Darren Young Explains Why He Was Hurt That Finn Balor Got To Wear LGBTQ Colors At Wrestlemania

In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Darren Young spoke about why it bothered him that Finn Balor was allowed to wear LGBTQ colors at Wrestlemania 34 last year and how he reacted to the news. Here are highlights:

On coming out: “Living in a closet is no way to live because there’s so much out in the world to be a part of. And to be fully present means truly owning your identity and claiming your authentic self. So there are many reasons I came out publicly. But one of the reasons I came out was because I wanted to be like any other normal couple, I wanted to be affectionate in public like any other normal couple. And I was just tired, and I couldn’t go another 30 years living the way I was living. So when I came out a plethora of WWE superstars such as Mark Henry, some of my favorites, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Big Show… these guys embraced me with love. And it made it so much easier for me to walk into a locker room and just be comfortable with myself.”

On his earlier persona in WWE now: “When I first started wrestling I would cut interviews to deepen my voice, I would try to sound more masculine. Now, I don’t have to do that anymore. My goal is to, whether it’s on my social media or it’s on the big screen, show people that being gay comes in all sizes and shapes. And I have to tell you, I don’t celebrate being gay… I celebrate living my life free from hate, free from judgement, because there are still people all over the world being shamed, being bullied, being disowned and discriminated and killed just for being who they are and loving who they want to love.”

On Finn Balor wearing LGBTQ colors at Wrestlemania 34: “When I was released in 2017, I was more hurt, not about the release, but more about months later, at WrestleMania, the LGBTQ colors were embraced by a good friend of mine, a straight ally, Finn Balor, who’s an amazing wrestler, an amazing talent, and good human being. But I was kind of upset because, why not let me embrace the colors while I was still with the company? Why not let me show my pride and all that other good stuff? I cried like a baby, honestly. I was just… I was just devastated that I wasn’t even invited to the festivities at that WrestleMania.”

On being thankful to WWE: “But one thing I can say about Vince McMahon is that he gave me an opportunity, with WWE, to live out my dreams. He gave me an opportunity to be involved in an important storyline that was actually getting over by the crowd. It’s just unfortunate the people that work under him didn’t have my back. I don’t know who, I don’t want to point the finger at any one. I’ve had some great times with the WWE both inside and outside the ring. I was a poster boy for the company when it came to the community service stuff, because I genuinely enjoy giving back. I say all the time, ‘don’t die with the story when you tell it.’ So there’s no hard feelings with WWE.”