Tag: Eric Young

Eric Young On WWE Exit: ‘I Can’t Take Instruction And Work For A Person Like That’

It was recently reported that Eric Young left WWE in April because he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon. The longtime wrestling promoter returned to the Stamford-based promotion as executive chairman earlier this year after retiring last summer due to allegations of sexual misconduct. Young, who returned to Impact Wrestling at the promotion’s Slammiversary event this past weekend, addressed his WWE exit in a recent interview with Denise Salcedo. 

“I can say that I signed up for one thing and then was presented with a completely different thing,” Young said. “Personally, professionally, and for me, more importantly, morally, I can’t take instruction and work for a person like that. 

“And if you would have said that nine months ago, six months ago, I would probably would have said, ‘No. I wouldn’t be back at Impact.’ Fates got a funny way of doing things.

“Like I said, I didn’t really wanna leave [Impact] in the first place, but business is business, and an opportunity had presented itself that I just couldn’t say no to. I made the move, and I don’t regret it at all. Nine-month vacation, there’s worse things that can happen to a person, for sure.”

Young went on to say that he was “very lucky” to be in a position where he had a choice to leave WWE, acknowledging that not many people within the promotion would have that same ability. The former Impact World Champion believes it was the right option for him to walk away from a “massive opportunity” and “life-changing money.” Young said that he doesn’t regret the decision he made. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Eric Young On Impact Wrestling Return

At his past Saturday at Impact Wrestling Slammiversary, Eric Young made his Impact Wrestling return as Scott D’Amore’s partner for a tag team match against Bully Ray and Deaner. The babyfaces went over. 

This comes after he left the company in November 2022 when he was “killed off” when Deaner stabbed him on-screen on the December 1, 2022 episode of the weekly Impact TV show. 

Young reportedly signed with WWE, but never made his return. He asked for the release in April. 

As seen below, Young took to Twitter to comment on his return by writing the following: 

https://twitter.com/TheEricYoung/status/1680948713513005065

Source: eWn

Eric Young Reportedly Set To Make Return To WWE

Former Impact Wrestling World Champion Eric Young is set to return to WWE.

Young joined WWE NXT in 2016 where he became a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion and founded the SAnitY faction.

Pwinsider has confirmed with multiple sources that Young will return to WWE soon after recently finishing up with Impact Wrestling.

Young’s final TV appearance for Impact Wrestling saw the wrestler “stabbed to death” by Cody Deaner in a segment that aired on the most recent episode.

Deaner has seemingly taken the leadership role of Young’s Violent by Design faction, which includes Alan Angels and Big Kon.

https://twitter.com/IMPACTWRESTLING/status/1598512719203704832

Young was released from WWE in April 2020 as part of the first mass wave of releases explained as due to ‘budget cuts.’

He returned to Impact that July and won the Impact World Championship two months later from Eddie Edwards.

Source: EWrestlingNews

Eric Young Out Of Action For Several Months

Impact Wrestling star Eric Young is currently out of action with a torn ACL.

Young recently appeared on The Wrestling Perspective podcast and said he suffered a torn ACL at the recent set of Impact TV tapings. He then revealed that he will be on the shelf for 6-9 months.

Young noted that this is the first time he’s been injured in his lengthy career. He is scheduled to undergo surgery soon, and is hoping to be back in the ring in 6 months.

“At the last tapings I tore my ACL,” Young said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been injured. I missed my first wrestling show this Friday that I was booked on in 24 years of doing it. So, it’s frustrating, man. I’ve never been injured. I’ve been hurt lots, but I’ve never been injured. I have to have surgery in like a week and a half. And it’s going to be a long, long road. So, we’ll see, man. It’s going to get real interesting for me.”

Young revealed that he suffered the injury during a match against James Storm. He continued to work the tapings, wrestling in a Hardcore War eight-man tag team match the next day, and then a singles match against Eddie Edwards. The match with Storm will air on this week’s Impact as the main event because it is Storm’s 1,000th career bout.

