Darren Young On WWE Reactions To Coming Out, How He Wants To Be Remembered, His WWE Future, More
Former WWE Superstar Darren Young (Fred Rosser) recently spoke with ESPN at this link. Below are highlights:
Reactions to coming out in 2013:
"After Punk had his SummerSlam match with Brock Lesnar [in 2013], he came up to me in catering in front of everyone while he was iced up from the match. He approached me and told me to stand up. He said, 'Hey, man, I heard your story and I'm very proud of you for being so courageous to make that move to come out. If anyone has a problem with it in the locker room, you let me know, and I'll take care of it.'
"Same thing with Randy Orton. He's one guy who gave me a big hug and much love, still to this day. Big Show was always complimenting me too. Just the love from those guys, and knowing that those particular guys have my back, means the world to me. I'll never forget how much love those guys showed for me, then and after."
Getting released last October right after appearing at an NBA game for WWE:
"I'd been doing so much PR work since I've been signed, I was one of WWE's main guys that always did PR work. When I was a guest at the Clipper game, and then getting released 24 hours later, it was a little rough for me. A bit of a tough pill to swallow. I didn't know why the release had happened. What was even rougher was that the release came right before my birthday on Nov. 2. I never even received the usual birthday message, so I was a little hurt by everything."
His WWE future and how he wants to be remembered:
"Nothing lasts forever, and I've had a wonderful career with WWE. I hope to continue my relationship with WWE as an LGBTQ ambassador or a talent scout. Michael Jordan can't play basketball forever, and I can't wrestle forever. So I've enjoyed my time from 2009 to 2017."
"I want to be remembered as a good human being who was the first in an industry to pave the way for LGBTQ athletes in wrestling and beyond to come out and live an honest and authentic life. Being the first openly gay wrestler [in WWE], I've been able to encourage and inspire wrestling fans all over their world to chase their dreams. I've been able to show other LGBTQ athletes that they have a duty to instill confidence in the youth and lead by example."
"Being a wrestler is a great. It's something I've always wanted to do. But my calling is to help educate, motivate and inspire others to be their true, authentic self. I want to be remembered as someone who'd go to battle for you. I always say in my speaking engagements, if you don't have anyone in your family that supports you, be a part of my family. That's my calling going forward."
Source: ESPN