At the age of 22-years old, the Louisville, Kentucky native Myron Reed has found himself professionally and is currently the holder of the MLW World Middleweight Championship. The former “Hot Fire” has now donned the nickname “Young Goat” for all that he’s accomplished over the past year.
On November 9th at MLW’s ‘Blood & Thunder’ event, Myron Reed defeated Teddy Hart to capture the Middleweight title. Myron’s ‘Injustice’ stable-mates (Jordan Oliver & Kotto Brazil) were ringside for Myron’s victory and played a role in him becoming champion. Myron has been Glory Pro’s ‘Crown Of Glory’ Champion and an AAW Tag Team Champion but his title win in MLW is his first title win for a televised promotion. Reed knows how important it is to be in the position that he’s in and is aware that when a major promotion decides to put the title on someone, they see something in them. Reed also believes that the Middleweight title is for the up and coming talents and the MLW World Title is for the more established names. When I had the opportunity to chat with Myron, he shared his thoughts about becoming Middleweight Champion:
“Dude honestly, and in situations like that, if a big company puts the belt on you, that means they’re like, ‘Alright, we know that this guy is talented and we wanna see what he can bring to the future,’ because I feel like the Middleweight division is for the future guys. The world championship and all that stuff is for the established names. The Middleweight is for people trying to establish themselves and I feel like that Middleweight Championship and that win alone helped my clout so much that I just took that ball and kept running with it. So it’s a great thing. It’s them pretty much putting their stamp of approval on you. ‘Hey, this is my guy. This is my main guy.’”
With some assistance from Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil, Reed was able to defeat one of the aforementioned established veterans in Teddy Hart. After the referee’s hand hit the mat for the third time, the emotion came out of Myron but he had to quickly exit the ring as Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. of The Hart Foundation came to the ring and attempted to brawl with ‘Injustice’. Myron told POST Wrestling that Teddy Hart was not thrilled about dropping the Middleweight Title to him and said it was chaotic situation. Myron shared that he was told to immediately exit the ring after he won the belt because Teddy was described as a “loose cannonball” but Myron said he’s had prior experiences with Teddy Hart in the ring and those were positive.
A month after Hart lost the Middleweight Title to Reed, he was released from Major League Wrestling. Teddy has had several legal issues in 2020 that has resulted in him being held without bond until his next court date which is in April.
“Nah man, I’m gonna be real with you. Going into that match that day, when they knew your boy was winning, folks weren’t happy about that. Teddy wasn’t happy about that sh*t, like for real. He was hot. Dude didn’t want me to win. I knew what I was getting myself into. It was a chaotic situation. It was one of the most chaotic situations I’ve ever been in, especially at that time. You know how wrestling is. It was crazy because, they’re like, ‘As soon as you win the belt, get out of the ring. Get out of the ring. You gotta go. You gotta go. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. Teddy’s a loose cannonball’ but I’ve wrestled Teddy before. He ain’t crazy like that. He’s cool, and so, match happened, it was cool. He was doing some extra sh*t he wasn’t supposed to be doing and I was like, ‘It’s cool, I’m still gonna win,’ and then when it finally happened, that was really raw emotion because I’m thinking, ‘I might not get this W. This sh*t might break down and actually turn into some crazy sh*t.’ But everything went down as planned and I mean, it was just the most surreal moment because when I won, I’m looking in the crowd and what made me yell — I’m looking in the crowd and these folks in Orlando never really saw me [before], and so they’re like, ‘Who the f*ck is this kid?’ And they’re looking at me like, ‘How the f*ck did he just beat Teddy Hart?’ And when I saw that, that’s kinda when the whole ‘Young Goat’ thing started. I was like, ‘Yeah bro! I did it,’ and right after I screamed, I was just talking mad sh*t.”
Going back to the topic of Injustice, Myron Reed spoke about the formation of the group and how they came to be. Kotto Brazil, Jordan Oliver and himself are allowed to shape the group how they see fit. Myron stated that he has to commend MLW for letting the three of them be themselves on-screen and tell the story of Injustice through their own eyes. Myron also opened up about his growth in MLW. He said when he first got to the company, he was very hesitant about cutting promos in front of a camera and over the months and years, he’s become comfortable with it and Injustice has free range in that department to approach their promos how they see fit.
“I do have to commend MLW on that because they let us do our own thing. They put us together and they were like, ‘Do something,’ pretty much. Like, ‘Do something with this. What can you do?’ And when the group first started, we’re all talking together [and] we’re like, ‘We definitely can’t be just another three-man group that people just overlook’ and are like, ‘Oh it’s just a group.’ We gotta start cutting promos. Ain’t nobody else in the back going and chasing down producers talking about, ‘Can I film a promo?’ But we’re gonna be the guys to do that so, we’re definitely on top of our stuff regardless of what it is, and things have changed. I remember when I first started there, I didn’t wanna do a promo. They were like, ‘Pre-tapes, Myron.’ I was like, ‘F*ck!’ Like salty about it. Now they’re like, ‘Pre-tape.’ ‘Alright boys, let’s get this done.’”
It was on March 13th that Major League Wrestling held their joint-show with AAA in Tijuana, Mexico. The day prior to that show, PWInsider published a report that MLW told their talents that if they did not want to perform on the show because of Coronavirus concerns, they didn’t have to. The event still went on as scheduled. MLW also advised their office staff in New York to take off the Monday prior to the show.
