Jeremy Fritz has portrayed Impact Wrestling star “Showtime” Eric Young as a regular character on the company’s Spike TV show for seven years, not exactly the kind of life his upbringing prepared him for.
    
Growing up in a small town of 90 people in Ontario, Canada, Fritz was about as far away from the media-savvy life as possible. There was no cable TV. Residents had to drive 40 minutes to the nearest fast-food restaurant and 30 minutes to the closest movie rental store.
    
“I’m basically a Canadian redneck,” Fritz said.
    
The mileage on the Fritz family car went mostly toward getting to what Fritz called “seedy establishments” in order to watch wrestling pay-per-views. Fritz said his father, Bill, would pay $20, so that Fritz and his friends could sit cross-legged on the floor in front of the big-screen TV and watch the festivities.
    
“I’ve watched wrestling my whole life,” Fritz said. “I still watch wrestling. I’m a massive fan of it.”
    
“Nature Boy” Ric Flair, Sting and Hulk Hogan made impressions on Fritz growing up. What do those three wrestlers all have in common today? They all work at Impact Wrestling with Fritz.
    
“These are three guys I work with on a weekly basis,” Fritz said. “That can be surreal for someone. I’m not a spring chicken, but being a younger guy in the business and sharing the same ring and the same television time ... that’s surreal. You almost pinch yourself.”
    
Right out of high school, Fritz decided to become a professional wrestler, and his parents supported it.
    
“My parents are great,” he said. “They were the kind of people that were, like, as long as I decided that that was what I was going to do, then they supported it.”
    
Fritz did not have anything else to fall back on and headed straight into wrestling school. Despite wrestling being predetermined, it became clear to Fritz just how difficult the profession is.
    
“I’m not saying we’re fighting each other for real, but not everybody can do it,” Fritz said. “And anybody who says that the ring is soft, I would love to bring them in and have them fall on their back or get slammed by me or by someone like Matt Morgan, seven-foot-tall, and see how it feels.”
    
He said acts like getting clothes-lined over the top rope and to the floor require skill to complete.
    
“I played sports my whole life, and pro wrestling is literally the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
    
The most difficult skill for Fritz to pick up was timing, he said. Fritz excelled at moves but struggled with when to do what in the beginning.
    
“I could jump off the top rope and do a backflip to the floor, and I could do all that stuff,” Fritz said. “But learning the process of when people want to see it and when to involve people in the match and to bring them on a journey and tell a story (was difficult).”
    
At age 24, Fritz decided to move from Canada to Impact Wrestling headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., right before he signed with the company in 2004.
    
“They had wanted to use me, and I wanted to make it as easy for them as possible,” he said.
    
Fritz gave away much of his belongings, including a bedset, couches, chairs and a television, to his three friends to expedite the move. He closed his wrestling school in Canada, as well.
    
“It all worked out for the better, and I’m still here doing what I love for a living,” he said.
    
On television, Fritz plays a comedy character that often misinterprets the meaning behind things. Recently, after winning the Impact Wrestling television title, Fritz has sought out television stars to wrestle, like Scott Baio from classic sitcoms “Happy Days” and “Charles in Charge,” thinking that was the duty of the television champion. In reality, the television title is simply often defended on the wrestling television show.
    
“He lives in his own world,” Fritz said. “So that’s how I believe Eric Young would view the television title.”
    
To recruit Baio for the skit, “Wonder Years” star Jason Hervey, a frequent collaborator with Impact Wrestling’s Eric Bischoff, sent an Eric Young clip to Baio, who thought it was hilarious.
    
“Growing up watching ‘Charles in Charge’ or pretending to be sick and watching ‘Happy Days’ all day, it was a really cool opportunity for me,” Fritz said.
    
Fritz recognizes that, as a comedy character, he is sometimes pigeonholed in the role.
    
“That’s with anything,” Fritz said. “Will Ferrell is always going to be known as the curly haired funny guy.”
    
However, he thinks comedy is an essential part of professional wrestling, whether people want to admit it or not.
    
“I love doing it,” Fritz said. “It’s a skill that not everybody has, especially in wrestling. It’s a lot easier to play the mean guy or the good guy.”
    
Impact Wrestling will tape two episodes of its television show on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Knoxville Coliseum. Tickets start at $15 at the door or at http://www.knoxvilletickets.com.
    
Fritz called the wrestling crowd in Knoxville knowledgeable and respectful and said the Impact Wrestling taping would prove enjoyable for everyone attending.
    
“It’ll basically be a three-hour party for everybody involved, including us,” Fritz said.