Fred Rosser

Real name: Fred Douglas Rosser III
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 255 lbs.
Date of birth: November 2
Hometown: Hollywood, CA
Pro debut: 2002
Trained by: Kevin Knight
Finishing move: Running Powerslam

Biography

– Rosser debuted in 2002 as ‘Fred Sampson’
– On May 17, 2003, Sampson defeated Kevin Knight to win the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On June 27, 2003, Sampson defeated Roman by DQ to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– Two days later, Sampson & Hadrian defeated Pierce St John & Shane O’Brien in the final of a tournament to win the IWF Commissioner’s Cup
– On July 19, 2003, Sampson defeated Shane O’Brien to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– The next day, Sampson defeated Brandon Young, Kevin Knight & Tommy Trouble in a Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On August 23, 2003, Sampson defeated Tommy Trouble by DQ to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title. He retained against Trouble again the next day
– On September 28, 2003, Sampson defeated Pierce St John in a Straight-Jacket Match to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On October 25, 2003, Sampson defeated Brandon Young & Shawn Donovan in a Triple Threat Match to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On November 22, 2003, Sampson defeated Kevin Knight with Tom Prichard as special guest referee to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On December 7, 2003, Sampson defeated Roman by DQ to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On May 15, 2004, Sampson defeated IWF American Champion Biggie Biggs by countout
– On June 27, 2004, Sampson & Kevin Knight defeated Biggie Biggs & Roman and Shawn Donavan & Travis Blake in the final of a tournament to win the IWF Commissioner’s Cup
– On October 23, 2004, Sampson defeated IWF American Champion Biggie Biggs by countout
– On December 19, 2004, Sampson defeated Biggie Biggs, Roman & Shane O’Brien in the final of a tournament to win the IWF Tournament of Champions
– On January 21, 2005, Sampson defeated Roman, Biggie Biggs & Shane O’Brien in a Fatal 4-Way Match to win the IWF Heavyweight Title
– A week later, Sampson defeated Aaron Stride to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On February 22, 2005, Sampson defeated Damian Adams to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– Two days later, Sampson made an appearance on WWE Velocity, teaming with Mike Kruel in a loss to Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas
– On March 25, 2005, Sampson defeated Kevin Knight to retain the IWF Heavyweight Title
– On May 22, 2005, Sampson & Shane O’Brien fought IWF Tag Team Champions Kevin Knight & Dan McGuire to a double countout
– On November 5, 2005, Sampson defeated Scotty Charisma & Vic D Vine in a Triple Threat Match to win the ECWA Heavyweight Title
– On November 20, 2005, Sampson defeated IWF American Champion Shane O’Brien by DQ
– On December 3, 2005, Sampson defeated Ace Darling to retain the ECWA Heavyweight Champion
– In early January 2006, Sampson & Scotty Charisma made two WWE appearances, losing to The Heart Throbs (Romeo & Antonio) on Heat, before losing to The Dicks (Chad & James) on Velocity
– On July 29, 2006, Sampson & Bulldog Collare defeated The Baghdad Bullies (Saddam Insane & TNT) to win the NWS Tag Team Titles
– On August 28, 2006, Sampson made another appearance on WWE Heat, losing to Val Venis
– On September 8, 2006, Sampson defeated Psycho to win the CW New England Title
– In November 2006, Sampson lost to Charlie Haas on WWE Heat
– In December 2006, Sampson made two further WWE appearances, teaming with Jason Static in a loss to Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch on Heat, before defeated Christian York in a Raw dark match
– On January 12, 2007, Sampson fought Handsome Johnny to a double countout to retain the CW New England Title
– On February 2, 2007, Sampson defeated Psycho to retain the CW New England Title
– On February 25, 2007, Sampson defeated IWF American Champion Travis Blake by DQ
– On January 20, 2008, Sampson defeated IWF Heavyweight Champion Tony Torres by DQ
– On June 27, 2008, Sampson & Rick Fuller defeated The Blowout Boys (Danny E & Tommy T) in a No-DQ Match to win the CW Tag Team Titles
