| The Prime Time Players | |
|---|---|
 O'Neil (left) and Young (right) in 2015 | |
| Statistics | |
| Members | Darren Young Titus O'Neil A.W. (manager) |
| Name | The Prime Time Players |
| Billed heights | Young: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) O'Neil: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Combined billed weight | 509 lb (231 kg) |
| Hometown | Florida |
| Debut | January 25, 2012 |
| Disbanded | August 15, 2016 |
| Years active | 2012–2014 2015–2016 |
The Prime Time Players were an Americanprofessional wrestlingtag team performing in theWWE, composed ofDarren Young andTitus O'Neil. The two initially competed onWWE NXT, debuting as a team in January 2012 and were later promoted to the main roster in April of that year.
After disbanding and a brief feud in 2014, The Prime Times Players reunited in February 2015 and subsequently captured theWWE Tag Team Championship fromThe New Day, atMoney in the Bank before splitting once again in February 2016 and subsequently starting a feud between the two again.
Initially, O'Neil (who was then aface) and Young were rivals onWWE NXT during its fifth season, namedNXT Redemption. Early on, O'Neil was paired with then-friendPercy Watson against Young and his NXT pro,Chavo Guerrero. The feud was put on hold when Guerrero was released and Young was suspended. On the November 16, 2011, episode ofNXT, O'Neil was assaulted by a returning Young.[1] Young was then able to get the better of O'Neil twice in tag team matches.[2][3] The conclusion to O'Neil's feud with Young came when O'Neil defeated Young in a no disqualification match on the January 18 episode ofNXT. O'Neil thenturnedheel after the match, verbally ripping on the audience, his former proHornswoggle, and NXT itself.[4]
O'Neil urged Watson to also turn his back on the fans on the January 25, 2012, episode ofNXT Redemption. When Watson refused, O'Neil shoved him and a match between the two was booked, leading to O'Neil defeating Watson. O'Neil continued to attack Watson after the match, leading toAlex Riley saving Watson.[5] O'Neil then formed an alliance with former enemy Young, and the duo teamed up to defeat Watson and Riley on the February 1 and February 29 episodes ofNXT Redemption.[6][7] O'Neil also faced and defeated Riley on the February 22 episode.[8] On the March 7 episode, Watson received his rematch against O'Neil and defeated O'Neil.[9] O'Neil and Young then moved on to feud withThe Usos.[10]
On the April 18 episode ofNXT Redemption, it was announced that O'Neil and Young had been moved to the main roster. The team made their debut for theSmackDown brand on the April 20 episode ofSmackDown with a victory over The Usos.[11] They started on a winning streak defeating the likesEzekiel Jackson andYoshi Tatsu andSantino Marella andZack Ryder.[12][13] However, on the May 18 edition ofSmackDown, their winning streak ended when they were defeated by theTag Team ChampionsKofi Kingston andR-Truth.[14] On the June 1 edition ofSmackDown, O'Neil and Young named themselves the Prime Time Players. AtNo Way Out, they won a Fatal-four-Way tag team match to become the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship following assistance fromA. W. who had turned on his clients,Primo and Epico in favor of the Prime Time Players, prompting a feud between the two tag teams.[15] On the July 16 episode ofRaw, the Prime Time Players unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Championship.[16]
O'Neil and Young bounced back with two singles victories over Kingston and R-Truth.[17][18] On the August 10 episode ofSmackDown, they defeated Primo and Epico in a number one contenders match via disqualification when A. W. provoked Kofi and R-Truth (who were doing guest commentary) into interfering in the match.[19] That same day, A. W. was released from his contract.[20] On the August 13 edition ofRaw, it was announced that the Prime Time Players would receive their championship match atSummerSlam. That same night, after R-Truth defeatedHeath Slater, O'Neil and Young ambushed R-Truth and left him laying in the ring (Kingston was away on an international tour).[21] AtSummerSlam, O'Neil & Young were defeated by Kingston and R-Truth.[22] On the September 7 edition ofSmackDown, O'Neil and Young defeatedPrimo and Epico andThe Usos in a triple threat tag match to once again become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship. The following week ofRaw, they were defeated byDaniel BryanandKane, who became the new number one contenders. AtSurvivor Series, the Prime Time Players took part in a losing effort in aten-man elimination tag team match.[23]
In an interview released on August 15, 2013, Young revealed hishomosexual orientation inreal-life.[24] On the August 19 episode ofRaw, the Prime Time Players started to wrestle asfaces, due to management's and the fans' support for Darren Young coming out.[25] At the pre-show ofNight of Champions, the Prime Time Players won a "Tag Team Turmoil" match and thus a title shot by last eliminating the Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro andJack Swagger). Later that night, they lost to defending championsSeth Rollins andRoman Reigns ofthe Shield.[26] After their face turn they did several comedy segments backstage including selling merchandise and a hotdog eating contest.
