Fred Rosser, formerly known as Darren Young, recently appeared on Excuse Me: The Vickie Guerrero Show, and he discussed various topics. Highlights include Young’s reflection on working with Bob Backlund and his description of how Randy Orton had his back. Here are some highlights:
On working with Bob Backlund :
Rosser: “When it comes to Vince McMahon, I’ll never say a bad thing about Vince McMahon because he gave that opportunity with Bob Backlund. Everyone, the fans say, ‘Oh, WWE threw that on me.’ Well, teaming with Titus [O’Neil], tag teams don’t last forever. So I’ve got to have a plan B, and once it was all said and done with Titus and I, we kiss and breakup, kiss and breakup, I had done appearances with Bob Backlund where, during my autograph signings, I don’t like to sit down, I like to stand up. I like to engage because you’re sitting down, I get tight, you’re up and down up and down. I like to stand and engage with the fans. And Bob Backlund over here is doing the same thing.”
“So years before Titus and I split up, I was looking at Bob, I was like. man he’s so energetic. I’m very calm, cool, and collected, but we’re both opposites, and they say opposites attract. I always say, Vince McMahon had my back but it’s just unfortunate that some of the writers didn’t have my back, you know. Everyone has their own agenda. For me personally, I went to Vince, he loved the idea, but it’s just unfortunate those that work under him didn’t have my back.”
On Mark Henry making fun of his hair:
Rosser: “When I came up on the roster, hashtag insert foot in mouth because when I came up on the roster, I had this gold sequence around my head, my hair was spiky And we know how long-winded Mark Henry is. He’s sitting in the locker room, and this is before I came out, new to the roster, 2010. He’s like, ‘Boy, why you got your hair like that? It makes you look gay.'”
“And I’m like, I’m stuttering, I’m like, ‘Mark, I’m just trying to look different, I’m just trying to stand out’ And then fast forward to when I came out publicly to the world, he was one of the first guys, SummerSlam weekend at the hotel in L.A., he said, ‘Hey, man, come down to the green room.’ He’s the first guy I saw since I made my announcement. He’s like, ‘Hey, man how come you didn’t tell me, man? I got cousins who are gay.’ I’m like, ‘Mark, man because of you. You scared me. I didn’t want to come out because of you.'”
On the support of the locker room when he came out:
Rosser: “When I came out like I said, the Usos [and] Tamina Snuka [supported me.] But it was also Randy Orton, Big Show, [and] Mark Henry.”
“Randy Orton, he approached me backstage. He’s like, ‘Hey, man, gimme a hug.’ So I’m like kind of u, you know, why? This has never happened. I have Randy Orton, he’s like, ‘Hey man, if you have any problems with anyone in the locker room, you let me know and I’ll take care of it, man. That’s real bold of you.'”
“So many superstars made it a lot easier for me to walk into the locker room.”
The full episode is available here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3dtJDUkd644C0dzIeFfaAN
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