Myron Reed confirmed the story and said that MLW officials informed the roster that they did not have to wrestle on that show if they didn’t want to. Reed, Jordan Oliver and Kotto Brazil decided to wrestle on the show anyway and they challenged El Hijo del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr. for the AAA World Trios Championships. Reed went on to explain his reasoning for continuing on with the show despite his Coronavirus concerns.
“Definitely. I’m gonna be real, they’re [MLW] awesome. They were literally telling us like, ‘We understand if you don’t wanna go out there’ but me being me, not only is that a paycheck but this is my dream. In high school, kids were going out, they were smoking and drinking and partying. I mean, I’m in the cut, filming f*cking backyard wrestling shows and sh*t. It works full circle bro. This is my dream. I’ve been wanting to do this all my life. I’m going to do this. If there’s a little virus, ah… I’m gonna hand sanitize, I’m gonna wash my ass and make sure I’m good, keep up with my hygiene and all that stuff and make sure I’m clean so that when I come back home, I ain’t spreading it or nothing. I just felt like it wasn’t as bad then either. But they definitely gave us the option not to do it if we didn’t want to.”
The Coronavirus has impacted/is impacting the entire world on a grand scale but specifically on the topic of professional wrestling, a countless number of wrestling shows around the globe have had to be cancelled or postponed due to the outbreak of the virus. One of the outlying affects was WWE having to move their yearly WrestleMania event from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. A plethora of independent shows and conventions alike scheduled events for WrestleMania weekend in Tampa and all of those events were either postponed or cancelled.
One of the shows during WrestleMania weekend that Myron was looking forward to was GCW’s ‘For The Culture’ show that was being presented by AJ Gray. The show was going to feature some of the best African-American independent wrestlers on the scene today. Reed was going to be involved in a six-pack match with Chris Bey, Christian Casanova, Zenshi, Jody Fleisch and Jason Cade. Reed shared his disappointment that the show is not taking place as of right now but he hopes it does come to fruition one day.
“I think I’ve wrestled all those guys one-on-one, like 80 percent of them, or I’ve been in the ring with them. So I know that all these guys can go, all these guys are dope as f*ck and we were gonna make history. But I’m sad about it but I’m hoping that they run that back.”
In December of 2019, MLW announced that Myron Reed inked a new deal with the organization. When asked why he decided to stay in MLW, Reed narrowed it down to the freedom he has. Also, Reed talked about how he’s in the beginning stages of his wrestling career and talked about the idea of him heading to a company such as WWE not being a good decision for him. He wants to stick around in MLW because they’ve helped him develop thus far and he can only imagine how they can help him grow as a performer over the next two years.
“Well I look at it like this: I’m still really, really young, early twenties. If I sign another two, three-year deal, I’m still gonna be younger than half the guys in WWE right now. I’m okay. I’m with a company that respects my vision, my creativity and they wanna see me succeed and they’re putting me on the platform front and center for people to see what I can do and who I am. If I went to WWE or anywhere else right now, who knows what I’d be doing right now. I don’t know, because when I first went to MLW, I wasn’t doing anything. I really wasn’t. I was just that [guy who] was having good matches but I mean, they pretty much helped me be better at promos and find myself, more confidence and sh*t like that so I wanna be with a company that’s helping me grow. If I’ve grown so much in a year, two years, then I can only imagine how much I’m gonna grow in two to three years being with the same company so, and money has to do with it,” Myron admitted.
I asked Myron about the success that he’s had early in his career. Being 22 and accomplishing what he has, Myron has not had the chance to sit back and think and reflect on what he’s done thus far in wrestling. He stated that he’s thankful for everything that has come his way but it can be hard to single something out and reflect on it when he has another big situation, match or opportunity right in front of him.
“Honestly, probably like a year ago, I would look back on it and just be like, ‘I’m thankful for this’ but now, stuff is moving so fast. I’m appreciating everything in the moment, but not as far as reflecting as much because I’m always focused on the next move. Like what can I do to make this even bigger than what it already is.”
Myron Reed is also a father to his one-year old son, Myloh. Reed went in-depth about how his son has changed him personally and professionally. Reed said that knowing he has the opportunity to make sure that his son doesn’t go through what he went through when he was younger drives him. With that in mind, Myron is on the road more than he’s ever been and also doesn’t take for granted that he and his significant other are two of the fortunate ones that are able to bring new life into the world.
“Man, my kid has definitely changed me tremendously. It’s the biggest blessing ever. When you go on the road and you work hard and you get this and that money-wise or exposure and you come back home and you get to look at your kid and you’re like, ‘Yo I did all that for you. I did it for me but I really did it for you. I wanna see you have a good life so I’m gonna bust my ass.’ I wanna see my kid grow up and not have to struggle or go through the sh*t that I went through when I was younger. So, I’m on the road, like times ten of what I’ve ever been working, and then as far as that experience, not everybody’s blessed to have that experience. Not everybody can have kids so that’s very big. That’s crucial. My son is awesome. I’m learning from him every day. I’m teaching him but I’m also learning.”
Myron has a booking tentatively scheduled in June for the ‘Ohio Wrestling Alliance’ promotion. He also revealed that there’s a date in May that he believes he’ll be wrestling for MLW on. While the wrestling scene is on hold, Reed has been working on a music album that he plans to release in June.
Myron Reed can be found on Twitter @TheBadReed and on Instagram @reeds.world. The links to the first interview with Myron Reed can be found on the Andrew Thompson Interviews YouTube channel and here on the site. The latest interview can he heard by way of the video below:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w49gPYZXsFI[/embedyt]
