 Rosser in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick Douglas Rosser III (1983-11-02)November 2, 1983 (age 42)[6] |
| Alma mater | Fairleigh Dickinson University |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Darren Young[1] Fred Rosser[1] Fred Sampson[1] Fred Sanford[1] Frederick of Hollywood[2] Officer Sampson[2] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 239 lb (108 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Miami,Florida[3] |
| Trained by | Kevin Knight[1] Florida Championship Wrestling[1] |
| Debut | September 11, 2002[4][5] |
Frederick Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an Americanprofessional wrestler andtrainer. He is signed toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where primarily performs on theStrong brand. He is also a trainer at the NJPW Academy and a formerStrong Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time withWWE under thering nameDarren Young.
Prior to signing with WWE, Rosser competed in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions includingChaotic Wrestling,East Coast Wrestling Association, Independent Wrestling Federation and theNational Wrestling Alliance. Rosser signed with WWE'sdevelopmental territoryFlorida Championship Wrestling in 2009 and participated in the first season ofNXT in 2010. Later that year, he debuted on the main roster as part ofThe Nexus. In 2012, Young formedThe Prime Time Players withTitus O'Neil, with whom he is a one-timeWWE Tag Team Champion. Rosser was the first openly gay wrestler to compete in WWE.
Rosser was born inUnion and was interested in becoming a professional wrestler as a teenager, wrestling in severalbackyard wrestling federations. He attendedUnion High School inNew Jersey, where he playedAmerican football, both offensively and defensively.[7] He attendedFairleigh Dickinson University, where he played football for a year before deciding to focus on his academic studies and professional wrestling.[7]
Rosser became interested in becoming a professional wrestler as a teenager, wrestling in severalbackyard wrestling federations. He researched a number of wrestling schools before deciding on Camp IWF inWest Paterson, New Jersey. This was due in part to his employer, whose uncle was a friend of a local wrestler training there at the time, and helped him enroll in the wrestling school.[8]
Rosser made his professional debut on September 11, 2002, and spent several years on the independent circuit, including wrestling for the Independent Wrestling Federation andChaotic Wrestling during his early career.[9] On May 17, 2003, he won his first major title when he defeated the IWF Heavyweight Champion in Woodland Park, New Jersey and held it for over half a year until losing to Roman on January 17, 2004. It was at a house show in Chaotic Wrestling that he was first noticed by promoter Jim Kettner and invited to compete for theEast Coast Wrestling Association where he made his debut in the summer of 2004.[10] Shortly after entering the promotion, Rosser began feuding withPrince Nana over theECWA Mid Atlantic Championship and eventually defeated him for the title[8] inNewark,Delaware on September 18, 2004. He lost the title to Nick Malakai less than two months later.
During 2005 and 2006, Rosser made several appearances for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its weekly programsSunday Night Heat andVelocity as well as indark matches onSmackDown andRaw.[11][12] In May 2009, Rosser signed a WWE developmental contract and was sent to WWE'sdevelopmental territory,Florida Championship Wrestling, under the nameDarren Young.[1][13] In FCW, Young was in a tag team called "The South Beach Party Boys" withPercy Watson.
On February 16, 2010, it was announced that he would compete as part of the first season ofWWE NXT, mentored byCM Punk.[14]
On February 23, 2010, Young made his debut onNXT with a character described as a "South Beach Party Boy", losing his debut match toDavid Otunga. His storyline had mentor CM Punk showing apathy towards him, claiming he had no idea why he's inNXT and did not want to train Young unless he accepted his Straight-edge lifestyle.[15] Despite this, Punk and his disciples,Luke Gallows andSerena, helped Young win his rematch against Otunga the following week.[16] Young was ranked eight in the first Pros' Poll. After the pros' poll, Young decided to joinStraight Edge Society in an attempt to improve, only to change his mind before getting his hair shaved off. CM Punk decided to forgive him for standing up to him when he defeated Luke Gallows with Young's own hair on the line. Because of this victory, CM Punk had then been interested in Young's potential, but in turn started feuding with a jealous Luke Gallows. On May 11 in the second Pros poll, Young was ranked fifth out of the six remaining contestants and narrowly escaped elimination.[17] The following week, however, Young was eliminated from the competition.[18]
