Darren Young Draws On Raw: Could This Lead To Something?

[Jack-Hammer]

I was reading over some ratings info for Raw on wrestlinginc.com and what was probably the biggest surprise is that the tag team match featuring The Prime Time Players vs. The Real Americans was the 2nd highest rated segment of Raw. CM Punk's promo & subsequent brawl with Curtis Axel and the show ending angle featuring Bryan, The McMahons, Triple H, & The Shield tied with a 3.6 rating. The PTPs vs. The Real Americans drew a 3.5 rating.

Prior to the tag match, the segments featured Ziggler vs. The Shield and Del Rio vs. Sin Cara, both of which scored a 3.3 rating. The PTP vs. The Real Americans tag match came about during a time that isn't known for ratings growth on Raw. It's all the more surprising when you consider that The PTPs and The Real Americans aren't major stars on the roster right now. So, one has to assume that the increase was caused due to interest in seeing Young perform after he publicly revealed that he's gay last week. This MIGHT be bolstered due to the PTPs getting a significantly stronger response from the live crowd this past Monday than they usually get.

While it's still very early since Young came out, as last Monday was his first appearance, Young revealing that he's gay has already stirred up talk on forums all over the net as to whether or not it could lead to some sort of push. But just because the PTPs drew well this past Monday doesn't have to mean anything. However, as Young is the first member of the WWE roster to come out publicly while still active, it would surprise me if WWE doesn't at least try to capitalize on it. After all, the whole Be A Star bit is about encouraging tolerance and respect, so one would imagine that the first openly gay member of the active roster would be someone who would be a unique ambassador or something.

At the very least, I think that WWE will give the Players a solid push for the next little bit. I'd like to see Young get some mic time and address the whole thing.

 

[cam1126]

You can show tolerance and respect and still not agree with the lifestyle. Yeah, WWE will be all over this due to the CAUSE, not the talent. I miss real wrestling

 

[cbxero]

I like Darren Young, I think it's great what he's done, and I hope he inspires others.

I, like others I'm sure, tuned in hoping to see Darren wrestle and was curious to see how they would handle it. It should have been a foregone conclusion that he would pick up the win for the PTP, so I'm glad it went that way.

What I don't want to see is a storyline built around it. The whole point is that it doesn't matter, so no extra attention (story-wise) should be given to it. If they want to showcase him, build up the PTP as faces and have them take down the bad guys.

I think he's a talent, I think PTP together are great, and that's all that should matter.

Also, don't discount the fact that a lot of people would be interested purely because it was the first time since he came out. It was the whole 'how will they handle it' thing. Now that we've seen how they handled it, people will move on.

 

[LiarsDice]

You can show tolerance and respect and still not agree with the lifestyle. Yeah, WWE will be all over this due to the CAUSE, not the talent. I miss real wrestling

While I agree with you to an extent, I don't see any reason for WWE not to push Darren Young when he has attention for the first time.
Just because that attention comes from something outside of wrestling doesn't really make a difference. The Miz got attention for being on a reality TV show, the Rock gets attention from casual viewers because he is a movie star, etc.
Just WWE capitalizing on the moment like they've always done.
Doesn't get much realer than that.

 

[Blade]

You can show tolerance and respect and still not agree with the lifestyle. Yeah, WWE will be all over this due to the CAUSE, not the talent. I miss real wrestling

You're either okay with gay people or you're not. There's no "Oh, I respect it but I don't agree with it," that doesn't make sense. Being gay isn't an opinion or choice.

Also, what is real wrestling? Like, the Olympics?

Silly comments aside, I had a hunch this might happen. I mean, Young coming out got a lot of exposure, so people tuned in. Some of them may have tuned in to support him, and some may have tuned in to see if WWE would start some humiliating angle where they exploit Young's coming out. But people tuned in, and that's what WWE cares about.

Once the Shield defeats Big Show and Mark Henry, or whoever is challenging at Night of Champions, they'll likely go straight into a feud with the PTP. Which I'm fine with, I much prefer them together instead of Young getting a singles push. They're an entertaining team, but utterly average as individuals.

