Dartanyon Ruffin is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time inWWE where he performed under thering nameLeon Ruff, and was a one-timeNXT North American Champion.[1]
Ruffin adopted his ring name "Leon Ruff" to honor his grandfather Leon Ruffin.[5] Ruff made his debut atEvolve 106 on June 23, 2018, teaming with Tommy Maserati in a losing effort against Adrian Alanis and Liam Gray.[6] AtEvolve 131 on July 13, 2019, Ruff andA. R. Fox defeated The UnWanted (Eddie Kingston andJoe Gacy) to win theEvolve Tag Team Championship.[7][8] AtEvolve 142 on December 7, Ruff and Fox lost the titles to The Besties in the World (Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett), ending their reign at 147 days.[9]
On October 7, 2020, Ruff signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to theWWE Performance Center.[3][16][17] On the November 11 episode ofNXT, Ruff defeatedJohnny Gargano to win theNXT North American Championship after he was chosen as Gargano's opponent by a roulette-style spinning wheel.[18][19] The following week onNXT, Ruff retained the championship against Gargano viadisqualification whenDamian Priest, Gargano's rival, intentionally punched Ruff.[20][21] AtNXT TakeOver: WarGames, Ruff lost the title back to Gargano in a triple threat match also involving Priest, ending Ruff's reign at 25 days.[22] On the December 30 episode ofNXT, Ruff faced Gargano in a rematch for the title but was defeated.
Leon Ruff would begin teaming withKushida and both men would enter the2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. In the first round, Ruff and Kushida would defeat The Way (Johnny Gargano andAustin Theory) on the January 20 episode ofNXT.[23] On the January 27 episode ofNXT, Ruff and Kushida would lose toThe Grizzled Young Veterans in the quarterfinals.[24] On the February 17 episode ofNXT, Ruff would begin feuding withIsaiah "Swerve" Scott after Ruff defeated him in a match but was attacked by Scott afterwards.[25] On the February 24 episode ofNXT, Ruff was attacked by Scott before his match withTyler Rust. On the March 31 episode ofNXT, Ruff would qualify for the gauntlet eliminator on night 1 ofNXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver.[26] At the event, Ruff was the first man eliminated in the match by Scott. On the April 13 episode ofNXT, Ruff would be defeated by Scott in a one on one match and backstage after the match, Ruff would attack Scott. The two fought once more on the May 4 episode ofNXT with Ruff being defeated by Scott in a Falls Count Anywhere match due to interference fromTop Dolla. On the May 11 episode ofNXT, Ruff would be defeated byPete Dunne despite attacking Dunne before the match had begun. On August 6, Ruff was released from his WWE contract. His final match took place the same night with a win overGrayson Waller on205 Live.[27]
On the May 1, 2022 taping ofAEW Dark, Ruff made his debut forAll Elite Wrestling facingTony Nese in a losing effort. He made his televised debut on the June 17 episode ofAEW Rampage, teaming with Bear Country in a losing effort against The Gunn Club andMax Caster. He made a further appearance on the July 6 episode ofAEW Dynamite teaming again with Bear Country andFuego Del Sol in a losing effort to The Gunn Club, Caster, andAnthony Bowens.
Ruffin is currently married to WWErefereeAja Smith. They became engaged on November 30th, 2020 and married on September 4th, 2022.[28][29][30]They have a dog named Juni.[31]
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