The week following the Season 1 finale, Young, along with the other season oneNXT rookies turnedheel and interfered in the main event match onRaw betweenJohn Cena and Young's former Pro, CM Punk, and attacked both wrestlers, the announce team and thering announcerJustin Roberts, and dismantled the ring area and surrounding equipment.[19] On the June 14, 2010, edition ofRaw, the rookies attacked general managerBret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts.[20] The following week onRaw,Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced that a new general manager had been hired, one that had signed all seven season one NXT rookies to contracts.[21] The following week, the group was namedThe Nexus.[22] On the July 5 episode ofRaw, The Nexus tried to attack John Cena as he confrontedWade Barrett during their "truce" with one another. The segment ended with The Nexus leaving without Young, when other Raw wrestlers arrived to aid Cena, and Young was assaulted by Cena to end the show. Due to Cena's actions, the new general manager booked Cena in a 7 on 1 handicap match against The Nexus scheduled for the following week.[23] Young did not participate due to injuries caused by Cena the previous week but The Nexus won the match.[24] He returned atMoney in the Bank with the rest of The Nexus, sporting a new haircut and costing Cena theWWE Championship againstSheamus. After the match, Cena attacked Young and fellow Nexus teammate,Michael Tarver.[25] The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in aseven-on-seven elimination tag team match atSummerSlam. Young was the first person to be eliminated from the match, when he submitted toDaniel Bryan in under a minute, and The Nexus lost the match.[26] On the next episode ofRaw the members of The Nexus fought in individual matches against members of the victorious Team WWE with the stipulation that losing a match would have them exiled from the group. Young chose to face John Cena, but failed to win and was exiled and attacked as a result.[27]
Young returned on the September 6 episode ofRaw, distracting Barrett and costing him a match againstRandy Orton thus turned Youngface.[28] On the October 4 episode ofRaw, Young participated in abattle royal to determine the number one contender to the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by The Nexus.[29] Young had his first singles match since leaving The Nexus on the October 7 episode ofSuperstars, losing toWilliam Regal.[30] Young had his first win in singles competition on the October 14 airing ofSuperstars defeatingPrimo.[31] Young teamed up with Tatsu in a losing effort againstThe Usos in mid November on two occasions. Young got his first victory of 2011 when he teamed withPrimo,Yoshi Tatsu andDavid Hart Smith to defeatZack Ryder, William Regal and The Usos on the January 13 episode ofSuperstars.[32]
In March 2011, Young was selected as one of six formerNXT contestants to return to the show in its fifth season,NXT Redemption[broken anchor]. During this season, Young was mentored byChavo Guerrero Jr. In the season premiere, Young defeated Jacob Novak and won the first challenge to earn himself "redemption points".[33] On the April 12 episode ofNXT, Young attackedTitus O'Neil after their match and tried to attack O'Neil's pro Hornswoggle, but was stopped by Guerrero.[34] He turned heel, when he attackedHornswoggle, and later he and Guerrero faced O'Neil and different tag team partners on several occasions. On the April 19 edition of Redemption, Young faced Hornswoggle in single match. During their match, Chavo Guerrero gave Young a blindfold but in the end Hornswoggle won after a Tadpole splash. On the May 3 edition of Redemption, Young lost to his Pro, Chavo Guerrero, with Hornswoggle as a special guest referee. On the May 10 edition of Redemption, Hornswoggle didn't appear on NXT and accused by Hornswoggle Rookie's Titus O'Neil. The following week, it was revealed Chavo Guerrero kidnapped Hornswoggle and hid Hornswoggle in the box. Then, Guerrero and Young was attack Hornswoggle in the ring until O'Neil made a save. The feud was settled when Titus O'Neil and Darren Young faced each other in a No Disqualitication Match on the May 24 episode of NXT Redemption. The match ended with Titus O'Neil a victor after Hornswoggle interfered in a match which O'Neil attack Guerrero and Young. Guerrero was later released from WWE, leaving Young on his own. In August he formed an alliance withDerrick Bateman and the duo teamed up against O'Neil andNXT hostMatt Striker, but were defeated.[35] Young then moved into a feud with Striker, defeating him on two consecutive occasions.[36][37] After Young attacked Striker following a handshake, William Regal intervened, saving Striker.[38] Two weeks later, Young was defeated by Regal in a singles match. Young then formed an alliance withJTG and defeated Striker and O'Neil. After the match they were attacked by the Usos.[39]
Young was suspended for 30 days on October 5, 2011.[40] Following his suspension, Young returned on the November 16, 2011, episode ofNXT and assaulted Titus O'Neil.[41] Young was then able to get the better of O'Neil twice in tag team matches.[42][43] The conclusion to Young's feud with O'Neil came when O'Neil defeated Young in a no disqualifications match.[44]
