Leon Ruff made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at the May 1st AEW Dark tapings from Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.

Ruff previously wrestled for WWE, starting in late 2019. He worked primarily as enhancement talent on the main roster until he signed with the company in late 2020.

Ruff joined NXT and feuded with Johnny Gargano. That program saw him win the NXT North American championship, which he held for 25 days.

You can see video of Leon Ruff scoring a shocking win over Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship HERE.

Ruff was released from WWE in August 2021.

Here are some of our articles about Leon Ruff:

• Bully Ray Compares Leon Ruff NXT Win to 1-2-3 Kid
• Leon Ruff On His Championship Victory, Thinking WWE Calling Him Was A Prank

Leon Ruff Debuts in AEW

Here are photos from Leon Ruff’s AEW debut, courtesy of JJ Williams:

Former NXT North American Champion Damian Priest has admitted he wasn’t initially invested in his feud with Leon Ruff. Priest recently joined Sean “X-Pac” Waltman on an episode of his podcast, X-Pac 12360.

He explained how, when the storyline first began, he wasn’t 100% invested in what WWE had planned. Priest confessed he didn’t know what to expect but noted he had different ideas to what was presented.

It wasn’t until he spoke with Ruff and got to know him that Priest began to be sold more on the storyline. He explained how “As we progressed and everything happened, I couldn’t imagine a cooler storyline that wasn’t about me but actually elevated and helped someone else, deservedly. I really like Leon Ruff. He’s just as loveable, humble, and respectful (as you see on TV).”

Priest shared how he’s happy Ruff has had the spotlight put on him. Although he doesn’t know how Ruff’s WWE career will progress, he looks forward to watching it develop. He acknowledged how Ruff “hit my heart” the way he did with the WWE Universe.

“I felt a bond to the person. He loves this business. It wasn’t something I was super enthused about, but I learned my lesson of, ‘not everything is going to be the way you think, but it’s probably going to be pretty good if you just trust.'”

Damian Priest recently competed in a Triple Threat match against Johnny Gargano and Leon Ruff at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. The NXT North American Championship was on the line. Gargano would ultimately win the bout, becoming a three-time NXT North American Champion.

Leon Ruff made his first title defense on a WWE NXT TakeOver special against Johnny Gargano and Damien Priest. 

It happened on Sunday at the WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames event when a Triple Threat Match was booked with the North American Championship on the line. 

The match featured Priest being featured in the big man role and dominating his opponents. Ruff did some wild spots such as being tossed through the barricade by Priest. Three people dressed up as ghost face appeared and attacked Priest, but Priest took them out.

More came down to the ring and he took them out with a dive. The finish saw a person dressed up hit Priest with a pipe and Gargano connecting with a superkick then a springboard DDT to Ruff. Austin Theory was revealed as the final ghost face. 

This contest came about after Ruff shockingly won the title from Gargano on NXT TV three weeks after getting help from Priest distracting Gargano. The following week, Ruff and Gargano faced off in a rematch, but ended via disqualification when Priest punched Ruff so Gargano wouldn’t be able to win the title back. 

Finally, the three-way contest was made official on last week’s NXT episode during a KO Show segment with Ruff that was interrupted by Priest and Gargano. 

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Leon Ruff surprised the WWE Universe by upsetting Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship. In an interview with WWE’s The Bump, Ruff reflected on his sudden rise to stardom and how he thought he was being pranked when WWE first contacted him.

Ruff confessed his world has been turned upside down since his victory. “This whole experience has been crazy,” Ruff said. “It’s also been a dream come true. I haven’t been able to sleep, still. I smile a lot, but I do that a lot anyway.”

When WWE first called him with an offer to appear on Monday Night Raw, allowing him to embrace his dream, Ruff recalled thinking it was a prank call. When he realized it was WWE, however, he described how it felt “unbelievable” to be talking with the promotion.

“Monday Night RAW was a brand I couldn’t watch growing up because we had a bedtime, and it came on too late,” Ruff said. “So when I finally started watching RAW, it was a new world to me. To not being able to watch it as a kid, and now I’m going to be featured on Monday Night RAW? It was something I couldn’t believe was happening to me.”

Leon Ruff faced off against Johnny Gargano in a championship rematch during this week’s episode of NXT. Ruff won the match via disqualification after Damien Priest punched him, purposefully costing Gargano the bout.

WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Sirius XM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed Leon Ruff’s NXT North American Championship win.

Leon Ruff defeated Johnny Gargano in shocking fashion on the most recent episode of NXT. Bully Ray would state that he ‘loved’ the angle, comparing it to when the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) defeated Razor Ramon on WWF television.

Bully Ray on Leon Ruff

“Obviously in the middle of the match I’m saying to myself ‘please do the 1-2-3 Kid thing here'” Bully Ray began on the show. “What they did there? It was great, really entertaining, and with Gargano bitching and moaning [even] later on to Regal? Leon Ruff played his part perfectly.

When Leon Ruff was on the top of the stage and he put the Championship around his waist and the Championship fell down like his pants were too big? Mega Pop, out loud! it was amazing.”

Bully Ray would then discuss the average size of wrestler in the industry today. Of course Leon Ruff is on the diminutive side but even Johnny Gargano is nowhere near the size of a performer from the mid-80s.

“You know what stuck out to me? The size of a lot of wrestlers, it’s not a big man’s business anymore now. That was evident to me last night when Gargano and Regal were face to face in the back.”

“When it was just the two of them on the screen? Oh my god” Bully Ray continued. “Regal was an average size guy in my world of pro wrestling! Back in my day? Regal was average size, and he was towering over Gargano last night. The business has morphed into maybe a smaller man’s game, with a few big men.”

• Details Behind Leon Ruff’s NXT North American Championship Victory

Busted Open co-host Dave LaGreca would chime in by saying how the size of Leon Ruff would’ve made the angle even more memorable ‘back in the day,’ as he was so much smaller than the ‘average’ wrestler. “If that would have happened say 25 years ago it would have been ‘oh my god!’ Just because the pure size of Leon Ruff. [But] we’ve seen champions the size of a Leon Ruff over the last five or six years.”

Do you agree with Bully Ray? Do you think that Pro Wrestling is now a ‘smaller man’s game?’ Let us know in the comments

This week’s episode of NXT saw Johnny Gargano suffer an upset loss to Leon Ruff. This loss cost Gargano the NXT North American Championship in the process. The belief is that Ruff’s win is being considered a joke at Gargano’s expense. It is intended to be used to reinforce the idea the Gargano is a “cursed” champion.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline, Ruff’s victory was not done in an effort to turn the young talent into a major star. He reflected on how a Superstar coming in and winning a championship in their first bout is rarely done.

It was noted, however, that the technique has been used in the past. When done, it was intended to help get a Superstar instantly over with the crowd. Past Superstars who have won singles gold in their debut matches include Paige, Carlito, and Santino Marella, to name a few.

Leon Ruff: NXT North American Champion

It didn’t take long for people to congratulate Leon Ruff following his surprising victory and for Gargano to take issue with the loss.

Triple H reached out to Ruff via Twitter to offer his congratulations. After winning the match, the North American Championship actually fell off Ruff after he raised his hands to celebrate. Triple H commented on the moment in his tweet, joking how “That’s why we don’t call it a belt.”

You can watch Ruff’s surprise championship victory over Gargano below:

Several prospects have signed with WWE that includes some notable names that fans will know. 

On Wednesday, WWE announced that these signees have reported for training this week at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. 

Among the listed WWE athletes include former EVOLVE stars Brandi Lauren, Curt Stallion, Anthony Green, Leon Ruff, Joe Gacy, and Josh Briggs.

Here are some details on the other prospects that are included in the class: 

Brandi Pawelek, known on the independents as Brandi Lauren, is an exciting competitor who has stepped in the ring for promotions like EVOLVE and SHINE.

Camron Rogers is a 6-foot-1 Texan who competes under the name Curt Stallion. Rogers broke out in 2019 in EVOLVE Wrestling, where he battled the likes of SmackDown Superstar Matt Riddle and NXT Superstars Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis and Mansoor.

Anthony Greene is a flamboyant Massachusetts native and standout grappler from EVOLVE Wrestling. The 26-year-old stood toe-to-toe with NXT Tag Team Champion Tyler Breeze in EVOLVE, as well as many of his fellow recruits from this class.

Dartanyon Ruffin, better known as Leon Ruff, is a former EVOLVE Tag Team Champion. The energetic 24-year-old has competed on Raw, SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live in recent months, going up against the likes of Sheamus, Aleister Black, Tommaso Ciampa and Legado del Fantasma.

Joseph Ruby is a 6-foot, 249-pound powerhouse from New Jersey. Competing as Joe Gacy, he’s a former three-time Combat Zone Wrestling Heavyweight Champion and EVOLVE Tag Team Champion.

Joshua Bruns is an imposing figure, standing 6-foot-8 and weighing 268 pounds. As Josh Briggs, he’s been the EVOLVE Champion and battled the likes of NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER, Matt Riddle, John Morrison and Raw Tag Team Champion Angelo Dawkins.

Jacob Kasper is a 25-year-old amateur wrestling standout from Lexington, Ohio. Kasper wrestled at Duke University, where he was a two-time NCAA All-American and won the 2018 ACC heavyweight championship. He also placed in the 2016 Olympic trials.

Jake Clemons of Ohio is a referee who has officiated matches on Monday Night Raw, as well as for promotions like EVOLVE and AIW.

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