But since the PTP are now apparently draws, they might be the ones to win the tag titles off the Shield, which I'm not a huge fan of cause there is surely a better team out there to beat them...

 

[NegativeFeedback]

I hate that I have to preface my arguments against him by clarifying that I'm not anti-gay though. Just because he's gay doesn't mean that his detractors are against his sexuality.

I'm a big supporter for gay marriage and have a bunch of gay cousins in the family. I 100% support Young's right to be fabulous. But I never liked him as a wrestler. He isn't awful or anything, but like JTG, he's just average and doesn't stand out in any aspect.

WWE should ride Young's newfound popularity for a while and whenever it dies down, they can Zack Ryder him to Superstars and quietly release him afterwards.

 

[hardingnathan33]

I totally respect Darren Young. But he should not get pushed just because of his sexuality, but because of his in-ring ability and mic skills.

I'm not saying he's not a good wrestler because he is, It's just that there's better people I'd like to see pushed - KOFI KINGSTON, Justin Gabriel, Titus O'Neil etc.

WWE will do a "Zack Ryder" or a "Fandango" with him. Because he's got newfound popularity for a unique aspect of him or a new gimmick, WWE will ride this and push forward with it. But when it eventually dies down, he will just be at lower position that what he's at now, and will end up jobbing on WWE Superstars.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I totally respect Darren Young. But he should not get pushed just because of his sexuality, but because of his in-ring ability and mic skills.

True. It's not as if the company just became aware of who Darren is and the extent of his abilities in the ring. He is what he's been all along and if they weren't ready to push him before, I see no need to now.

His victory the other night was a nod to his recent announcement. Why his coming out should call for him to gain a pinfall after jobbing for so long is questionable, but we're living in the era of political correctness and if winning a wrestling match is WWE's way of congratulating him for telling us he's gay.....well, the company is acceding to today's social conventions and it's all good, I suppose.

To give him a full push because he revealed his gender preferences is another matter. You can argue by saying: "But the man is a fabulous wrestler!" and I would counter by asking why this never got him anywhere before last week.

 

[Blade]

True. It's not as if the company just became aware of who Darren is and the extent of his abilities in the ring. He is what he's been all along and if they weren't ready to push him before, I see no need to now.

His victory the other night was a nod to his recent announcement. Why his coming out should call for him to gain a pinfall after jobbing for so long is questionable, but we're living in the era of political correctness and if winning a wrestling match is WWE's way of congratulating him for telling us he's gay.....well, the company is acceding to today's social conventions and it's all good, I suppose.

To give him a full push because he revealed his gender preferences is another matter. You can argue by saying: "But the man is a fabulous wrestler!" and I would counter by asking why this never got him anywhere before last week.

Except, it's a double edged sword. Everything the WWE does is so calculated, to just give Young a win for coming out would be far too simple.

The fact is, Young gave the WWE and himself some exposure in the way he decided to come out, whether it was pre-planned or not. If someone gets some exposure and buzz, they're going to see what they can do with it. They did it with Punk, they did it with Ryder and they're doing it with Young now.

If Young had managed to get the company any kind of mainstream positive buzz, whether it was about his sexuality or not, he would've gotten a minor push. Winning a match isn't a reward, it's WWE taking advantage of the buzz and seeing if it can draw in any way.

 

[sufyaan05]

Typical WWE.

They should NOT have won but they didn't have the courage to have Young not go over.

There's easily more money in Cesaro.
His match with Zayn on NXT was absolutely phenomenal.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

When was the last time that "in-ring" work was more important than popularity? If Darren Young is making noise, if he's in our minds and if we keep talking about him, WWE will push the young man. It's just good business, it doesn't matter what Darren Young have done, he created buzz which is something that Antonio Cesaro or "Sami Zayn" have never done. A lot of people, sponsors, media outlets have their eyes on the WWE, if they mistreat Darren they are going to have them on their asses.

