ROH veteran Silas Young tells PWTorch ROH takes care of injured wrestlers, disputes Newsweek account of how recent concussion was handled by ROH

July 2, 2020News

Longtime ROH wrestler Silas Young reacted to Joey Mercury’s recent tweets calling out ROH for their lack of concussion protocol and how Kelly Klein’s most recent concussion in the U.K. was handled. Mercury has posted several private messages between him and ROH GM Greg Gilleland on Twitter that have painted Gilleland and ROH in a bad light.

Young posted several tweets in support of ROH and questioned the accuracy of a recent Newsweek article in which Joey Mercury and Kelly Klein were the main on record sources of information. PWTorch reached out to Young for further comment and here are his answers to the questions submitted to him below:

Sean Radican: ROH told me that they have medical personnel at every show which includes a doctor and an EMT. I know Joey and Kelly have said that’s not the case, but you’ve seen medical people at every show you can recall?

Silas Young: I’ve worked for ring of honor for almost seven years now so obviously I can’t remember every show, but thinking back I can’t think of a show there hasn’t been medical people there.

SR: Is there a protocol for concussions you’re aware of? I’m just wondering what happened with Kelly because she says on two different occasions she suffered a concussion and nothing was done. One was in New Orleans during WrestleMania weekend in 2018 and then on the most recent U.K. tour last month.

SY: I’ve been lucky to not experience any concussions in quite a long time. However, I do know that one of the guys that was talked about in the Newsweek piece was T.K. (T.K. O’Ryan). When he let the office know what was going on he was told to take whatever time was necessary and that he had to get doctors clearance before returning.

He was never pressured to come back early. As a matter a fact, he asked about coming to shows just to hangout and be around what we love doing and the company paid for all the expenses for every loop of shows he wanted to come to. I know this because T.K. and I are good buddies and he was happy that the company would do that for him since it was really an unneeded extra expense.

There is a reason guys chose to stay at ROH and not go to WWE or other places. For example, when Josh Woods started with the company, his only wrestling experience was with NXT. I met him that first day and he was walking on egg shells. I asked him why he was being so weird and he told me stories about working there.

I really took to Josh the last year and requested working with him. We have been given the freedom to take this story anyway we think works best. In wrestling most people shy away from getting involved with stuff like this for fear of having something blow back on them,  but the fact is I’ve been with ROH for almost 7 years and I like to think I’m a respected guy there and have a good relationship with the locker room.

In wrestling a lot of times people are friends with people because it can help them get something or somewhere. I’m just not made that way. I hang with people because I enjoy them as people. That’s why I’m friends with guys in the locker room, as much as guys from the dojo (ROH Dojo) as much as guys who work on the crew setting up. I’ve been reading this s–t the last few weeks and couldn’t help myself.

The funny thing is people lose their jobs all the time for bad mouthing their employers on social media, but when it comes to wrestling, I think people forget sometimes that this is like any other business. Funny thing is most people probably don’t realize this, but Joe Koff is a huge fan of wrestling. He’s the reason Sinclair bought ROH. He’s the reason that the company has grown every year and done bigger and better things. Joe loves this place and puts his all into it.

I know this is a little long winded, but I feel like the perception of how things are, is so off based and far from what reality is. The craziest part of all this is that Joey and I got along really good and have known each other for over a decade. We have a lot of similar views on wrestling and how it should be. He’s super passionate about the business. In my opinion I think his passion got a hold of him and may have cost him his job, which honestly sucks because his knowledge and what he brings to the table is immeasurable. I hope this answers any questions you may have had.

You can see Young’s tweets below disputing some of Joey Mercury and Kelly Klein’s claims:

must be terrible to work for @ringofhonor that’s funny. time off at home, creative freedom, hotels,flights,rental cars all paid for. I see people get medical treatment at shows. At times wrestlers don’t speak up and try working thru injuries. Easy to spin that into negligence

— silas young (@lastrealmanROH) November 24, 2019

I’ve been fortunate to not suffer any major injuries but when there has been mishaps I’ve always seen performers being helped by medical staff and taken to hospitals. Hell one of the guys referred to in the Newsweek piece said himself it’s bullshit.

— silas young (@lastrealmanROH) November 24, 2019

You should still support @RealKellyKlein in what she is doing sir

— Douglas Campbell (@RedWings28) November 24, 2019

Young also responded to several people on Twitter that asked him questions. Young put some context behind a text from Gilleland to Mercury where he told Mercury that NJPW’s Hikuleo was a waste of money to add to a recent ROH event:

it’s easy to take part of a convo and spin it into something it’s not. For instance with hikuleo he was added last min when shows were booked and pre sales were not good. It was a shot at the guy who added him and nothing to do with hikuleo.

— silas young (@lastrealmanROH) November 24, 2019

I don’t buy into politics. Shit we see now a days is spun so hard the truth is hard to find. With that said im hardly a Golden boy or a favorite with the office. I don’t politic for anything. I have my job because im damn good at what I do. When I can I’ll always call bullshit

— silas young (@lastrealmanROH) November 24, 2019

Young offered some insight onto why Klein’s contract offered her low pay in his feud. You can see that tweet here:

Two different contract types. Her contract was non exclusive meaning she can work other places and make money. my contract is exclusive. At one point I asked about getting non exclusive and was offered the same money. Stuff like this is why im compelled to speak out.

— silas young (@lastrealmanROH) November 24, 2019