TNA Wrestler Eric Young spoke with Nashville's 1025 the game sports radio. In the interview Eric talks about how he prepares for a match, his workout routine, TNA Lockdown and more. Eric also gets into some great details about his upcoming show on Animal Planet including some episode previews, locations and how he managed to get the role as host of the show.


How Eric prepares for a match:
For me it's just to be relaxed. To know exactly what I have to do. When I get nervous thats when I mess up and get hurt. I would imagine that most pro athletes want to be relaxed.

Any pre-fight rituals:
Well now that I'm older, a little wiser. There's definitely some stretching. I've hurt my hip and my groin real bad. What I do athletically is a little bit different athletically than they do. It's all about being ready and being warm. This is something I do 365 days a year. There is no off season in pro wrestling. It can be argued that I'm an athlete or pro athlete. If there is anyone that wants to give this a try, you go ahead and do it for 365 days a year. I have to look this way 365 days a year. There is no IR (Injured reserve). If you are on the bill, you are on the show. That's just the way it goes.

How much time he puts into the gym:
4-5 days a week. Hard when you are on the road. Tracking a gym down and getting a day pass or trying to talk them in to letting you go in for free. It's different for everyone. Lots of cardio. You can't run out of breath during the end of a 25 minute match when you have to do something exciting at the end. that also takes a big part of what I do.

On TNA Lockdown:
It's our biggest show of the year. It's TNA Lockdown. All of the matches are inside of the steel cage with 50 foot walls. The main event is with hometown boy James Storm. Grew up in Tenessee, lives in TN. Goes up against Bobby Roode. Former friend of mine, Canadian guy. Kurt Angle will be there, Sting, Hulk Hogan, they just put him in there to be the new general manager.

On his upcoming show on Animal Planet:
Yeah its sort of been in the works since the last time I talked to you guys. It's a fishing show. Right now they aren't settled on the name. Right now it's being called Fishing America. It may be called crazy like a fish. There's a few other names that have been floating around. Obviously not my decision. Its basically a fishing show where I go all across North America meeting with people that have invented, came up with or stolen very unique, interesting styles of fishing. I mean some of them are stolen, let's be honest. It's going to be crazy. They want it to debut during shark week in July.
I'm on my way this Saturday to tape the first episode which is catching bull sharks off of a paddle board. I just figured out that bull sharks, thanks to the wonders of the internet, are the most agressive sharks in the wild.

How he managed to get on the show:
It was through a friend of mine who works in TNA as a PA assistant and does some backstage production, she works part time for animal planet. They have a casting board online for Animal Planet and she read out the casting call for what they were looking for, she said 'You're the first person I thought of'. She asked if she could drop my name in the hat. I didn't think anything of it. Few months later it was between me, a professional fisherman and a professional comedian. I won the part, so the part's mine.

Concerning the production of the show:
The first show will be shot just outside of Miami and the second one will be not far from cape coral. There's an ice one we are doing next winter in Montreal. Apparently a group of ex Canadian navy divers that are 60+ do breath-hold spear fishing under the ice.