Main Event Micromanagement:
Darren Young's Equality Trunks
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty
Welcome to the debut edition of "Main Event Micromanagement," the once-weekly column where I pick one aspect of an hour-long broadcast for intense over-analysis. I'm not talking about the "Match of the Night," or Most Valuable Player—those reviews are reserved for other days of the week. Instead we'll be covering one-liners provided by color commentators, notes on wardrobe, ridiculous fans at ringside, and other SEEMINGLY nonsensical nuances of what is perhaps the WWE's least visible show. Let's get into the very first installment of "Main Event Micromanagement," where our topic of the day is…
Darren Young's Equality Trunks
For the Record, I couldn't find a photo of his tights, but it's the same logo that he has on his t-shirt.
I've said before how much I admire Darren Young, for an enormity of reasons, but none more so than his willingness to be himself regardless of the circumstances. When Darren came out to the world as the first openly gay member of the WWE roster, he did so on his own terms and never turned away. Instead he faced forward and held his partner's hand as a proud display of true love in its purest form. And for the record—I'm not talking about his tag team partner Titus O'Neil—I'm referring to Nick, his boyfriend of four years.
When the WWE's tour of the United Arab Emirates and similar locales kept the openly homosexual Darren state-side, he didn't stew about it behind closed doors. He took to social media, where he pushed the WWE's message of "Anti-Bullying" a step further by Tweeting his heartfelt dissatisfaction with the WWE's decision to tour an area of the world that doesn't respect women or gays. Darren has become a vocal advocate for equality and—in my humble opinion—an asset to World Wrestling Entertainment. That brings us to the "Equality Trunks."
Superstars have long since adorned their tights with logos and phrases that add to their character, and help them stand out in a ring full of my wrestlers. When I was really young, I watched the first three Wrestlemania's on repeat, because that's all the wrestling I had. While most of the combatants—such as Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and Billy Jack Hayes—wore solid-colored trunks, other wrestlers, like Mr. Wonderful, had text embroidered on the backside of their gear. As years would go on, wrestlers like "Ravishing" Rick Rude and Rob Van Dam took the art to an extreme by creating real works of art on their tights. Bret Hart had hearts—Shawn Michaels had BROKEN hearts, which seems sort of foreboding in retrospect. But few wrestlers have ever used their high-profile in-ring presence to open a dialogue about real issues facing this country, and nations around the world.
Darren Young's trunks feature two muscular arms—perhaps his own—printed one over the other, just like the EQUAL SIGN that represents equality among people, regardless of whom they choose to love. We've all seen that pink and red symbol from time to time, perhaps on Facebook or Twitter, and a lot of people never knew what it meant. I am a heterosexual 28-year old guy, but I live on Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, California. For those of you who don't know, Long Beach has a considerable gay population, and Ocean Boulevard is the home of Gay Pride each year. Any of my neighbors will tell you that the equal sign is NOT meant to represent gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals alone, but ALL human beings and their equal right to be happy.
Darren certainly takes a chance when he heads down to the ring wearing a symbol that's familiar to some as a "Gay Pride" logo, especially in some of the less progressive cities in this "Great" Nation of ours. I wonder if the WWE keeps him out of certain cities all together, the way promotors in the 70s and 80s would have to hold off on their African American talent. Regardless of how others might react, Darren takes the chance night after night and is greeted with a generally favorable response every time. I think it helps some of the less educated members of the WWE Universe to embrace a gay wrestler, when they see him pal around with Titus O'Neill doing—for lack of a better word—"guy stuff."
When you strip Darren Young of his unique personality and flashy persona, you've still got a solid professional wrestler, trained by the very talented Kevin Knight at the Independent Wrestling Federation. Darren hasn't seen much success in terms of singles wrestling since debuting with the WWE, but was part of the Nexus angle, which earned him a Slammy Award in 2010. I'm of the belief that Darren Young will have a job with the WWE for as long as he wants, provided he keeps his nose clean, and continues to work hard between the ropes. There's not a racist, or redneck, or bigot in the world that can say Darren Young doesn't deserve to be where he is, based on his athletic ability alone.
I think it would behoove the WWE to utilize Darren in a more prominent way as an ambassador for their brand. Today is April 30, 2015 and just hours ago, Cyndi Lauper—close friend to the WWE—appeared before the Senate to advocate on behalf of the teenage LGBT community that is currently homeless. She asked that parents not kick their kids out on the street, and rather than pray for their child to change, pray that they themselves might learn acceptance. It was powerful, to say the least. And I feel that the WWE has its own advocate for human rights in one half of the "Prime Time Players." Darren Young has had no reservations about speaking his mind, and judging by the trunks he wears to the ring—is ready to start a conversation.
Thank you for joining me and until next time, this has been Mark Adam Haggerty reminding you to check out all of my work at Cheap-Heat and Daily Wrestling News; follow me on Twitter via @TapeTraderz and on Facebook by LIKING "The B+ Players"; and listen to my weekly podcasts available every single Friday, Saturday and Sunday—exclusively at Cheap-Heat.com.
