Fred Rosser, AKA Darren Young opens up about WWE suspending Titus O'Neil after incident with Vince McMahon (Exclusive)
The day was Monday, February 8th, 2016. It was a special episode of RAW as the WWE roster celebrated the career of Daniel Bryan, who had just announced his retirement from in-ring competition.
The show went off the air and what happened next sent shockwaves in the WWE.
Titus O'Neil playfully hugged Vince McMahon on the ramp, which was later described as a 'playful, physical altercation'. O'Neil was initially handed a 90-day suspension due to unprofessional conduct, which was later reduced to 60 days.
The confusion regarding the entire incident still persists till this very day. Was O'Neil just cheerfully messing around with the boss? Did Vince McMahon overreact? Was there another angle to the story that the fans don't know about?
Titus O'Neil's long-time tag team partner Fred Rosser, FKA Darren Young spoke about the incident on the very first edition of 'The Rosser Rewind' for Sportskeeda's Dropkick DiSKussions.
Rosser told host Korey Gunz that O'Neil was just unfortunate to have caught Vince McMahon on the wrong day. He explained that it all happened in the spur of the moment and his good friend had to sadly face the consequences.
Fred knows O'Neil really well and stated that his former Prime Time Players Tag Team partner is a great person and so is Vince McMahon. He had nothing bad to say about both men before admitting that he wished the infamous incident never happened in the first place.
"It’s just unfortunate. You catch the boss on the wrong day. Stuff happens you know, but hey, life goes on. I wish it didn’t happen but when you’re in the moment and you do what you do, sometimes you have to, unfortunately, suffer the consequences. But you know, Titus is a great guy, and Vince McMahon is a great person. I have nothing bad to say about anyone, It’s just unfortunate that went down the way it went down. And there’s really nothing for me to say about it, it was shocking that it happened, but hey, life goes on."
Rosser even mentioned that O'Neil, despite being like a 'big teddy bear', can sometimes come across as an intimidating human being
"Titus is a loud guy. I know him. So I know he’s a teddy bear, but he can be intimidating."
Also Read: Story of how a veteran wrestler was fired from WWE after a backstage fight with Titus O'Neil (Exclusive)