Eric Young (wrestler)

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Eric Young
Born (1979-12-15) December 15, 1979 (age 44)
Florence, Ontario
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Eric Young
Super Eric
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight225 lb (102 kg; 16.1 st)
Billed fromAn Undisclosed Location / Freedomland, USA (as Eric Young)
Vancouver, British Columbia
Nashville, Tennessee
Metropolis (as Super Eric)
Trained byWaldo Von Erich,
Carl Leduc,
Scott D'Amore,
Chris Kanyon
DebutOctober 14, 1998

Jeremy Fritz (born December 15 1979) better known by his ring name Eric Young, is a Canadian professional wrestler. Fritz occasionally wrestles under the name Super Eric, in a superhero gimmick. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Career

After graduating from high school, where he was valedictorian,[citation needed] Young began training with veteran wrestler Waldo Von Erich in Cambridge, Ontario. After training for ten weeks he wrestled his debut match on October 14, 1998 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, facing his friend "Suicide" Sean Ball. He later received supplementary training from Scott D'Amore and Chris Kanyon. After four months, he had wrestled ten matches and was consequently promoted to head trainer. After his training was complete, Young began working on the independent circuit. When wrestling infrequently, Young subsidised his income with number of other jobs, including working in a pizza parlour, manufacturing brass horse harnesses and sand casting. During his time in the Ontario independent scene, Young also owned and operated the Wrestleplex training facility out of Cambridge. Notable wrestlers to come out of the gym include Jake O'Reilly, Ontario mainstay Crazy Steve and World Wrestling Entertainment signee Shawn Spears. He appeared on WWE television three times. The first was on an edition of WWE Velocity; he teamed with future tag team partner Bobby Roode and were defeated by Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli. The second appearance was also on WWE Velocity in which he was announced as "Showtime" Eric Young; he lost to Sean O'Haire. He appeared the next day on WWE Sunday Night Heat, losing a match to Val Venis. Al Snow, known for calling jobbers "Babaganoosh", called Eric Young "Showtime Babaganoosh."

On June 30, 2007, Eric secured the APWF Light Heavyweight Championship defeating former 4 time NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion Luscious Rocky Reynolds in Oil City Pennsylvania.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004-Present)

Paranoia gimmick (2004-2006)

Young joined TNA as a member of Team Canada

In January 2004 Young appeared in TNA as a jobber. On May 5 he returned as a member of Team Canada. He took part in the World X Cup event, defeating Jerry Lynn, Mr. Águila and Taichi Ishikari in a ladder match. Team Canada were a regular feature on Impact! throughout mid-2004, feuding with the 3Live Kru.

On the October 15, 2004 episode of Impact!, Young and Bobby Roode defeated Christopher Daniels and "Cowboy" James Storm for the NWA World Tag Team Championships. They held the titles until November 7, when they were defeated by the 3Live Kru (represented by Konnan and B.G. James) at Victory Road 2004. They regained the titles a month later at Turning Point 2004 on December 5, defeating B.G. James and Ron Killings.

Young and Roode began feuding with America's Most Wanted in early-2005, and lost the NWA World Tag Team Championships to America's Most Wanted on January 16 at Final Resolution 2005. Young began teaming with Team Canada member Petey Williams, and on April 24, 2005 they unsuccessfully challenged America's Most Wanted for the NWA World Tag Team Championships at TNA Lockdown. After defeating Apolo and Sonny Siaki at TNA Hard Justice on May 15, Williams and Young challenged and lost to new NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals at TNA Slammiversary on June 19.

Team Canada began feuding with The Naturals and Lance Hoyt, with Young, Roode and A-1 defeating Hoyt and The Naturals at TNA No Surrender 2005 on July 17. America's Most Wanted formed a loose alliance with The Naturals against Team Canada, with Young, Roode, Williams and A-1 defeating The Naturals and America's Most Wanted at TNA Sacrifice on August 14. After Williams renewed his pursuit of the TNA X Division Championship, Young began teaming with A-1 on a regular basis. At TNA Unbreakable on September 11, Young and A-1 faced America's Most Wanted, Alex Shelley and Johnny Candido and defending champions The Naturals in a four way tag match. Young was able to pin both Candido and "Wildcat" Chris Harris, but Team Canada lost the match after Chase Stevens managed to pin A-1.