“My ACL is completely torn, which I didn’t know,” Young said. “That happened on Monday during the match with Storm. I finished it like nothing happened. I wrestled a hardcore war eight-man tag the following day, then I wrestled Eddie Edwards on Tuesday in a singles match. It was like 20 minutes — on one leg. And I would put that match against anything that airs anytime, for any wrestling company, anywhere in the world, and I did it on one leg. And I’m very proud of it.”

Young couldn’t say for sure if he will remain on Impact TV while injured, but he said he imagines he will. He is the current Violent By Design leader, a stable that also features Joe Doering, Rhino and Cody Deaner.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Impact Wrestling Features Released WWE Superstars In Slammiversary PPV Promo Video

Impact Wrestling released a new Slammiversary PPV video Tuesday night which starts out with someone in a hood pouring a drink into a glass and watching a “You’re Fired breaking news report” about over 20 plus superstars released from contracts amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The video shows brief clips of Eric Young, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Rockstar Spud (Drake Maverick), Curt Hawkins, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis and EC3. There was also an apparent reference to Rusev as the Bulgarian flag was shown.

These wrestlers’ that appeared in the video are all under a 90-day non-compete clause with WWE so none of them can legally negotiate with another promotion until early July.

It should be noted, however, that each wrestlers’ non-compete clauses expire just a few days before the Slammiversary pay-per-view.

This year’s IMPACT Slammiversary takes place, live Sunday, July 18.  A location for the event has yet to be announced.

 

UPDATE:

Drake Maverick has re-signed with WWE.

Backstage Update On Alexander Wolfe’s WWE Status, Possible Roster Change To WWE NXT?, Nikki Cross, SAnitY

Alexander Wolfe took to Twitter earlier tonight and said goodbye to WWE, also confirming the end of SAnitY. Wolfe’s statement came hours after Killian Dain posted a similar message and one night after group leader Eric Young was sent to RAW from SmackDown in the 2019 WWE Superstar Shakeup, with no mention of his partners.

It’s worth noting that Wolfe and Dain are both still listed on WWE’s roster page. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Wolfe is still under contract. There is talk of Wolfe going back to WWE NXT, which could explain why he said goodbye to WWE in his statement.

Wolfe and Dain re-tweeted each other’s statements but Young has not acknowledged them on his own feed, as of this writing. Former SAnitY member Nikki Cross, who is married to Dain, also posted a goodbye message to SAnitY, which you can see below.

Below are the original statements from Wolfe and Dain:

“We (SanitY) made out TV debut October 2016 for NXT at Full Sail University in Orlando,FL. We had a great time in NXT and we accomplished a lot:- NXT Tag Team Champions
– NXT Tag Team of the year 2017
– 1st ever NXT/WWE WAR GAMES Match
– performed in front of about 15k people at a sold out Takeover PPV
– Growing together as athletes and performers

The whole group is like a family to me. I made 3 good friends over the last 3 years and I am really grateful for that. It was without a doubt a great time. Thank you guys for everything!

Thank you to the entire SD locker room. Thank you for the good vibes, laughs and wisdom. I appreciate all of you and I wish you all the best for your future careers.

Thank you to the fans who supported us and never stopped believing in us. I appreciate you as well and trust me I speak for all 4 of us.

It’s time to leave this behind and walk a different path.

RIP SAnitY
Goodbye #WWE”

Dain’s statement:

“Good luck @TheEricYoung Good luck @TheWWEWolfe I’ll miss you both terribly. Had the time of my life as part of Sanity!! You are phenomenal in the ring and outside of it. Thanks to everyone who supported us”

https://twitter.com/KillianDain/status/1118117597881483264

Nikki Cross’s tweet:

https://twitter.com/NikkiCrossWWE/status/1118272246487879681

There is no brand listed for Nikki Cross on wwe.com

Killian Dain Comments On SAnitY Breaking Up In The WWE Superstar Shake-Up

It lookes like SAnitY was split up during last night’s WWE Superstar Shakeup edition of RAW as leader Eric Young was sent to the RAW roster from SmackDown. There was no mention of Killian Dain or Alexander Wolfe.