O'Neil then turned heel and formed an alliance with Young. Young and O'Neil feuded with Percy Watson andAlex Riley in February 2012, defeating them twice.[45][46] In March, while he and O'Neil were feuding with the Usos, Young started chasing the affections ofTamina.[47]
On the April 18 episode ofNXT, Young and O'Neil were signed byJohn Laurinaitis to theSmackDown brand.[48] The team made their debut for the brand on the April 20 episode ofSmackDown with a victory over the Usos. The team suffered their first team loss against theWWE Tag Team ChampionsKofi Kingston andR-Truth on the May 18 edition of Smackdown.[49][50] At theNo Way Out pay-per-view in June, minutes before Young and O'Neil teamed up to defeatJustin Gabriel andTyson Kidd,Primo & Epico and the Usos in a four-way #1 tag team match to earn a future shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship, afterA.W. turned on his clients, Epico and Primo.[51] On the July 16 episode ofRaw, Young and O'Neil unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Championship.[52] On the August 10 episode ofSmackDown, they defeated Primo and Epico in a #1 contenders match via disqualification when A.W. provoked Kingston and R-Truth, who were on commentary, into interfering in the match.[53] That same day, A. W. was released from his contract.[54]
Prime Time Players received their title shots atSummerSlam, but were again defeated by Kingston and R-Truth.[55] On the September 7 edition ofSmackdown, Prime Time Players defeated Primo and Epico and The Usos in a triple threat tag team match to earn another shot at the title.[56] But onRaw three days later, Prime Time Players lost their title shot to the team of Daniel Bryan andKane (soon to be known asTeam Hell No).[57] At theSurvivor Series pay-per-view, Young took part in a10 man elimination tag team match, but was eliminated byRey Mysterio.[58] Young also competed in the2013 Royal Rumble entering at entrant 15, but was quickly eliminated by Kofi Kingston. On the August 19, 2013, edition ofRaw, the Prime Time Players turned face in a winning effort against the Real Americans (Jack Swagger andAntonio Cesaro).
The face turn had been speculated about for some months, especially after Young'sreal-lifecoming out the previous week which receivedmainstream media coverage.[59] The team gained a push, challenging for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but lost a match tothe Shield. The duo also sided with other face wrestlers from the active roster, only to get punished by COOTriple H for preventing Daniel Bryan from being critically injured by Randy Orton. The Prime Time Players were amongst the select few ordered to battle The Shield in separately sanctioned 3 on 1 handicap matches on the September 20 edition ofSmackDown, as punishment for their intervention.
On the January 31, 2014, episode ofSmackDown after Young was pinned in a tag team match against RybAxel (Ryback andCurtis Axel), O'Neil attacked him and disbanded the team. OnSmackDown the following week, Young attacked O'Neil backstage after his interview.[60] Young picked up a victory overDamien Sandow on the February 14 edition ofSmackDown before being attacked by O'Neil, which turned into a brawl and left O'Neil in tattered clothes. They fought at theElimination Chamber, with the victor being O'Neil. However, Young defeated O'Neil in a rematch onMain Event. AtWrestleMania XXX, Young was in theAndré the GiantMemorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by 3MB. At a WWE live event on April 12, Young was injured in a match againstFandango, and on April 16, he underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee that would take him out of action for four to six months.
On the January 5, 2015, episode ofRaw, Young appeared with the rest of the WWE roster in the opening segment. His official return came on the February 16 episode ofRaw, where Young and an unnamed independent wrestler,Kevin Kross, were scheduled to faceThe Ascension, but were attacked by them before the match, leading to Young's former tag team partner Titus O'Neil making the save.[61] This turned O'Neil face again and the Prime Time Players reunited. On the February 23 edition ofRaw, The Prime Time Players defeated The Ascension to hand them their first loss as part of the main roster, only to then being attacked by the two. Young participated in the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal atWrestleMania 31, where he was eliminated by Ryback.[62]
AtElimination Chamber, The Prime Time Players participated in the first ever tag teamElimination Chamber match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, where they were the last team to be eliminated byThe New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston andXavier Woods).[63] AtMoney in the Bank, the Prime Time Players defeated The New Day to win the title.[64] AtBattleground, The Prime Time Players retained the title against The New Day butdropped the title back to The New Day on August 23 atSummerSlam in afatal–four-way match, also involvingThe Lucha Dragons andLos Matadores. Young and O'Neil would invoke their rematch clause for the September 14 episode ofRaw, which they lost.