At Bound for Glory 2005 on October 23, Young, A-1 and Bobby Roode defeated the 3Live Kru. After the match, their attempts to beat down Konnan were foiled by Kip James. Later that night, Team Canada foiled an attempt by 3Live Kru to save Rhino from a beating at the hands of Planet Jarrett, then helped Jarrett place Rhino in a casket which they had brought to ringside. However, as Team Canada and Planet Jarrett celebrated, Team 3D entered the ring and, with the help of the now recovered 3Live Kru, drove Planet Jarrett and Team Canada from the ring. Young, who had been standing atop the casket, was hit with a 3D by Team 3D. He was then thrown into the casket in the place of Rhino, who in turn stood atop the casket, celebrating his earlier victory for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship over Jeff Jarrett. As a result of the events of Bound For Glory, Young, Roode and A-1 faced the 3Live Kru in a rematch at TNA Genesis on November 13. Team Canada lost the match after Ron Killings pinned Young. The long-running feud between Team Canada and the 3Live Kru ended at TNA Turning Point 2005 on December 11 when Young, Williams, Roode and A-1 defeated the Kru and Kip James (the "4Live Kru") after Konnan turned on his teammates.

Since the debut of TNA on Spike TV in October 2005, Young has adopted a new character who is highly paranoid and afraid of almost anything and anybody. The character was introduced at the mock funeral staged by Planet Jarrett and their associates for Team 3D on the October 15, 2005 episode of Impact!, when Young was startled after Abyss crushed a box of tissues that were offered to him, and then speculated that the funeral parlour was haunted by a ghost named "Katie" (a tongue-in-cheek reference to the WWE "Katie Vick" storyline). The simplest things began to frighten Young, including the pyrotechnics that accompany Team Canada's entrance.

The character has drawn comparisons to South Park characters Tweek and Butters, and has often been used for comic relief. During an interview about the World X-Cup by So Cal Val during TNA Global Impact!, Young stated "Foreigners frighten me. They're from other countries, and I don't know how to deal with that."

However, although Young may be paranoid, he is not necessarily always wrong. Two weeks after Sting and Christian Cage defeated Jeff Jarrett and Monty Brown at TNA Final Resolution 2006, Sting made his Impact! debut and announced his retirement. Jarrett wasted no time in pointing out that "after one match with me, Sting took his ball and went home", and most of Planet Jarrett agreed with that assessment. However, Young became convinced that Sting was not gone, and raised the ire of Jarrett and Scott D'Amore by frequently expressing that belief. In an attempt to persuade Young that Sting had left, Jarrett commissioned Alex Shelley to obtain footage of Sting at home with his children; however, this failed to allay Young's fears. He insisted that Sting would come back and get each of them, he would even go as far as to insist that the fellow Planet Jarrett members should not call him by his nickname "Showtime" any more, due to Sting's catchphrase "It's showtime, folks!".

Young lost to Sting in the main event of the April 13, 2006 episode of Impact!.

Young's paranoia did not always hinder his abilities during a match. He remained aggressive (even putting people through a table), would not hesitate to cheat, and was not afraid to capitalize on outside interference. He continued to be aided by Team Canada and Planet Jarrett.

When Jim Cornette became the new face of management in TNA and said someone would be fired, Young was afraid it would be him. He was seen on Impact! holding a up a sign in the crowd that read "Don't fire Eric Young" as the fans chanted "Don't fire Eric!" along with him. On the June 29 episode of Impact!, Young wrestled like a classic babyface out of fear of being fired, and tried to prevent his fellow Canadians from doing anything underhanded. Cornette announced later that night Team Canada was now disbanded, but Young was more happy than upset because it was Earl Hebner who got fired, not Young. On the July 14 episode of Impact!, Team Canada lost an "all or nothing" match (their only chance to stay together), keeping Team Canada disbanded.

Feuds with Robert Roode and James Storm (2006-2007)

At Victory Road, Team Canada joined together in the ring for one last time. After running through how he felt about each member, Scott D'Amore stopped at Eric Young. He then blamed Eric for their demise and made him strip of any Team Canada items as they were no more. Scott D'Amore then said that he believed Eric Young would still be fired as he was to blame for Team Canada's end. Eric then remained in the ring after the others had left and began a secret petition with the fans to keep his job. He would soon start being announced from "An Undisclosed Location". Young continued to be worried about his job security, creating his own "Don't Fire Eric" shirts.

Young's paranoia proved warranted yet again as he was fired on the October 5 episode of Impact! after being hit with a golf club by Larry Zbyszko causing Young to lose a "Loser gets fired" match. [1] However, due to Zbyszko's interference, Jim Cornette gave Young a chance to get his job back by facing Larry Zbyszko in a "Loser Gets Fired" match at Bound for Glory 2006. Young won and got his job back.

On the Genesis 2006 pre-show, Eric Young scored an upset by defeating former Team Canada associate Robert Roode. This infuriated Roode and on the following Impact!, Roode cut a promo against Eric Young. The match started a long time rivalry between the two.

