get pushed around & bullied so much, you could only get misused so much. I don't look at it has dastardly, I look at it more as necessity more than anything. I've been wrestling for a while now (13 years), and it's not that I don't have much to show for it, but I have a lot more to offer. And if they won't allow me to do it, I will have to take it."

TNA has defied the odds (and the critics) now for over seven years, coming off the heels of their recent Slammiversary PPV at The Palace Of Auburn Hills in Detroit, MI. Based on the success of TNA to this point, The Mayhem Crew asked Eric what Eric what he foresees as the future for the company. He spoke about the humble beginnings with the Wednesday night PPV's at "The Asylum" in Nashville, to FOX Sports Net, and to Spike TV, & how the company grew since he has been there. "They have smart business people here making the right decisions. And from Day One here, it's always been forward, we've never taken a step back...which in business you have to do."

The biggest feud arguably for Eric Young leading into his recent squabble with "The King Of The Mountain" was with Robert Roode (now of Beer Money Inc) with Traci Brooks, in which Eric fought for his job on a weekly basis. This took place around the time where the fans got behind Eric, and his star grew from that point on to the next level. "That was the best I think I've done here: the most-memorable, most-exciting, & the most fun. They gave us the time to get the characters in place, set up the story, & make people care about what was going on." He goes on: "Stuff like that is what wrestling fans will remember, because we gave them the time to really decide who they liked & didn't like and really invest in what was going on between me, Robert, & Ms. Brooks. They cared about me, they hated him, and it was Wrestling 101...and I loved it."

A Canadian wrestling legend & one of the true pioneers in the history of our business unfortunately passed away last week after a lengthy battle with cancer. The late Billy Red Lyons hosted "Maple Leaf Wrestling" north of the border & also had the chance to compete with some of the biggest names in the wrestling industry. Eric has vivid memories of watching Lyons on television, but unfortunately never had the chance to get to know like several of Billy's long-time colleagues. "It's not like I knew him personally, I had met him once briefly & shook his hand. His voice was the voice of wrestling for me growing up in that area...watching 'Maple Leaf Wrestling' & hearing his voice. Whenever I heard his voice, I thought of wrestling automatically."

As a parting shot, Eric implores the fans the go to the TNA Live Events, not just the upcoming one in Buffalo, but in other cities/towns around the country & the world. "The show I guarantee, you will have a blast, and it would nothing like you've ever seen. Even if you're not a pro-wrestling fan, you just want a good time, go to a live event. They're great, and I hope to see you guys there."

More is included in this exclusive EY interview, including Eric's candid thoughts/comments on if he sees more celebrity involvement in TNA in the forthcoming months ahead, his early beginnings in Border City Wrestling (with Scott D'Amore), & his memories of the passing of the late Farrah Fawcett.

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling will bring TNA Live! to Buffalo, NY next Saturday night (7:30PM ET Bell Time) at the Erie County Fairgrounds Agri-Center before TNA’s Victory Road Pay-Per-View event. Appearing live & in person will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, TNA Legend's Champion "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, The Main Event Mafia's "Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe, Team 3-D, Daniels, TNA World Tag Team Champions Beer Money, Inc. ("The Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm & Robert Roode), TNA X-Division Champion Suicide, TNA Knockout Women’s Champion Angelina Love, Sheik Abdul-Bashir, Lethal Consequences ("Black Machismo" Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed), Taylor Wilde, Homicide, "Showtime" Eric Young, & more!

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