Photographed in Franklin
"Choose the right job, and you'll never work a day in your life." It's a definite cliché, a quote so overused that no one really knows where it came from anymore, but ask Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Jeremy Fritz, better known by his stage name Eric Young, and he'll say that's exactly how he feels about his job as a professional ass-kicker.
"I've probably said this 100 times over my career, but the worst day of pro wrestling is better than the best day of doing anything else," says Young. "And what people don't realize is that being a bad guy is totally great in wrestling. Boos are great when you're the bad guy. I want them to spit at me and throw stuff at me. If they don't want me to go away, I'm not doing my job."
The 36-year-old Franklin resident, who's in his third run as the TNA King of the Mountain Champion, has transformed over the past 10 years from a clean-shaven blond charmer who grew up in Ontario, Canada, into a darker, tattooed and bearded villain. While his menacing persona works — he's claimed 11 TNA championships during his career — Young admits his stage name is a bit lackluster compared to the Macho Man Randy Savages, Stings and Hulk Hogans of the industry.
Young came to the name while purchasing his first pair of custom wrestling boots — he needed to come up with something quick so he could add his signature touch to the footwear.
"So I don't know if people remember those Columbia House things where you would get CDs for, like, a penny and then they charge you $40 for the other CDs. Well, while I was waiting, I was looking at the collection of the month or whatever and there was a Neil Young and an Eric Clapton CD side by side, so I went with Eric Young," he says, laughing. And because he made a name for himself using the moniker "Showtime" Eric Young prior to making a TNA debut in 2004, the network wanted to clutch that popularity. "I still thought they would find another name, but it just stuck."
In 2006, Young lost a match to one of his idols: Sting. At that point Sting hadn't been in a ring on television in more than five years, but it was a distinctive and career-affirming moment for Young.
"That's a cool moment, obviously, when you get to go head to head with one of your idols," Young says, noting his favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels, not Sting. "It wasn't '88 Sting; it was the 2000 Sting. But to say that I did that is an amazing thing."
While Young beams that not everyone can say they've been on television every week for the past 10 years, he also concedes that wrestling as a career has its downsides.
"I probably spend more hours with those guys than my actual family," Young says. "I know for a fact, because we added it up, that the first month I was married to my wife I spent 36 more hours with my team than with her."
Aside from that pitfall, Young has the honor of being one of about 120 people in the world who can call themselves "true professional wrestlers," he says. "You think music is hard to get into, try wrestling."
More From the 2016 People Issue
The Celebrity Chef: Maneet Chauhan / The Gold Medalist: Scott Hamilton / The Perception Changer: Kent Wallace / The Blogger: Melissa Watkins / The Biker Chaplain: Allen Tanner / The Man: Charles Kaster / The Islamic Leader: Rashed Fakhruddin / The Tubatroll: Joe Hunter / The Dog: Doug the Pug / The Emancipator Impersonator: Dennis Boggs / The Booker: Kathryn Edwards / The Right Brain/Left Brain: Coke Sams and Clarke Gallivan / The Professional Ass-Kicker: Eric Young / The Watcher: Debbie Field
