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When WWE programming was deemed mundane, a bunch of superstars from WWE's developmental program, the NXT broke out and created a revolution like none other.
In what felt like a union strike, they invaded WWE's premier shows and took charge of proceedings, strongly indicating a change of guard. The faction was called 'The Nexus' and was led by Englishman Wade Barrett.
Even though the angle soon fizzled out, several members of the Nexus went on to create a career for themselves and one such individual we focus on today is Darren Young.
Young has been one of the more prominent WWE Superstars of the last decade. Although he has not officially been a part of WWE for the last few years, the impact that he left on the roster and on the wrestling business altogether has been quite significant.
During his time in the company, he was also the first-ever wrestler to come out as gay while working for WWE. The example he set for other wrestlers and the confidence he displayed by making such an announcement showcases only part of his importance in the wrestling world.
Young had an amazing time working for WWE as well, with the company accepting him for who he was. During his time with WWE, he held the Tag Team Championships with Titus O'Neil as part of the Prime Time Players.
Recently, Darren Young aka Fred Rosser launched his new podcast with Sportskeeda's Korey Gunz, The Rosser Rewind. In this article, we are going to take a look at several intriguing and interesting facts that Darren Young revealed about himself, Titus O'Neil, Vince McMahon, and WWE's backstage scene on the podcast. He tells stories about their relationship with Vince McMahon, the time Titus O'Neil was suspended, Titus almost getting fired, Steve Austin's reaction to Darren Young bringing his partner backstage and more!
Without any further ado, let's get into it!
#7 Darren Young was not happy during his NXT run
Darren Young was not comfortable at all during his NXT run. He was an NXT original and part of the wrestling roster when there were not regular matches and it was more like a reality show, with Superstars running obstacle courses. He said recently on The Rosser Rewind, that he felt that he did not have any talents and he could not do any of the things back then, and to him, the entire situation was a nightmare.
However, he said that if he could be in NXT now, he would like nothing better than that, saying that Nexus could reunite and return to NXT one more time.
"Well, you know, you kind of have to look at how the original Nexus was booked. I always talk about NXT. When NXT first started, I was an original. I started NXT when we were doing obstacle courses. I can’t juggle and can’t run with the barrel. I don’t have a special hidden talent. So the NXT of old, I mean, I was terrible at, and it took me that much longer for the fans to get behind me because of my original NXT experience. I wasn’t comfortable, I would have nightmares, I would literally have nightmares when those yellow ropes would be getting put on for TV. But now, when you look at NXT now, I wish I could have debuted like now, you know what I mean?
#6 Darren Young on Titus O'Neil and their relationship with Vince McMahon
Darren Young revealed on The Rosser Rewind that he is still friends with Titus O’Neil and he was close to him as they were almost like family, having spent so much time together. He said that even after leaving WWE, Titus would cheer him on and help push him through social media before some of his biggest matches.
Young said that Vince McMahon really liked him and Titus O’Neil. He said that the Chairman would see the Prime Time Players together having fun and laughing and being loud backstage. He would always see them together and that made him like them. While Titus was a loud guy, Young was quieter and shy. So when they were brought up in the roster after they were both done with development they were paired together.
John Laurinaitis finally handed them SmackDown contracts when both of them were free on the main roster and they became a tag team.
Darren Young said that he would never say a bad word about Vince McMahon because he always helped Young and gave him opportunities.
#5 Darren Young on supporting Titus O'Neil
Darren Young also revealed how Titus O’Neil got in a fight with a veteran wrestler named Lennox McEnroe while he was in FCW. O’Neil had been brought in from the world of football and in his early days, he was still feeling difficulties adjusting to life in a company like WWE. O’Neil got into a scuffle with McEnroe after the veteran was seen roughing someone in the developmental system.
Due to the fight, McEnroe would get fired as attention was brought on him due to the incident. Both O’Neil and McEnroe were suspended for a while before the final decision was taken. Thankfully, WWE kept Titus.
Darren Young was in there only a couple of months at the time and he was always the person who used to talk to and encourage Titus, as after the incident no one wanted to work with Titus.
