Monday Night Mayhem radio with Eric Young
Hosts: Big Mosh, Blade, Bill Brown
Available at MondayNightMayhem.com.

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 and to see TNA stretch out all around the country. "We're always excited to go into a new market and new areas. Obviously iMPACT airs all around the United States and 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 and 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" and "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 and a huge melee ensuing at his station.

Mosh, Blade, and Bill asked Eric how successful he thinks that experience was with Bonaduce. "It kinda' started out has a small thing and blew up to something completely big with the help of YouTube, TNAWrestling.com, and stuff like that. It was just intended for me to go there, be on the show, be his opponent, and 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 and former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Jeff Jarett. Eric explained the situation between the two and why his sudden change of heart. "Sometimes a change is good, and you could only get pushed around and 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, and 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, and the most fun," Young said. "They gave us the time to get the characters in place, set up the story, and 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 and didn't like and really invest in what was going on between me, Robert, and Ms. Brooks. They cared about me, they hated him, and it was Wrestling 101...and I loved it."

A Canadian wrestling legend and 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 and 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 and shook his hand. His voice was the voice of wrestling for me growing up in that area...watching 'Maple Leaf Wrestling' and 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 and 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), and his memories of the passing of the late Farrah Fawcett.

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