On the January 31, 2014, episode ofSmackDown after Young was pinned in a tag team match againstRyback andCurtis Axel, O'Neil viciously attacked him after the match, turningheel and officially disbanding the team.[27] They would have a match atElimination Chamber, with O'Neil getting the victory. A rematch took place on the February 26 episode ofMain Event, which was won by Young. In April, Young underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee that would take him out of action for several months. Meanwhile, O'Neil formed a dysfunctional tag team withHeath Slater, known as Slater-Gator (a reference to O'Neil being aFlorida Gator), to little success.
On February 16 episode of Raw, O'Neil made a save for Young who, along with independent wrestlerKevin Kross (who would later return to WWE under the ring name "Karrion Kross" in 2020), was being attacked byThe Ascension. This signified a reunion of the team and face turn for O'Neil. On the February 23 episode of Raw, they officially reunited and gave The Ascension their first loss in the WWE. They once again defeated The Ascension on March 14 episode ofMain Event. They then participated in theAndré the Giant Memorial Trophy Battle Royal atWrestleMania 31, which was won byBig Show. After WrestleMania, they began performing comedic skits that poked fun at other tag teams includingThe New Day,[28] The Ascension,[29]Los Matadores[30] andTyson Kidd and Cesaro.[31] They became one of the five teams to challenge the New Day for the Tag Titles atElimination Chamber, and eliminated The Ascension and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, but lost after all of The New Day pinned Titus O'Neil.
The following week onSmackDown, they won a triple threat tag team match against theLucha Dragons and The Ascension, to become the number one contenders for the tag team championship against The New Day atMoney in the Bank. AtMoney in the Bank, the Prime Time Players defeatedThe New Day to capture theWWE Tag Team Championship, their first ever titles in WWE. AtBattleground, the Prime Time Players successfully retained their titles against The New Day. AtSummerSlam,The New Day defeated The Prime Time Players in aFatal-4-Waytag team match to become the newWWE Tag Team Champions. On the September 7 episode ofRaw, it was announced that The New Day would defend the titles against The Prime Time Players in a rematch the following week, and the winners would defend the titles against TheDudley Boyz atNight of Champions. On the September 14 episode ofRaw, The New Day defeated The Prime Time Players, thus setting up The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz for Night of Champions.
Towards the end of 2015, O'Neil and Young began focusing on singles careers. On the November 9 episode ofRaw, O'Neil competed in the first round of theWWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament againstKevin Owens, in a losing effort. At theSurvivor Series pre-show, O'Neil teamed with a returningGoldust,Dudley Boyz andNeville againstThe Cosmic Wasteland,The Miz andBo Dallas, in afive-on-five traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match, in a winning effort.[32] O'Neil and Young appeared as a team on January 15, 2016, at ahouse show on WWE'sIndia tour.[33] Young teamed with Damien Sandow on theRoyal Rumble 2016 Kickoff Show in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match, while O'Neil competed in theRoyal Rumble match itself. On the February 2, 2016, taping ofMain Event, the duo returned to team withThe Usos, to defeatThe Ascension,Stardust andTyler Breeze.[34] They have since quietly disbanded when O'Neil received a 60-day suspension after the February 8 episode of Raw after an alleged physical altercation with Vince McMahon. After O'Neil's suspension, both Young and O'Neil returned to singles competition. O'Neil began a feud withRusev for theWWE United States Championship while Young started a storyline withBob Backlund, challengingThe Miz for theWWE Intercontinental Championship.[35][36]
When theWWE Draft returned in July 2016, both of them were drafted to theRaw brand. On the August 1 episode ofRaw, O'Neil started a slowheel turn when he 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 Bob Backlund before Young came to the defense of Backlund by attacking O'Neil.[37] The week after onRaw, Young defeated O'Neil via pinfall by grabbing O'Neil's tights, mimicking the way O'Neil defeated him.[38] On the August 15 episode ofRaw, Young and O'Neil reconciled and were placed in anad hoc tag team match againstThe Shining Stars. During the match, O'Neil attacked Young, officially turning heel in the process for the first time since 2015.[39]
On October 29, 2017, Darren Young was released from his WWE contract thus ending any possibilities of a reunion.
Former WWE wrestlerShad Gaspard has accused the team of basing their gimmick off his former teamCryme Tyme, albeit without the "gangster style" andbling-bling fashion.[40][41]
