Eric Young Reveals WWE Passed on Him and Bobby Roode in the Early 2000s for Being Canadian

Eric Young recently joined Chris Van Vliet on his podcast, Insight with Chris Van Vliet, to reflect on his lengthy 26-year career in professional wrestling. During the interview, Young shared an interesting story about how he and fellow Canadian wrestler Bobby Roode were close to joining WWE in the early 2000s, but the opportunity slipped away due to their nationality.

Young explained how difficult it can be for non-citizens to break into the U.S. wrestling scene, particularly when visa issues create an additional layer of complexity that many American wrestlers may not even consider.

According to Young, he and Roode had performed in numerous dark matches and tryouts for WWE, and the company was genuinely interested in hiring them. However, their Canadian citizenship ultimately became a roadblock.

“It’s hard trying to break through in the U.S.A. as a non-citizen,” Young shared. “American wrestlers or people in entertainment don’t understand the extra added level of difficulty… Me and Bobby Roode were very close to being hired by WWE, probably around 2001. We had done 20, 25 dark matches and tryout things, and they were interested, but it came down to, ‘Oh, well, they’re Canadian.’ And that was it.”

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Young went on to explain that despite their talent, WWE chose to hire two other wrestlers who were American citizens, bypassing him and Roode due to the visa issues that came with hiring Canadian talent. “It just adds this really, really difficult layer that most people aren’t aware of,” he said.

Though Young and Roode eventually found success in other promotions, the revelation adds an interesting wrinkle to their respective journeys in professional wrestling.