Tommy Dreamer Details Struggles to Get Fred Rosser Signed by WWE

– House of Hardcore, Tommy Dreamer detailed his efforts to try and get Fred Rosser (aka Darren Young) hired in WWE. However, Rosser would constantly get turned down until he eventually was signed to a developmental contract in 2009.

According to Dreamer, he was told by a WWE official that Rosser “looked too much like John Cena.” Below is an excerpt (via Fightful):

“I tried to get [Rosser] hired forever. He was one of those guys that was always on the bubble. It was always, ‘Hey man, you have to get in better shape. Hey, you’re a little chubby, you’re a little this, you’re a little that.’ He wrestled a long time before he got signed, but he was always so good. One time, they told me looked too much like John Cena. I was like, ‘He’s black, how can he look like John Cena?’ ‘In the face and body. I remember, Corey Graves looked too much like CM Punk and then they said, ‘Change your hair.’ He shaved his head and looked too much like Randy Orton. These are the things they would think about and you can’t win with these guys. Happy they all got signed.”

Fred Rosser did get signed in 2009 and appeared on the first season of NXT. He was released from WWE in 2017.