Young, then dubbed as the "Paranoid Pied Piper of TNA" by announcer Mike Tenay, would soon be challenged to a bikini contest by Roode's associate Ms. Traci Brooks. Eric accepted and beat Ms. Brooks in a bikini contest at the Turning Point 2006 pay-per-view on December 10, 2006, by wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants bikini. Eric Young continued his feud with Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks, with Ms. Brooks trying to get Young to join "Robert Roode Inc." Finally, at Against All Odds 2007 Ms. Brooks successfully seduced Young into signing a contract with "Robert Roode Inc." This consequentially sent him into an odd angle, in which he is systematically humiliated every week by Roode, in such horrid acts as cleaning toilets for Roode's own personal use, and getting illegally involved in Roode's matches. Eric was forced to perform these tasks because the contract Young signed gave Roode control over his TNA contract as well, so if he was fired from Roode, Inc., he was fired from TNA as well. He eventually began to fight back the orders of Roode, in part due to the advice of a mysterious "friend". On the April 26, 2007 episode of TNA Impact!, the "friend" was revealed as Jeff Jarrett. Young eventually broke free of his contract by defeating Roode at Slammiversary 2007 via an inside cradle, after Gail Kim took out Ms. Brooks. At Victory Road 2007, Eric Young and Gail Kim would defeat Robert Roode and Ms. Brooks in a Mixed Tag Team match. Around this time, Young would be billed as from "Freedomland, USA", a reference to Young being free from his contract with Roode.

On the August 2, 2007 episode of Impact!, Roode had Young tarred and feathered on national television in the Impact Zone. On the August 8 edition of TNA Today, Eric Young commented on the humiliation of being tarred and feathered, and then challenged Robert Roode to a "Humiliation Match" at Hard Justice. Roode would eventully go on to accept the challenge. Roode won the match, but Gail Kim came to Young's aid. Roode attempted to attack her, but accidentally knocked Ms. Brooks out instead. Roode retreated up the ramp, leaving a semi-conscious Brooks to be tarred and feathered by Young and Kim.

When Adam "Pacman" Jones joined TNA, Eric Young was desperate to get an autograph, but ended up getting attacked by Ron Killings and spray painted by Pacman. Young started teaming up with Shark Boy on a consistent basis, nearly winning the number one contenders spot to the Tag Team Titles. Young was Judas Mesias's opponent in his official debut match, and was badly injured despite Shark Boy's rescue attempt. On the 4 October edition of Impact, Young faced and successfully defeated "Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm in a Gauntlet match when he reversed Storm's sleeper into a pin. At Bound for Glory 2007, Eric Young won the 15 men Fight for the Right Battle Royal by pinning Robert Roode with a small package to win the first round. He was eliminated from the tournament in the second round after being pinned by James Storm, who would go on to give him a beer at the urging of Jackie Moore. From there, Young and Storm have been appearing in promos where they are having beer drinking contests, most recently at Genesis 2007 where Young took Storm's World Beer Drinking Championship belt (a decorated WWE Championship toy belt) after Storm passed out before they could call the contest a truce. Young defended that strap on the last Impact! before Turning Point 2007 in a 60-second speed drinking contest, which he won before Storm would viciously assault him. He would go on to defeat both Storm and the Angle Alliance the latter done as Samoa Joe and Kevin Nash's replacement partner for the no-show Scott Hall in matches at Turning Point.

Super Eric (2008)

"Super Eric"

On the February 28 edition of Impact!, Young lost the Beer Drinking Championship in a ladder match to James Storm. Recently, Young went in a feud with Rellik in an angle where Eric was afraid of monsters and lost to Rellik on Impact!. The feud then lead to a match at the Destination X pay per view with Young teaming up with Kaz to defeat Rellik and Black Reign in a tag match where Eric debuted a new superhero gimmick under the name "Super Eric", which is supposed to be his alter-ego. His ring attire and gimmick is similar to The Hurricane's attire and gimmick. At TNA Lockdown 2008 he and Kaz won The Cuffed in a Cage match.

On the April 17 edition of Impact!, Young (who left the match and returned as Super Eric) and Kaz won the TNA World Tag Team Championship, but later in the night were stripped of the titles due to Young not admitting he was Super Eric. On the May 1st edition of Impact he teamed up with A.J. Styles who was desperately looking for a partner backstage, and won against The Rock 'n Rave Infection. He and A.J. Styles went to Sacrfice ,but lost to the eventual winners LAX. Eric Young started a gimmick where he would look around the streets of Memphis, Tennessee for Elvis. The gimmick took a hiatus at Slammiversary when Awesome Kong gave an Awesome Bomb to a fake Elvis impostor. He revived the Super Eric gimmick on the July 17 edition of Impact and joined Curry Man and Shark Boy as part of a Justice League knock off, called The Prince Justice Brotherhood, where he got whipped by Beer Money Inc. during a backstage segment. He appeared again with the Brotherhood on the July 24th episode of Impact. The trio would then appear as a stable together on a full-time basis.

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • The Director
    • Showtime
    • E.Y.

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

1This championship reign is not recognized by TNA after Eric Young refused to admit being Super Eric.

References

External links

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