Making Darren Young Great (Again)

Never truly having made it, but having truly been forgotten, could Darren Young reach greatness by following the advice of WWE Hall of Fame legend Bob Backlund? The answer might be different to what we initially thought.

Darren Young hasn’t been particularly lucky in the WWE so far. He appeared on the main WWE TV programming for the first time in 2010, as a rookie on the first season of NXT. That was at a time when NXT was still a bad reality show and CM Punk was the hated leader of the Straight Edge Society. Soon after having been branded as the “black John Cena” by the WWE Universe, Darren Young showed up in RAW as a member of the upcoming stable NEXUS. Ironically, he got exiled from the aforementioned stable for losing to none other than John Cena himself.

The ironies don’t stop there. The next step in Darren Young’s career was to go back to an even worse fifth season of the still then reality show NXT, where he feuded with Titus O’Neil – the guy who  went on to become his one and only long-term tag team partner. The Prime Time Players had an uneventful run in 2012-2014. Then, Young feuded with Titus once again, got injured and came back after 8 months, only to reform the Prime Time Players. Mr. No Days Off might have still been stuck in a frenemies circle with Titus O’Neil, if Titus hadn’t decided to touch Vince McMahon’s arm and hadn’t gotten suspended for 60 days. In the end, Titus’ misfortune turned out to be a blessing for his partner, as Darren Young suddenly got repackaged.

Then again, Young’s new gimmick, despite featuring Bob Backlund, seemed rather lame. Apart from being an obvious political tease, typically in the not-so-subtle WWE style, the “Make Darren Young Great Again” slogan also seems like a satiric remark towards Darren Young himself. Realistically, Mr. No Days Off has never been great, so it’s impossible to make him great “again”. Therefore, the whole series of videos, featuring Darren Young and Bob Backlund in life coach sessions, felt as useless as the Shining Stars of the Caribbean tour guide-esque promos. It was very easy to conclude that this was going to be yet another flopped jobber gimmick.

When Young entered the #1 Contender’s match for the IC title with his life coach at ringside, it was easy to guess that he was going to win it. After all, the WWE wouldn’t drag Bob Backlund out there if they weren’t planning on using him. The only problem was that, as Miz said it, it wasn’t so much that Darren Young won, but that everyone else lost. Mr. No Days Off spent most of his time, crumbled in a heap in the corner, looking very much “off”. That only reinforced the common feeling that this new gimmick was about to be revealed as trash and that would have been detrimental not only to Darren Young, but also to the IC Championship. Miz might not be a like-able persona, but he has brought attention back to the title. He’s been a terrific champion so far. Giving Young the belt, only so we can see regular TV appearances by another retired WWE superstar, would have been a step backwards.

Then Miz TV happened on the last Thursday night SmackDown and everything changed. Most probably, no one saw it coming but Darren Young stood up for himself and for his coach with great intensity. He vigorously pushed Miz back and showed dominance. I would have never imagined that Young was that good on the mic. Well, actually, in 2014, when he was off with an injury and preparing to come back, Darren Young released a hype video, talking about his new, more mature, darker, No Days Off gimmick. The persona from that footage never made it to the WWE. However, what we saw on Miz TV was as close as we’d ever get to it and it was brilliant!

Bob Backlund might have been a very smart choice of a manager. Darren Young had been a nobody for far too long. No one would have believed in him, if he was to try to make it on his own. However, with a legend by his side, people would talk and when all eyes got on him, Mr. No Days Off would make his move. On Miz TV, Darren Young didn’t need a life coach to back him up. He owned the segment and captivated the fans.

If Young can deliver the same quality of ring presence in the future, he could finally reach greatness in the WWE and prove that it’s never too late to make it.

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised