Fred Rosser says he was "devastated" to not be included in the recent edition of the movement.
Former WWE star Fred Rosser, formerly known as Darren Young was the first wrestler that publicly came out as gay while contracted to the WWE. Rosser was an ambassador of sorts for the company speaking at numerous events and being the figurehead for the company showing support to the LGBTQ community. As of late WWE has had former Universal Champion Finn Balor wear rainbow-colored themed wrestling trunks, boots and shirts in support of inclusion.
Rosser recently joined UPROXX's "With Spandex Podcast" and gave his take on WWE going all in with embracing and presenting their support for the LGBTQ community. The former WWE Tag Team Champion stated that when he saw Finn Balor's entrance at WrestleMania 34 he was "devastated" about being left out of the equation.
"Finn Bálor is one of my favorite guys,” Fred stated. “Him, Sonya Deville — I remember watching her in NXT. I’ve seen her at the Performance Center. She showed me so much love, Finn showed me so much love. So to see those guys represent the LGBT community meant the world to me. But I’ll be honest with you man,” he continued. “When I got released, I was okay with it, but when I’m seeing them do that representation I was devastated, because I wasn’t invited. I would’ve loved to have been invited just to see that we’re making moves, but I wasn’t invited to something that I begged and pleaded to embrace." He continued, “It is what it is, but I cried like a baby man. The next day, Monday, after watching it back, I cried like a baby. When I got released, it’s okay, it is what it is, but when I seen that [entrance] and I wasn’t invited just to sit in the crowd and see the moves that we’re making, it broke my heart. They know that, they know that, but hey, it is what it is, life goes on.”
Rosser reiterated that he thinks very highly of Finn Balor but the fact that he was the first openly gay talent to come out about his sexuality while still contracted to the company and to not be included in such a big moment rubbed him the wrong way.
“Finn’s a great guy,” Rosser said. “But to not be invited to such a amazing celebration amongst the LGBT community, it just broke my heart. Even to just be on the stage with everyone — like rah, rah, rah. I don’t care. I just want to be able to experience it. It means the world to me. People contact me all the time on my social media, direct message, saying that they want to commit suicide or something like that. I send messages, audio messages, I talk to them. I talk to them. I say, ‘Hey, don’t do that.’ Like I said, everyday I wake up, I know someone’s counting on me; whether they’re LGBT or they’re just not LGBT and they get bullied for various reasons. That means the world to me.”
Finn Balor recently commented on why he has not been wearing his rainbow-colored themed gear to the ring as of late. Click here to read Balor's explanation.