"No one wanted to work with Titus. I was always the person who stayed after and the first one there to practice at FCW to work with Titus. I said, ‘hey Titus man, keep doing your thing, and the same people that are shi***** on you now and not helping you are going to be kissing your a** later and pretty sure they were."
#4 Darren Young on what he thought of Titus O'Neil being suspended
Darren Young talked about what happened with Titus O’Neil when he was suspended for a long time after grabbing Vince McMahon’s arm. He said that it was just unfortunate as it was the wrong day for something like that to happen. He said that Vince McMahon is a ‘great person’ and that Titus was also a ‘great guy’.
Titus was suspended for a long time, but since then things have obviously been patched up between the Chairman and the Superstar, with Titus often being the face of WWE's charitable work.
"It’s just unfortunate. You catch the boss on the wrong day. Stuff happens you know, but hey, life goes on. I wish it didn’t happen but when you’re in the moment and you do what you do, sometimes you have to, unfortunately, suffer the consequences. But you know, Titus is a great guy, and Vince McMahon is a great person. I have nothing bad to say about anyone, It’s just unfortunate that went down the way it went down. And there’s really nothing for me to say about it, it was shocking that it happened, but hey, life goes on."
Vince McMahon's outbursts of anger are a common sight in the WWE. Wrestlers have been suspended for trivial issues in the past and Titus too bore the brunt of the boss.
#3 Darren Young on how he dealt with his injury
Young talked about the fact that he was out for 10 months due to an ACL injury. During that time, he said that it was weird to go to be in that place. It was going from a place where he was healthy and wrestling to suddenly injured and not being able to move his leg.
He said that he needed to put in more work than just what he was told as he not only wanted to become healthy again but to become better than what he had been before the injury. He said that rehab was an important part of becoming healthy again. That was his only goal while he was hurt.
This was also the time when Titus O’Neil had turned heel on him and that this was the time that he was supposed to be having a singles run so it definitely hurt his run in WWE at the time.
“Getting healthy again was my main goal when I got hurt. Injuries come with the territory. It’s how you bounce back.”
#2 Darren Young played a slight role in Kofi Kingston being signed by WWE
Darren Young knew Kofi Kingston long before Kofi even came to WWE. They came up in the same area and he was doing shows for Chaotic Wrestling while Kofi Kingston was working in security.
What a lot of people may not know is that Kofi Kingston got signed off of his trial match with Darren Young. They had a trial match in Massachusetts and he got signed. So, in an indirect way, he was partially responsible for Kofi being signed by WWE.
Young would later be able to work with Kofi again in later years when Kofi was part of New Day. He also mentioned working with Big E and said that he fell in love with the fact that Big E was always working and he wanted to help him in any way possible.
"Kofi and I came up in the same area. I remember I was doing shows in Chaotic wrestling in Boston, Massachusetts area and Kofi was doing security. So I remember when Kofi started and a lot of people don’t’ know that he got signed off our trial match. Him and I had a trial match in Massachusetts area and Kofi had that boom boom going on and he ultimately got signed off of me and fast forward to him doing the New Day and me doing the Prime Time Players. Our paths met again so, to able to work with him and Xavier and Big E - who I remember he started in FCW and I fell in love with his size and his work and always wanted to help him as much as possible."
#1 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was kind to Darren Young's partner backstage
Darren Young was part of the first-ever Tag Team Elimination Chamber match that took place in WWE and due to that match, he was pointed out by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as being the 'MVP' of the bout.
Darren Young also said on The Rosser Rewind that his partner was an incredible fan of Stone Cold. The WWE legend was always nice to Young's partner when he brought him backstage as well.
"I got to tell you, man, that first-ever Tag Team Elimination Chamber match, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the OG himself, called me the MVP of that match. Also, as we speak, a couple of months ago, he had asked Mark Henry for my number, I guess to be on his show. That means a lot to me. And also, the third thing is that Steve was always nice to my partner that I'd bring backstage. My partner’s favourite wrestler out of all, he wasn’t a big wrestling fan, but he was Steve Austin. So he’s like a major deal to me and for him to say I was the MVP, of the first-ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, it meant a lot to me."
You can hear more stories from Darren Young right here!
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