Frederick "Fred" Douglas Rosser III (born November 2, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Darren Young.
He began his career in 2002 on the independent circuit. He joined WWE in 2005, and was signed on to its developmental brand, Florida Championship Wrestling (now NXT), in 2009.
From 2010 to 2011, he was a member of The Nexus, before returning to NXT. In 2012, he formed an alliance with Titus O'Neil, the Prime Time Players. Together, they were one-time WWE Tag Team Champions, before disbanding in 2014 after an attack by Titus, eventually turning into a feud. They briefly reunited in 2015-2016, before going their separate ways.
In 2013, he came out as gay, becoming the first WWE pro-wrestler to come out while still signed on.
He was released from WWE in 2017 after his contract expired, and has since returned to the independent circuit. Currently, Rosser is wrestling on Strong for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Power for the National Wrestling Alliance and Primetime Live for the United Wrestling Network.
"Millions of Tropes":
- Demoted to Extra: Darren was part of The Nexus, main-evented SummerSlam 2010, but was kicked out of The Nexus when he failed to win a match in order to stay in the group, and promptly disappeared from TV. He then showed up on WWE NXT season 5, and lasted there for over a year, before he was moved to Smackdown with Titus.
- The Dog Bites Back: As part of the Nexus, after he failed to win his post-SummerSlam match, he was brutally exiled from the stable. Two weeks later, he showed up during Wade Barrett's match with Randy Orton and distracted Barrett enough to cost him the win.
- Finishing Move: The Gutcheck
- Get Back in the Closet: Averted in the case of Darren Young; after he came out, WWE voiced its full support of him, and on June 15th 2015, he became the first openly gay wrestler (i.e. that was openly gay during his in-ring career) to win a title when he and Titus won the tag titles at Money in the Bank.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He was a face on NXT season 1, turned heel with The Nexus, had a face turn after leaving, then turned heel again during the fifth season of NXT.
- Identical Stranger: Without his beard, he looks almost exactly a black John Cena. Young has heard about the comparison and wishes "[he] made black John Cena type of money".
- Red Baron: "Mr. No Days Off"