Dain took to Twitter today and thanked everyone for supporting SAnitY. He wrote, “Good luck @TheEricYoung Good luck @TheWWEWolfe I’ll miss you both terribly. Had the time of my life as part of Sanity!! You are phenomenal in the ring and outside of it. Thanks to everyone who supported us”

Wolfe re-tweeted the comments from Dain and also commented on the Shakeup.

Wolfe wrote, “#SuperstarShakeup very interesting… What do YOU want?”

Young has not publicly commented on the Shakeup or the status of SAnitY. The group came up to SmackDown from WWE NXT in June 2018 but they are rarely used, on TV or at live events. They lost to The Undisputed Era on the NXT vs. NXT Alumni Worlds Collide special on the WWE Network this past Sunday.

You can see their tweets below:

https://twitter.com/KillianDain/status/1118117597881483264

https://twitter.com/TheWWEWolfe/status/1117961419519971328

Source: Wrestling Inc.

UPDATE:

Nikki Cross tweeted about the split up of SAnitY:

https://twitter.com/NikkiCrossWWE/status/1118272246487879681

Eric Young Signs Deal With WWE NXT

Source: wrestlingnews.co

Former TNA Champion Eric Young, 36, has signed a deal with NXT. The belief is that they are waiting for the right time to debut him as a full-time performer. Young lost a match to Samoa Joe several weeks ago but he was not signed yet.

Young was a steady hand in TNA. He was part of Team Canada with Bobby Roode during the early years of TNA and then he eventually transitioned into a comedy babyface character and eventually into a nasty heel towards his later years with the company.

Both Young and Roode left TNA in March and reports surfaced later on about TNA having issues paying them.

NXT has shows coming up in Canada from 9/22 to 9/24 so it would make sense to feature Young on those shows. They will be in Toronto on 9/22, St. Catharines on 9/23 and Kitchener on 9/24.

Eric Young Makes Surprise Debut At NXT Taping

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

The TNA exodus to NXT continues — Eric Young just surprised Full Sail by appearing at tonight’s TV taping and made an impact (pun intended) by confronting the company’s champion.

Sources in attendance say Samoa Joe stood in the ring gloating about his big NXT Title win over Finn Balor, when music for Young suddenly hit and he received a HUGE ovation walking to the ring.

The wrestlers exchanged words, but Joe walked off before coming to blows.

The two eventually faced off later in the night though and the champ won their match.

No word on what kind of deal E.Y. has signed with the company at this point — but the TNA revival in NXT is now going strong with Joe, Young, Austin Aries and possibly Bobby Roode.

 

WWE posted the following on EY’s debut:

Eric Young arrives in NXT ORLANDO, Fla. — NXT is quickly becoming the place to be for the hottest free agents in sports-entertainment. That was proven once again on Thursday night, when Eric Young made his surprise debut at NXT’s WWE Network taping.

Young, an 18-year veteran of the mat game and former heavyweight champion, shocked the Full Sail University crowd when he entered the arena, which will air on NXT in the coming weeks, only on WWE Network.

Young’s arrival is the latest in a line of big-name free agents hoping to ply their craft in NXT, going to show that you never know who will appear next between the yellow ropes.

Has WWE Had Any Contact With Eric Young And Bobby Roode

Source: WrestlingINC

F4WOnline reports that there has been a lot of speculation and rumors about Eric Young and Bobby Roode possibly signing with WWE. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio today that WWE has had contact with both men through an intermediary. Apparently they were more interested in Young than Roode, but that does not mean they wouldn’t bring Roode on if everything worked out.

No word yet on if WWE is in talks with the two wrestlers.