In a video on his YouTube channel, Michael Elgin opened up on a number of topics including his own body image issues, suicidal thoughts in the past, and where he currently stands with IMPACT Wrestling after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Elgin says that his work ethic in the gym stems from body dysmorphia. He says he was 12 when weight issues began affecting him, saying that he used to listen to music and cry for hours because he didn’t get attention. His family found a journal of his when he was 13, which mentioned suicidal thoughts, and that led to him opening up about his issues. Elgin underwent the Atkins diet and hitting the gym, which has helped him a lot. However, he still deals with these issues today, citing that nagging injuries suffered during his New Japan Pro-Wrestling run in 2018 has caused him to not be as lean as he used to be.
“The time off that’s been forced has been good [for my health],” Elgin admitted on his YouTube channel. “But it’s hard. I’ve tried to go about all this the right way. I don’t want to attack people because what has happened in society, not just wrestling, is very just. People who use power or their position to take advantage of others, I’ve never agreed with. But I do agree with working hard to get where you are. I agree that we should put our best effort forward in the gym and the wrestling ring to advance our careers. But that’s on us, that shouldn’t be on anyone else. Nobody should hold that above you.
“As a wrestling trainer, training males and females alike from ages 16 and up, I could never ever hold that above anybody. If you talk to any of my students they would agree. I would never ever try to use my power as someone in the [public] eye to take advantage of that because wrestling should be a sanctuary for male, female, black, white, Asian, straight, gay, trans. It should be a safe place and it is. And we try to make sure.
“With that, I sent IMPACT all my info of what accusations were made and I have sent it to an attorney. If things can’t get sorted, I don’t want to have to post these online because we’ve seen it. Somebody posts something online and followers of me will attack people, then followers of those people attack back and it’s a total shit storm we don’t need to go with. I don’t want the headache for anybody else.
“Like I said, I’ve dealt with strong emotions. I’ve dealt with not knowing if I wanted to live or not. I don’t want anybody to ever go through that.”
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