Eric Young Recalls Talking With HHH When He Arrived at NXT
Eric Young recalled emphasizing his utility during a conversation with Triple H when he first arrived at NXT.
Young discussed that and much more during a recent appearance on Edge and Christian's podcast, E&C's Pod of Awesomeness.
"I had this conversation with Hunter when I was first talking to him. I said, 'I'm not the biggest guy. I'm not really great at any one thing. But I kind of have this proof of being a guy that can do all of it and do all of it at a high level.' " Young recalled. "I said, 'Anything that you want me to do, I can do it and I can probably do it better than you think I can.' "
Young, now 37 years old, said he feels like a 30-year-old in the ring — referring to a significant stint of his time with TNA as "an eight-year vacation" because he was booked primarily as a comedy wrestler and having few substantial matches.
"I'm 37, but in the ring, I'm like 30 because I had like an eight-year vacation," Young noted. "I barely ever wrestled. There [were] six to eight years where I'd show up and do a cartwheel, lock up with the ring announcer, fall down and pretend I was scared of my pyro, and that was it. And it was awesome. It opened stuff up for me and allowed me to get my own TV show and stuff like that, but wrestling is always what I've loved, so it's cool. I'm definitely the old guy now."
Young currently is leading the SAnitY faction on NXT, whose members also include Alexander Wolfe, Nikki Cross, and Killian Dain, all of whom are veterans of the European independent circuit prior to signing with WWE.
"They're new to TV, but they're all people who've kind of wrestled all over the place, so they're experienced that way, but they're learning that wrestling on TV is completely different than wrestling independently," Young said. "I'm there to kind of, like, help that along and that's kind of a cool position for me to be in. Like, the fact that they respect me and my knowledge enough to put me [in that spot]. I guess it's an idea Hunter has had for a long time."
Click here to listen to Young's entire interview on the Edge and Christian podcast.
