WWE’s first openly gay wrestler is sharing how one ally made all the difference in his coming out experience.
In 2013, Fred Rosser, who is known professionally as Darren Young, came out and became the first openly gay wrestler within World Wrestling Entertainment. Now, eight years later, Young shared his coming out triumphs with The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast.
“Once I came out publicly to the world in 2013, I never said two words to a lot of the main guys,” said Young to Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman. Rosser then talked about how fellow professional wrestler Randy Orton was supportive of him after coming out. “Once I came out, he was one of the guys that passed me in the hallway the day after I came out, and he gave me a hug. He said, ‘Hey man, if you have any issue, you let me know, and I’ll take care of anyone in the locker room.’ Him and CM Punk were top guys that said those exact words and Randy, from then on, was my heart.”
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For the wrestler, who’s currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), having a respected colleague vouching for him made the environment a fun place to work and perform.
“Any time I visit backstage with WWE, I see him passing,” Young added. “I was like, ‘Hey Randy, you mind if I get a money shot doing the Block The Hate?’ And he was so into it. There were no cameras around, and he was like, ‘Yeah, man, let’s get it right.’ And then we finally took the picture, and I tweeted it. He messaged me saying, ‘Oh man, you’re making me blush.’ Randy is a cool dude.”
Outta the way, world! I've got @RandyOrton who’s always been one the nicest dudes to me in the locker room blocking that hate w/ me! Randy was one of the 1st guys to embrace me when I came out publicly so I needed to get a #moneyshot with one my biggest supporters. #BLOCKTHEHATE pic.twitter.com/ctwEjip3uk
— nodaysoff FRED ROSSER III (@realfredrosser) October 8, 2019
Young also noted that he had a successful 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t want to bring any type of illness back home. That’s the last thing I want to do. So having my family bless me with the New Japan Pro Wrestling experience, and before that, I did my first ever musical earlier this year,” Rosser explained. “It’s been a great year for me, and I’ve done some little stuff in between, some little roles here out in LA that I posted on my social media. I can’t tell you about it off my head because I just do them, and then move on to the next one.”
We look forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for Darren Young.
Source: Wrestling Inc,
