Openly Gay WWE Wrestler Blasts Company For Abu Dhabi Shows

Today marks the first of three WWE house shows in Abu Dhabi, and Darren Young is very notably not among the wrestlers making the trip. Young (real name Fred Rosser) came out as gay in 2013, and the United Arab Emirates doesn't have the best human-rights record. WWE says it left Young behind for his own safety, but Young wishes his employer wouldn't tour the country in the first place.

Via Uproxx, Young tweeted, then soon deleted, this:

(The tweet is preserved on his WWE.com profile page. They may want to get rid of that feature.)

Young pretty much answered his own question there. But he continued tweeting, and retweeted messages of support—including a couple from familiar faces.

Within a couple hours, WWE issued a statement:

"WWE does not discriminate against individuals regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation, and we continue to proudly support Fred Rosser (aka WWE Superstar Darren Young) for being open about his sexuality.

"Unfortunately, WWE cannot change cultures and laws around the world, and thus we did not send Fred Rosser to the United Arab Emirates for our upcoming events for his own protection.

"WWE also fully supports Fred Rosser's right to express his views on personal social media accounts rather than WWE's corporate platforms."

(Here's the part where we're forced to raise the possibility that this is an angle. I really doubt it, but wrestling is weird.)