WWE Succeeds At…Making Darren Young Great Again?

By Sean Ross Sapp –

For at least one night, the WWE did it. They made Darren Young “great again.”

Young’s Raw re-debut was unadvertised, as was the Raw return of his new manager, former WWF Champion Bob Backlund, but as it turns out, that didn’t matter. Young won a battle royal that kicked off WWE Monday Night Raw, and earned a WWE Intercontinental Championship match at this Sunday’s WWE Battleground against title-holder, Miz.

Young’s victory came when Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin eliminated each other, leaving a bewildered Young in the ring to celebrate his win with his new mentor. In an even more surprising move, the arena was filled with “Darren Young” chants. From the live reports sent to us, it was 3/4 of the arena, and not piped in at all.

Darren Young took on The Miz during this past weekend’s live events, and was victorious via DQ when Maryse interfered. Raw was Young’s first televised win since beating Damien Sandow on Superstars in early May. As it turns out, it was Darren Young’s first ever victory on Raw as a singles competitor.

The WWE hyped Young’s return to television for months with “Make Darren Young Great Again” vignettes, which featured the WWE Hall of Famer Backlund giving Young sometimes ridiculous advice.