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Many top WWE Superstars started as enhancement talents or competed in one-off matches before signing a full contract with the company. Leon Ruff is one of those Superstars who first appeared in a match against Aleister Black on RAW, and was offered a full-time contract by the company later on.
In an interview with Fightful, Leon Ruff opened up about how his match against Black was supposed to be a one-off thing.
"It's been a crazy rollercoaster. The Aleister [Black] match was supposed to be a one-off thing and then to find out I get brought back to wrestle him on Raw was really cool. Three years earlier, I paid for close to front row seats to Raw. To go from there to being in the ring was a really special moment because my mom and dad got to see me wrestle on TV."
Not only has Ruff managed to compete on all three brands of WWE, but he shocked everyone by winning the NXT North American Championship. During the November 11, 2020 episode of NXT, Ruff took down Johnny Gargano with a crucifix pin to score the biggest victory of his career.
Let's look at the five things fans need to know about the young Superstar.
#5 Leon Ruff won his first WWE match to become the NXT North American Champion
Leon Ruff’s first match came against Aleister Black on an episode of WWE Main Event, following which he competed against The Dutch Destroyer on an episode of RAW in March.
A month later, Ruff appeared on SmackDown to take a Brogue Kick from Sheamus in another losing effort. Since then, Ruff lost several televised matches against top Superstars, including Tommaso Ciampa, Karrion Kross, Austin Theory, and Bronson Reed.
Ruff got his big break when Johnny Gargano’s wheel picked him as the first challenger for The Rebel Heart’s NXT North American Championship. Ruff managed to defeat the NXT North American Champion without much help from anyone else.
Ruff’s victory against Gargano was his first win of his WWE career. Not many WWE Superstars have been able to win a title so early in their career, let alone win a major title to mark their first victory in the company.
#4 Leon Ruff has already competed against several top wrestlers in the industry
2020 has been an incredible year for Leon Ruff. After he competed in his first match in WWE against Aleister Black, he went on to sign a contract as a full-time Superstar.
While Ruff has just made his way to NXT where he’s competed against some of the company’s biggest Superstars, he has also competed again some other major wrestlers in other promotions.
Before joining WWE, Ruff competed in a Triple Threat match against Curt Stallion and Orange Cassidy in January 2019. Cassidy is now signed to WWE’s rival promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Ruff has also competed against current SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The Street Profits, during his time in EVOLVE Wrestling, and taken on Matt Riddle during a tag team match in the promotion.
Since Leon Ruff has already picked up a lot of experience so early in his career, WWE may have decided to give the young Superstar a chance to make it big, starting with an NXT North American Championship reign.
#3 Leon Ruff is a former EVOLVE Tag Team Champion
EVOLVE Wrestling has had a strong partnership with WWE for several years now. They formed a relationship with WWE in 2015 that allowed the latter to scout EVOLVE talent and sign them, and in July, WWE officially purchased the promotion. Leon Ruff is one of the Superstars who competed on EVOLVE before signing with WWE.
Ruff made his EVOLVE Wrestling debut in June of 2018 at EVOLVE 106 in New York City. While Ruff may have just earned his first title reign in NXT, the young Superstar has some experience wearing a title around his waist. In July 2019, Ruff and A. R. Fox defeated Eddie Kingston and Joe Gacy to become the EVOLVE Tag Team Champions.
The two men held the Championships until December 2019, following which they were defeated by Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett.
Another interesting thing to note is that A. R. Fox is Leon Ruff’s mentor and trainer. Fox is famous for his time in Combat Zone Wrestling and Dragon Gate and is currently performing in EVOLVE.
#2 Leon Ruff has been compared to a young Jeff Hardy
It’s one thing to idolize a WWE legend and get into the business to follow in their footsteps. However, it’s a completely different thing when fans compare you to a WWE legend who has made a huge name for himself in the industry. While Leon Ruff is very new to the WWE Universe, he has already been compared to a future WWE Hall of Famer.
According to Fightful, a wrestler on the WWE main roster has already compared the young Leon Ruff to none other than Jeff Hardy.
“‘One wrestler on the WWE main roster compared Ruff to an early Jeff Hardy as a name that everyone wanted to work with, even if it was an enhancement match, because of the lengths he went to in order to make people look good,’” wrote Ross Sapp and DeFelice.
Hardy is a three-time WWE World Champion and a multi-time Tag Team Champion in the company. Just like Ruff, Hardy too won a major title within the first year of his debut.
Will this lead to an iconic career for the young Ruff too?
#1 Leon Ruff is in a relationship with WWE referee Aja Smith
Jessika Carr led the way for female referees in WWE after she became the first-ever full-time female referee in the company. Aja Smith has followed in her footsteps and made a notable impact as she became the first-ever African-American female referee in the company. Another interesting thing to note about Smith is the fact that she is in a relationship with Leon Ruff.
Smith signed with WWE sometime in February 2020 and has officiated matches over the past few months. Smith also had the honor of being the referee in Karrion Kross’ debut match. However, the match was more dear to her as Kross’ opponent was none-other-than her boyfriend, Ruff. She tweeted about officiating that match and was proud of her partner:
"If you would have told me a year ago I’d be a referee, let alone referee my boyfriend’s match on TV, I woulda neverrrr believed it! Life is so cool. @LeonRuffsxe you’re always a winner to me. #NXT'
Leon Ruff could potentially be a big star in WWE, as could his partner Aja Smith.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