– On July 26, 2008, Sampson (as Frederick of Hollywood) defeated Glen Osbourne to win the ECWA Heavyweight Title
– On September 13, 2008, Sampson fought NWA Pro East Television Champion Danny Inferno to a double-DQ
– On September 26, 2008, Sampson & Fuller defeated Brandon Locke & Matt Spectro to retain the CW Tag Team Titles
– The next day, Frederick of Hollywood defeated Travis Blake to retain the ECWA Heavyweight Title
– Sampson agreed to a WWE developmental deal in June 2009
– Rosser (wrestling under his real name) made his FCW debut on July 2, 2009, losing to Donny Marlow
– In October 2009, Rosser’s ringname was changed to ‘Darren Young’
– With the ring name Darren Young, he was moved to the NXT roster in February 2010.
– After the NXT rookies invaded Raw, the NXT 7 were granted contracts on June 21, 2010.
– At No Way Out ’12, the Prime Time Players (Titus O’Neil and Darren Young) defeated Primo and Epico (with A.W. and Rosa Mendes), The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso), and Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel
– On January 31, 2014, The Prime Time Players separated after O’Neil turned on Young
– On April 12, 2014, Young suffered an injury in a house show match against Fandango. He was expected to be out of action for 4-6 months
– Young returned to action at a WWE Live Event on January 4, 2015, defeating Alex Riley
– In February 2015, Titus O’Neil saved Young from a beatdown at the hands of The Ascension, reforming The Prime Time Players
– On June 2, 2015, The Prime Time Players defeated The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) to become Number One Contenders to the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Money In The Bank ’15, The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) to win the WWE Tag Team Titles
– At Battleground ’15, The Prime Time Players defeated The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
– In mid-2016, Young adopted Bob Backlund as his ‘life coach’, a role which saw Backlund become Young’s on-screen manager
– In the 2016 WWE draft, Young & Backlund were allocated to Raw
– At Battleground ’16, Young fought WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz to a double-DQ
– On October 29, 2017, Young was released by WWE
– Young made his first post-WWE appearance at a Big Time Wrestling event in May 2018, defeating Rik Luxury
– Rosser competed in the 2018 Chikara King of Trios Tournament, alongside fellow Nexus originals PJ Black (Justin Gabriel) and Tyrone Evans (Michael Tarver)
– In late 2020, Rosser joined New Japan’s US-based STRONG promotion
– In March 2021, Rosser debuted for the NWA
– At Battle In The Valley 2021, Rosser, Rocky Romero, David Finlay, Alex Zayne & Alex Coughlin defeated Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
– At Windy City Riot 2022, Rosser, Ren Narita, Josh Alexander, Chris Dickinson & Alex Coughlin defeated Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Black Tiger, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson)
– On May 15, Rosser defeated Tom Lawlor to win the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– On July 24, Rosser defeated Fred Yehi to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– At Music City Mayhem 2022, Rosser defeated Big Damo to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– On August 21, Rosser defeated TJP to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– On September 11, Rosser fought Chris Dickinson to a double countout to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– At the 2022 NJPW Halloween special, Rosser defeated Crowbar
– At Rumble On 44th Street, Rosser defeated Jonathan Gresham to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– On November 20, Rosser defeated JR Kratos to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– On December 11, Rosser defeated Peter Avalon to retain the NJPW STRONG Openweight Title
– At the 2023 Impact/NJPW Multiverse United event, Rosser, Alex Coughlin, Sami Callihan & PCO defeated Joe Henry, Eddie Edwards, Tom Lawlor & JR Kratos
– On the Lonestar Shootout 2023 pre-show, Rosser defeated Tom Lawlor
– At Battle In The Valley 2024, Rosser, Jacob Fatu & Shota Umino defeated Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Jorel Nelson & Royce Isaacs)