Eric Young on the Growth of Impact Wrestling, Building Positive Momentum

– During a recent interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Eric Young discussed the growth of Impact Wrestling and the company making it to its 20th anniversary. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Eric Young on Impact Wrestling still being in business in 2022: “I don’t know if even the people running the company, even if you asked Jeff and said to him, ‘Do you think it’s around in 2022?’ He would have said, ‘I have no idea.’ The reality is, ‘it’s a fledgling company,’ the money it costs, and the work. The amount of work, hustle, and sacrifice that has to be done to get something like that off the road because the WWE at the time, had monopolized the business. They had everything and everyone watched that and there was nothing else out there. At no point, even when the company was pretending there was a Monday Night War, we have never been in competition with them. They are on another level. It’s generational and has been around for hundreds of years. It’s not something that, that kind of fanbase and following cannot be cultivated in five years, ten years, 20 years. It takes a lifetime. The company, I’ve been here for a lot of that time and its had ups and downs, but I can say that coming back at Slammiversary two years ago, it’s all been positive momentum. The numbers on TV, they can dip and drop and then go up and drop, that’s just the nature of television and ratings. Money is accrued, viewership is accrued in forty different ways now. It’s not just about television ratings.”

Young on Impact’s digital presence and global reach: “It has a massive digital presence, a growing worldwide presence. We’re hoping to get back on TV in the United Kingdom and all the other places as well. It’s cool being part of something that definitely had a foothold in the industry and that foothold grows and grows, kind of week to week. Scott D’Amore is owed a huge amount of respect, Anthem Sports and AXS TV are owed a huge amount of respect because they let us do our thing, they don’t get in the way. The roster, these amazing men and women, everyone is doing our own thing, we’re all our own business, but it’s a really tight-knit group and everyone is pulling the rope in the right direction. Everybody who understands it, truly understands that, ‘if I want to do well, IMPACT has to do well first.’ It’s the best locker room I’ve ever been part of, best company I’ve ever worked for, and it’s not even close. Have I made more money and had more exposure other places? Absolutely. Would I trade that for the things I have now? I don’t think I would. This is the most fun I’ve ever had.”

Eric Young returned to Impact Wrestling at Slammiversary 2020. He’s scheduled to challenge Josh Alexander for the Impact World Title at Slammiversary 2022 on Sunday, June 19.