Current NJPW, Former WWE Star Reportedly Backstage At AEW Dynamite & Collision Taping

The 300th episode of "AEW Dynamite" took place last night, and a former WWE star was there to take in the action. According to Fightful Select, Fred Rosser (AKA Darren Young in WWE) was backstage at "Dynamite" in southern California. Rosser is an active member of the NJPW roster, and he previously expressed interest in working with AEW, though the update did not indicate if any progress has been made on that front. His previous pitch was to work in a tag team with Sonny Kiss, who is no longer on the company's roster.

Rosser has been a mainstay of NJPW's American shows for years, along with picking up independent bookings on occasion. He previously held the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship for the better part of a year, dropping it to KENTA in February 2023.

Before that, he'd been in the WWE system from 2009 through 2017, where he became the first openly gay wrestler to perform in the promotion. He and Tyson O'Neil formed a tag team known as the Prime Time Players, and the two eventually captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in 2015. Towards the end of his run, Young was accompanied onscreen by WWE Hall of Famer Bob Backlund as a manager.

Last night was a double taping of "Dynamite" and "AEW Collision," and the first show came to a close with a main event between two old rivals: Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi. Meanwhile, "Collision" will air in its normal Saturday timeslot this week, with a show slated to feature appearances from FTR, CMLL's Mistico, Willow Nightingale, and more.