Eric Young makes a big statement ahead of his match with Eddie Edwards on tonight’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling.
Young has found a second wind in his 20+ year career with IMPACT Wrestling, his return coming on the heels of his WWE release last year. The former WWE superstar was among those released from the promotion in April 2020 in what WWE called ‘budget cuts’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since his departure from WWE, Young returned to IMPACT Wrestling at Slammiversary in July 2020 and won the IMPACT World Championship.
Unfortunately for Young, he announced on March 29 that he suffered a torn ACL the most recent set of IMPACT TV tapings, which will see him sidelined for 6-9 months. The bright side of that is Young still taped a few matches to finish the tapings, the final of which will air on IMPACT tonight.
Eric Young released the following statement [sic] on Twitter, praising the fact that he still had a five-star match with Eddie Edwards with a torn ACL during the tapings, and showed why WWE made the wrong call about him last year.
Tonight is a bitter sweet night for me! Tonight I wrestle in the main event of the go home show for the ppv this coming weekend. I have the honor of wrestling Eddie Edwards! Eddie is a guy I have always respected and enjoyed sharing the ring with. IMO Eddie is one of the best most versatile in ring performer I have ever had the chance to work with. They call him the heart beat of Impact Wrestling and that is not a gimmick. Him and a bunch of others kept the flame of this company burning during some dark times. In short, Eddie is the man and one of my all time favorite opponents and that’s a long long list! Another interesting thing about this match is that it is almost a year to the day of me being released from my former place of employment. This Thursday I stand in the ring in the main event and put on a match that is as good or better then any match that will air for any company anywhere in the world! A bold statement for sure, but it is the truth! No slight on any show, any product, any main event, and certainly no slight on any performers. I hope my brothers and sisters who were just let go from there positions in other company’s see this and know there is a whole beautiful and ultra rewarding world outside of that place! My last bit is a personal point of pride for me. I wrestled this match with a fully torn ACL! I did not know at the time how serious my injury was, in fact no one did. I love this business, I love pro wrestling, and after over 23 years the fire still burns. I am just as good or better then anyone doing it today! A little over a year ago I couldn’t get booked on a show with my former employer to save my life. Fast forward to this Thursday I will have a 5 star main event match for a blossoming company! Proving I am very very good at what I do and I did it ON ONE FN leg!
ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN LIFE IS PROVING PEOPLE WRONG. MAN YOU WHERE REALLY FN WRONG!
Young has been vocal in the past about WWE’s decision to cut ties, noting that if they can’t find a few minutes for him in a three-hour television show, then something’s wrong with the format and leadership, not him.
Eric Young’s match against Eddie Edwards will air on tonight’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling on AXS TV and Twitch. IMPACT presents their Rebellion pay-per-view this Sunday, headlined by AEW’s Kenny Omega vs. Rich Swann in a title vs. title match.
Related: Eric Young Explains How A ‘Weird Spiral Of Odd Circumstances’ Influenced Sanity’s Run On SmackDown
