Eric Young Explains Why He Chose to Leave WWE

Eric Young quietly signed a new contract with WWE in November 2022, returning to the company after being released back in 2020 and spending the intermediate years in Impact Wrestling. However, Young would never wrestle a match nor appear on TV before requesting his release in April and officially returning to Impact this past weekend at the Slammiversary pay-per-view. Fightful Select would later report that Young requested his release over moral issues with working alongside Vince McMahon, who was reinstated as WWE’s executive chairman in January and has been involved in WWE’s booking since the merger with UFC was announced in April. 

Young spoke with PWInsider this week and explained his thought process behind leaving WWE (h/t Fightful)— “I signed up for one thing and it turned into something completely different. Personally, professionally, and more importantly for me, morally, I just couldn’t work there anymore. If you’re a wrestling fan and you know what’s going on, it was not a super difficult choice for me, to be honest. It was a dream come true, going back, 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 have had to answer to somebody that I’m just not willing to do. 

“That’s where we ended up now. I’m not mad or bitter about it, just like I wasn’t last time,” he added. “Obviously, it’s a massive mistake on one person’s part, but a huge gain for IMPACT Wrestling. I’m still very good at this and it’s something I’m very passionate about and something that I work myself to the bone to make the best possible outcome of each thing I’m in.”

WWE’s Plans for Eric Young

Fightful also reported this week that WWE was planning on a new faction for Bray Wyatt earlier this year that involved Bo Dallas, Eric Young and Alexa Bliss. Wyatt and Dallas have been off WWE TV since February, Young was granted his release in April and Bliss announced her pregnancy in May.

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card & Rumored Matches

• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar 
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul (Yet to Be Confirmed)
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre (Rumored)
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair (Rumored)
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA (Rumored)