Eric Young wasn’t alone in feeling uncomfortable with Vince McMahon’s return to power in WWE.
Vince McMahon announced he was retiring from WWE on July 22nd, 2022 following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. It was alleged that McMahon had a string of affairs and one former wrestler claimed he coerced her into giving him oral sex. This was followed by claims that McMahon had paid the multiple women involved a total of well over $10 million to suppress the allegations.
In another instance that came to light after McMahon’s retirement, it was alleged that he assaulted a spa manager back in 2011. Meanwhile, in early 2022, McMahon reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with former referee Rita Chatterton who alleged she had been sexually assaulted by McMahon back in 1986.
Despite all of the above, Vince McMahon returned to WWE in January 2023 and forced his way back onto the Board of Directors. He was eventually named Executive Chairman and has since helped secure the sale of WWE to Endeavor and taken a greater role in the company’s on-screen product.
Former WWE Superstar Eric Young re-joined the company in late 2022 while McMahon was away but asked for his release in the months following his return. This was granted and Young made his way back to IMPACT Wrestling, re-debuting at Slammiversary.
It was later reported that Young left because he didn’t want to work with McMahon, something he has all but confirmed in a subsequent interview.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that Young wasn’t the only person to have moral issues with McMahon returning, however, no one else was willing to walk away from their job because of it.
“The illusion was it was Vince McMahon’s return to power that he had a moral issue with. There were others who had expressed to us misgivings over that, some serious, but none who were going to quit their jobs over it.”
What Did Eric Young Say About Vince McMahon?
Although Eric Young didn’t name Vince McMahon specifically while addressing his WWE exit in a new interview, he did little to hide that he didn’t want to work with the Executive Chairman.
“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.
WWE’s sale to Endeavour is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, and Vince McMahon continues to have the final say over WWE creative.