Eric Young: I couldn't work for WWE anymore personally, professionally or morally

Eric Young explained his decision to leave WWE in a newly released interview. 

Young re-signed with the company in November 2022 during Vince McMahon's brief "retirement." However, McMahon returned as the executive chairman in January and Young recently alluded to PWInsider that this led to him asking for his release. 

Young said:

I signed up for one thing and it turned into something completely different, and personally, professionally, and more importantly for me, morally, I just couldn’t work there anymore. If you’re a wrestling fan, you know what’s going on, and I know that you’re a smart guy, Mike (Johnson), and you’re well aware of what I’m saying and what’s going on. 

It was not a super difficult choice for me to be honest. I know it was a dream come true, going back, for sure. The contract was fantastic and all this other stuff and what I was poised to do on the TV show was excellent, but in the end, I would’ve had to answer to somebody that I’m just not willing to. That’s where we ended up now. Like I said earlier, I’m a believer in fate and everything happens for a reason, and I’m not mad about it. I’m not bitter about it, just like I wasn’t last time. Obviously, it’s a massive mistake on one person’s part, but a huge gain for wrestling.

According to a report from Fightful Select, Young was to be part of a new version of The Wyatt Family that would debut following WrestleMania 39. He would join Wyatt, Bo Dallas, and Alexa Bliss, who were also to be part of the act. Wyatt has been sidelined with an undisclosed illness since January, however. 

Young requested and was granted his WWE release in April. He then returned to Impact Wrestling at Slammiversary following the expiration of his 90-day no-compete clause. 

"WWE sources confirmed to Fightful that Young had cited moral, creative, and personal reasons as why he didn’t want to work with Vince McMahon," Fightful reported. 

Young continued to praise Impact Wrestling during the interview, calling it a "special place to work." 

I think IMPACT Wrestling (is) for people that love pro wrestling… it’s a very special place to work. You could ask almost anybody that’s on the roster and they’re gonna tell you the same thing to varying degrees. But, to me it’s the best minute-for-minute pro wrestling show in the world. That’s biased because I work there, but, I would’ve told you that at any point because it’s written for pro wrestling fans by pro wrestlers, so it’s minute-for-minute, the best one. I’m proud to be part of it, but (do I have) regrets? No, but I didn’t want to leave. That’s the truth. It was what it was business-wise. It totally made sense to me. I can’t do this forever and, uh, I’m hoping to not work when I’m 55.