Darren Young Talks Being Devastated That The WWE Didn’t Invite Him For The Finn Balor LGBTQ ‘Mania’ Entrance

Frederick Douglas Rosser III, known to the WWE universe as Darren Young, recently spoke out about the inclusivity of WrestleMania 34. In a recent interview with Uproxx, on the With Spandex podcast, the former WWE superstar spoke about Finn Balor’s entrance at WrestleMania and how it broke his heart he wasn’t a part of it in some shape or form.

Darren Young announced he was a homosexual back in 2013. The WWE is currently taking large steps in embracing the LGBTQ community. But at the time of Young’s announcement, it was groundbreaking because he was the first openly gay active wrestler for the WWE. After the announcement, both fans and wrestling insiders alike congratulated Darren Young over social media, including Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Jim Ross, Titus O’Neil, and many others.

Though he is no longer with the company, many people, including Young, were surprised that the WWE didn’t bring him in during Finn Balor’s entrance at WrestleMania 34. For those that don’t know, Finn Balor sported rainbow-colored apparel during his ‘Mania entrance, and several members of the New Orleans LGBTQ community accompanied him on stage. The fans on stage all wore Balor’s new “For Everyone” shirt. As heard in the audio interview below, the former WWE superstar expressed his disappointment.

Congratulations to @DarrenYoungWWE for being the first openly gay WWE Superstar!

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) August 15, 2013

He said that Balor and Sonya Deville, who is the WWE’s first openly-lesbian wrestler, are some of his favorite superstars. He reminisced on watching Sonya in NXT and shared that both Balor and Deville have shown him a lot of love. He said that to watch them represent the LGBTQ community meant the world to him. But then Young revealed that while this was a great movement for the cause, he was shocked.

He commented that he was okay with being released from the WWE last year, but that when he saw them representing the LGBTQ community he was devastated that he wasn’t invited. He said he would have loved to have been invited to something that he begged and pleaded for years ago. He said that his frustrations with the WWE over this movement started last year at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando.

Darren Young revealed that he asked the WWE if they were going to do anything to stand with the LGBTQ community at ‘Mania in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and that nothing happened. He then shifted gears back to Balor’s entrance. He said that it is what it is, but that the whole thing had him in tears. He said the next day he watched the video back and “cried like a baby.”

He said that it broke his heart that he wasn’t even invited to WrestleMania 34 to at least sit in the audience. He remarked that he could have just sat in the audience to see “the moves that we’re making,” and that it “broke his heart.” He emphasized that he thinks the world of Finn Balor, but that not being included in the groundbreaking WWE moment “still stings.”