After jumping ship from Impact Wrestling to WWE in order to work under his former NXT booker, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Eric Young made waves in July by quietly exiting the promotion without making a single television appearance before making his triumphant return to the Impact Zone as Scott D'Amore's surprise Team Canada tag team partner at Slammiversary against Bully Ray and his former Violent by Design faction-mate Deaner.

Stopping by Bully Ray's other employer, Busted Open Radio, to discuss his in-ring return to Impact after a confusing return to WWE, Young explained that, after signing up to wrestle for The Fed when its former chairman was retired, he simply couldn't morally work for the same company as Vince McMahon.

“There are lots of issues,” Eric Young said via Fightful. “It's a difficult place to work, and anyone who has worked there, knows that. For me, when I signed up at the end of October, early November, I signed up to play on one team, and when it came time to go to work, I was going to be playing on a different team. Personally, professionally, and more importantly for me, morally, I can't take instructions from a person like that, I refuse. I'm in a very blessed position where I get to choose, and I chose not to work there. Everyone has their own lives and own stories. I was going back and forth with a couple of guys that are very well-respected there, and they were saying, ‘Thank you for leading.' I'm not doing it to be a leader or set an example. I'm doing it because it's right for me. It's amazing that I get to make that choice because a lot of guys won't ever get that choice. I get to choose and choose not to work for that particular person. I'm sure everyone is following along.”

Did Young cost himself a good chunk of change by saying goodbye to WWE? Most definitely; WWE is still the biggest game in town, and even an NXT contract is likely a good bit more lucrative than what D'Amore offered up. Still, some things are more valuable than money, and it appears Young would rather wrestle consistently, mix it up with his friends, and not work for someone he doesn't over compromising his integrity. Based on his reaction at Slammiversary, it would appear he made the right choice.

Despite how it ended, Eric Young doesn't regret leaving Impact for WWE.

So, after leaving the Impact Zone for WWE only to return a few months later without wrestling a single match – he was also killed off on-screen in Impact, which is a wild thing the promotion sometimes does, as Luchasaurus will attest – one would assume that Eric Young probably regretted his decision to leave the promotion he loved in favor of an ultimately failed opportunity, right?

Discussing this very question with Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Young noted that he doesn't regret his decision to leave, even if he would have loved to stay if the offers were equal.

“No, I can say that I don't really regret anything that I've done. I'm a very experiential person. At the time, even Scott would say, I would be a fool to not go,” Young said via Fightful. “That's just the reality of the business side of it. The truth is, anybody close to me, my wife and guys on the Impact roster who are some of my best friends in the world, I said it, and I said it to Scott, I don't want to leave. There was part of me that was really not wanting to. I've never had that where I felt this weird regret of leaving. I felt we were doing something very special. I think Impact, for people that love pro wrestling, is a special place to work. You can ask anyone on the roster and they'd tell you the same thing to varying degrees. To me, it's the best minute-to-minute pro wrestling show in the world. That's biased because I work there, but I would have told you that at any point. It's written for pro wrestling fans, by pro wrestlers. Regret, no, but I didn't want to leave. Business-wise, it made sense for me. I can't do this forever, and I'm hoping to now work when I'm 55. ”

Was it awkward for Young to come back to life and wrestle once more in the Impact Zone? Eh, maybe a little bit, but do you know what? By spurning WWE for Impact over his distaste for Mr. McMahon, Young made himself into one of the Impact Zone's biggest babyfaces, which wouldn't have been possible if he stayed in the promotion with Deaner, Alan Angels, and company.