Darren Young Says HHH Broke His Heart; Mike Tyson-AEW; Becky Lynch Praises Asuka

Charles Sykes/Associated Press

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

Darren Young Talks Triple H Relationship, Crossface Chickenwing Ban

Darren Young's most successful run as a singles competitor in WWE came in 2016 during a brief stint that saw Bob Backlund serve as his life coach. Young and Backlund ran a series of "Make Darren Young Great Again" vignettes and promos, aping Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

The run also briefly included Young adopting Backlund's crossface chickenwing submission—right until Triple H told him he couldn't use it anymore over safety concerns.

"It was Triple H that said I couldn't use the crossface chickenwing, and it broke my heart," Young said on The Lewis Nicholls Show (4:30 mark). He continued:

"I remember after my match at Battleground with the Miz, I came to the back and I was in the corner crying my eyes out. And Triple H said, 'Come on, why are you crying?' And I said, 'I'm just devastated because people aren't gonna take me seriously anymore.' I'm putting on the cobra clutch, and people are gonna say, 'This guy doesn't know what he's doing. Why's he putting on the cobra clutch and he's with Bob Backlund?' The people aren't gonna take me seriously, so I was devastated.

"It is what it is. You either adapt or perish. That's the saying, that's the motto. Literally, you either adapt or perish. At the end of the day, who's gonna be running the company? It's gonna be Triple H, and unfortunately I wasn't a Triple H guy."

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Young said people who "worked under Vince McMahon didn't have [his] back." It's unclear whether he's directly referring to Triple H, but he said McMahon's lackeys didn't like the idea of him getting over on an idea that was his and not theirs.

Young went to McMahon personally with the idea of having Backlund as his life coach, and the WWE chairman contacted the Hall of Famer himself to make it happen.

It's unclear how much the crossface chickenwing was related to Young's angle fizzling quickly, but the angle barely lasted a couple months. Young was released in 2017 from his WWE contract.

Mike Tyson to Appear on Dynamite on Wednesday

It appears Mike Tyson's relationship with AEW was not a one-off. Iron Mike, who presented Cody with the TNT Championship at Double or Nothing on Saturday, is set to appear on Wednesday's edition of Dynamite:

AEW did not say why Tyson would be appearing. He served as something of an enforcer during the match between Cody and Lance Archer at Double or Nothing, alerting the referee to Arn Anderson's interference and blocking Jake Roberts from bringing a snake to the ring.

Perhaps Tyson will be at Dynamite to present Cody with the finished TNT Championship after the belt was presented in unfinished form at Double or Nothing.

Becky Lynch Praises Asuka

Earlier in May, Becky Lynch's yearlong run as Raw women's champion came to an end when she announced she was pregnant and presented the title to Asuka. In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Lynch revealed it "meant a lot" for Asuka to be the person to take over as the face of Raw's women's brand.

"Passing that championship on to Asuka meant a lot," Lynch said. She continued:

"She really, really deserves it. And another element that people missed, because it's not really advertised, is that she's a working mom.

"She's proved that you can do it all. You can be a badass and go off and have a family, you can come in and still kick more ass, have a YouTube show and be entertaining as all hell. The fact that she was the person to take that title from me meant a lot to me."

Lynch tossed a little shade WWE's way, saying Asuka was "robbed" of her SmackDown Women's Championship last year. Asuka dropped the title to Charlotte Flair just before WrestleMania 35 so that a Triple Threat between Flair, Ronda Rousey and Lynch could take place under "winner take all" rules.

"I've had some of my favorite matches with her," Lynch added. "Asuka's cool. She's so good, and she's a hard worker. She wants to give back, and she's not selfish. Around March of 2019, she was kind of robbed a little bit of her title. I was glad this time she was able to get it back."