Towards the end of 2015, O'Neil and Young began focusing on singles careers. Young teamed with Damien Sandow on theRoyal Rumble 2016 Kickoff Show in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match in a losing effort. On the February 2, 2016, taping ofMain Event, the duo returned to team with The Usos to defeat the Ascension,Stardust andTyler Breeze.[65] They have since quietly disbanded when O'Neil received a 60-day suspension after the February 8 episode ofRaw after an alleged physical altercation with Vince McMahon. AtWrestleMania 32, Young entered the third André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and came within the final three, being eliminated by Kane.
On the May 5 episode ofSmackDown,Bob Backlund agreed to be Young's life coach, in a campaign to "Make Darren Young Great Again", a parody ofDonald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.[66] Throughout the next couple of months onRaw andSmackDown, various vignettes featuring Young and Backlund aired, with Backlund assuming the role of Young'slife coach. In a "life lesson" segment on the July 4 episode ofRaw, Backlund approved of Young adopting his famousCrossface chickenwing.[67] The week after onRaw, Young won an 18-man battle royal (afterApollo Crews andBaron Corbin eliminated themselves) to become the #1 contender forThe Miz'sIntercontinental Championship atBattleground. The following week onRaw, Young defeatedAlberto Del Rio, despite interference from The Miz. On July 19, Young with Backlund was drafted to the Raw brand as a result of the2016 WWE draft. At Battleground, Young faced The Miz in a match that resulted in a Double Disqualifaction after he applied the Crossface Chickenwing to Miz outside the ring to protect Backlund from Miz andMaryse.[68]
Young began a feud with his former tag team partner Titus O'Neil on the August 1 episode ofRaw. O'Neil questioned Young's motives on being "great again". Later that night, he defeated Young when he pinned him while grabbing Young's tights. Afterwards, he got into a backstage altercation with Backlund before Young came to the defense of Backlund by attacking O'Neil.[69] The week after onRaw, Young defeated O'Neil by pinning him while grabbing O'Neil's tights, mimicking the way O'Neil defeated him.[70] On the August 15 episode ofRaw, Young and O'Neil seemingly reconciled and were placed in a match againstThe Shining Stars. During the match, O'Neil attacked Young with aClash of the Titus, allowing The Shining Stars to win the match.[71] Young would once again defeat O'Neil on the August 29 episode ofRaw. After the match, he was attacked by O'Neil.[72] Young teamed withNeville to defeat O'Neil andCurtis Axel on the September 16 episode ofSuperstars to culminate the feud.[73]
In January 2017, Young suffered an arm injury in a match againstEpico onMain Event.[74] On October 29, 2017, Young was released from his WWE contract without him reappearing on television.[75]
On March 2, 2018, it was announced that Rosser, along with former Nexus co-membersMichael Tarver andJustin Gabriel would be competing at that year's Chikara:King of Trios tournament.
On August 27, 2020, it was announced that Rosser had signed withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling and would make his debut on the September 4 episode ofStrong.[76][77] In his first match, Rosser teamed up withAlex Zayne to face The DKC and Clark Connors, which Rosser and Zayne won.[78] On October 24, Rosser faced Clark Connors in Connors' first match since winning the Lions Break Crown; Rosser won the match.[79] In June, it was announced Rosser signed a contract with NJPW and would become a trainer at the NJPW Academy.[80][81]
On March 23, 2021, Rosser made hisNational Wrestling Alliance debut, defeatingMarshe Rockett andMatt Cross to become the Number One Contender for theNWA World Television Championship. He failed to defeatDa Pope who dropped the title toTyrus in June 2021.
Young appears in the video gamesWWE 2K14,[82]WWE 2K15,[83][84]WWE 2K16,[85]WWE 2K17,[86] andWWE 2K18[87]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Total Divas | Himself | |
| 2013 | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Himself |
Rosser has citedShawn Michaels andRicky Steamboat as his favorite wrestlers.[13]
In an interview released on August 15, 2013, he publicly came out asgay.[88][89] WhilePat Patterson,Chris Kanyon, andOrlando Jordan (bisexual) came out after either leaving the company or retiring, Rosser is the first professional wrestler ever to publiclycome out while still signed to WWE.[90][91] WWE released a statement in support of Rosser for being open about his sexuality,[92] and various fellow wrestlerstweeted their support for him.[93]
On April 26, 2017, Rosser disclosed that his mother is a lesbian during his interview with Afterbuzz TV.[94]
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database