When I was growing up in the SF Bay Area, my favorite wrestler was Pat Patterson. Patterson ultimately made it to the big time, and became a superstar. Many years afterwards, Patterson came out of the closet. But no current WWE star has publicly announced that he is gay. Until now.
Here is the exchange at LAX in which Darren Young revealed the truth:
There are a couple of things about what happened which are interesting. The first is the matter of fact way in which Young related the truth about himself. No nervousness, no press conference, no trumpets blaring. The second is how fast the WWE backed Young up:
On TMZ this morning, WWE Superstar Darren Young revealed to the WWE Universe that he is gay. WWE is proud of Darren Young for being open about his sexuality, and we will continue to support him as a WWE Superstar. Today, in fact, Darren will be participating in one of our Be A STAR anti-bullying rallies in Los Angeles to teach children how to create positive environments for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation.
(Note: the WWE has been a major force lately in the anti-bullying movement.)
WWE superstar John Cena made a statement of his own:
John Cena had praise for Young's decision. "Oh, wonderful," he said when told of the news. "Good for him. That's fantastic ... I know Darren personally. Darren's a great guy. That's a very bold move for him. And congratulations for him for actually finally doing it." Cena, whose older brother is gay, added that he expected this wouldn't have any effect on his work.
"It's all about being professional, and Darren Young is a consummate professional," Cena said. "For us, it's entertainment, and if you're entertaining you shouldn't be judged by race, creed, color or sexuality ... as long as you're entertaining."
And the demographic which the haters count on drawing from continues to shrink...