Darren Young also deserves this opportunity, specially when it's all about a tag team named Prime Time Players. I said it before, I'll say it again - for the first time in my life, Darren Young entertained me and I was happy to see him win. He isn't obnoxious, always played low, did what everybody told him to do and now he's getting his five minute of fame. Give him the fucking shot, let him try at least for a month without ripping him of. If this push went to Antonio Cesaro and he failed for SIX MONTHS, you would say that it's the WWE's fault. WWE gives Darren Young two victories and it's already too much.

He's an athletic dude, he has some charisma in his goofyness, he obviously respects his peers as he showed in his last tweet about Cesaro and his peers respect him too as showed in the last few weeks. He's more popular than one of the best wrestlers in the world? So he deserves to beat the shit out of the guy on any wrestling show.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Take this for what it is... it's the first time it has happened.. so the E is gonna experiment with it...

In the past it's been flamboyant, extrovert and effeminite characters like Goldust, Adrian Adonis and Billy & Chuck - for the first time a guy who "fits the WWE Mould" has come out, not as a gimmick or to get a push but cos it's him... That is going to interest people who winced at the previous tries to manufacture this. The LBGT community/fans, people like George Takei will get involved cos it is big and do not discount all those teen WWE fans who are gay, who now have a hero there... He's not flamboyant, colourful, a diva... just a newly out man who is clearly good enough at what he does for it not only not to be a problem for his fans, colleagues or bosses, but for WWE to show some faith and let the chips fall from the results of him coming out, if it's the missing ingredient to get him over then so be it... They won't push him BECAUSE he is gay, but it won't stop him being pushed if he can now connect better with audiences than he did...

Would a world class Soccer team do the same or would the player suddenly be "injured" while they dealt with it privately?

Personally I don't think Young is a great worker, he's not special in the ring but with this he has the intangible that CAN lead to something special down the line that isn't fake, contrived or dressed in Lame...

 

[thomasgj]

You can show tolerance and respect and still not agree with the lifestyle. Yeah, WWE will be all over this due to the CAUSE, not the talent. I miss real wrestling

Too bad wrestling was never "real". And there's no need for anyone to disagree or agree with this "lifestyle". It's his sex life, you have no say in it, no one does except for him and the person who chooses to mate with.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

The Prime Time Players are funny guys. I always laugh my ass off whenever I see them make their entrance with that move they do. These guys ARE entertaining, but I was losing faith in them as a Tag Team because of the way they were being used. They were just two goofs being used as enhancement talent. Whatever steam they had before that dissipated because of the losses. Now that they're back on track since Darren Young's announcement, I only wish the best in their careers since it would be a shame to dissolve that team after they've developed it since NXT. As far as Darren Young's in-ring work is concerned, he is solid. He can take a beating, and his finisher is pretty cool. A Tag Team title should at least be in his future. He and Titus should also be built to beat credible names in the singles division from time to time. It would add to their diversity. It could do well for WWE's ratings.

 

[BigThunder]

Good for Darren. I've always liked the PTP, and they seem much more like natural faces than heels. Push them to feud with the Shield and make a run at the titles.

That said, let's see if the ratings bump is a one-off phenemon, or if Darren gets the same ratings bump in three weeks.

And yes, Cesaro's a world class talent. He'll make it eventually, regardless of what they do to him now. Much as I'd like to see him pushed, it won't kill him to put over Darren and Titus for the moment.

 

[SD619]

This could lead to something, but nothing significant.

WWE will have Young win for a few more weeks, an then after TMZ and the dirtsheets have found another story, concentrate on someone else. Its very much similar to most of the debuts in recent times, win a few weeks, then be forgotten. It is not like Young is a great talent who will force the audience to take notice of him.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Overness is overness. Who gives a shit how he got it? In a world where preachers are telling fathers to have their friends "rape the gay out" of their lesbian daughters, a lot of gay teens and people in general are probably seeing a lot of very real inspiration in Young. To me that's a million times better than Austin getting extra attention because he flipped off Tyson or McMahon getting heel heat because the screw job got heat as a real event.

As long as he's over, it's smart business to push him. Maybe a lot of you live in parts of the world where being gay isn't a big deal, but many in the world don't. 25% of gay teens attempt suicide, so fuck you if you don't think him being an inspiration is a big deal.