Former WWE Superstar Fred Rosser wins the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship

The former Darren Young has captured NJPW gold.
The former Darren Young has captured NJPW gold.

Fred Rosser (formerly known as Darren Young) has found great success in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

WWE released Rosser from the company back in October 2017. While some releases mean the end of wrestlers' careers, Rosser made sure that wouldn't be the case.

The former Darren Young signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2020 and has risen the ranks to become one of the top performers on New Japan Strong. His hard work recently paid off on the latest episode of NJPW Strong in Philadelphia. He captured the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship from "Filthy" Tom Lawlor in a title vs. career match.

Rosser is only the second person in New Japan Pro-Wrestling history to hold the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship.


Fred Rosser has had great success in professional wrestling outside of WWE

Fred Rosser has competed for both the National Wrestling Alliance and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The latter would be where Rosser calls home.

The NJPW Strong Openweight Championship is Rosser's first piece of gold in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. However, he has had a long line of highly-praised matches in the company against the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Clark Connors, and All Elite Wrestling's Daniel Garcia.

Earlier this month, Rosser was able to team up with New Japan legend Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kevin Knight in a six-man tag match. They faced off against IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White and The Bullet Club. Matches like this will continue to help solidify Rosser as one of the most important names in the NJPW Strong brand.

Once some wrestlers have been released from WWE, they embrace it as a challenge to prove their former employer wrong. Fred Rosser is a prime example of someone who has proved all of his doubters wrong and has become one of the big players outside of WWE.

One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE