Silas Young Talks His Beginning To Becoming The Last Real Man In ROH

Silas Young signed with Ring of Honor back in 2013 and has taken the world by storm ever since. He has won the Ring of Honor Television Championship twice, most recently in 2018. He has had a storied career and is only continuing to grow.

The Beginning of Silas Young

It all started when Silas was about 19 to 20 years old. “I had a buddy who trained to be a wrestler, and at that time in my life I didn’t have any direction,” says Young. “I went to his first match and thought maybe this is something I could do with my life. As I kept doing it, I decided to just go all-in on it.”

Silas Young was a fan of professional wrestling from a very young age. “My earliest memories had to do with watching wrestling,” says Young. “I enjoyed watching guys like Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, and just guys that seemed larger than life.”

When Silas first started training, the place he went to was in a garage. It also lacked a pretty major component, a wrestling ring. “They built this bumping platform similar to what it would be if it were done in a ring,” says Silas. “I got hurt after a few matches. As I was hurt, I started thinking and ended up going to a guy who had a different training system.”

Silas Young Signs To OVW

“That was a whole weird experience,” says Silas. “I did some extra work for WWE and got to do a few matches and a week tryout as well.” A few weeks later, Young got offered the job at WWE. After he went through the hiring process he recalls one day finding out online that WWE and OVW stopped working together.

“Getting right there and being so close to having a job was tough,” says Silas. “It was really cool getting to work with that system and learn from the guys who were on the road 200 plus days a year.” Overall, Silas did love it and is very thankful for the experience he got there.

Silas Young Signs with Ring Of Honor

“It was such a cool experience.” Prior to signing with ROH in 2013, Young worked with them prior earlier on in his career. “I got the opportunity to do the Top Prospect Tournament. I was toying around with doing the whole “Last Real Man” gimmick for a while. I knew going into ROH that a lot of the guys they had were incredible wrestlers. Work-rate alone wasn’t going to make me stand out, so I decided to run with the “Last Real Man” character.”

The inspiration behind the “Last Real Man” character was inspired by the world at the time and Silas’ father. “Around that time, terms like metrosexual started coming out, guys were wearing skinny jeans and getting pedicures. It was a throwback to men of yesteryear essentially. The idea behind it is men back then wouldn’t do what they are doing now.”

“The level of talent I worked with spanned over a very wide chart,” says Young on his matches in ROH. “It was a pleasure to work with true professionals in the wrestling world and I was able to learn so much from them. I enjoyed working with Dalton Castle a lot. Jay Lethal was probably my favorite guy I got to work with, our Last Man Standing match was incredible. Also, Kenny King, we traded the TV Title a bunch around but it was really fun and he’s a good friend of mine.”

One of the biggest matches in Silas Young’s career came at Final Battle in 2016. This is the night that Young took on the legendary Jyushin Thunder Liger. “That was such an awesome night. It was such a pleasure to take on Liger. I was a big fan of Liger growing up so finding out I got to share the ring with him is easily a top 10 for me.”

Young achieved a lot in Ring of Honor. He won his first television championship at Final Battle 2017 when he won a four-way elimination match with some of ROH’s best. “It was really cool,” says Young. “Sometimes you hear that belts are just a prop for your company, but to win a championship for a company that’s known worldwide made me really proud. It showed me the company believed in me. It told me I was doing the right thing.”

Silas Young also won Tag Wars with his close friend Beer City Bruiser. This was a really cool moment for Silas. “I’ve known him since my first day in wrestling. To be able to share that moment with someone you came up with was a really cool opportunity.”

Silas Young and Josh Woods History

Silas Young and Josh Woods have been both friends and foes on Ring of Honor. “It’s really fun getting to work with a guy like Josh,” says Silas. “The thing with Josh is he wasn’t doing a lot before our program. Seeing him and talking to him, I got the idea that we could do something fun together.”

“We worked together before,” says Young. “However, this match that is about to come upon Ring of Honor TV, is just so much more special. This is going to be our first legitimate match and I feel really good about it.”

What’s Next For Silas Young?

“The great thing about Ring of Honor is that every single person on that roster is great,” says Young. “I’m just looking to keep stepping up my game and to continue getting better. Obviously, I want some gold too. My goal for the rest of the year is to keep getting into the best shape I can which will lead to me having better matches. Hopefully, the hard work will turn into some title opportunities.”