Dartanyon Ruffin is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Leon Ruff, and was a one-time

NXT North American Champion The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. ...

Professional wrestling career

Evolve (2018–2020)

Ruffin adopted his ring name "Leon Ruff" to honor his grandfather Leon Ruffin. Ruff made his debut at Evolve 106 on June 23, 2018, teaming with Tommy Maserati in a losing effort against Adrian Alanis and Liam Gray. At

Evolve 131 Evolve 131, also known as Evolve's 10th Anniversary Celebration, was a professional wrestling livestreaming event produced by the American promotion Evolve in partnership with WWE. The event aired on the WWE Network, making it the first Evolve sh ...

on July 13, 2019, Ruff and

A. R. Fox Thomas James "T. J." Ballester (born September 5, 1987), better known by his ring name A. R. Fox, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is also known for his work in promotions like Combat Zone Wrestl ...

defeated The UnWanted (

Eddie Kingston Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Kingston started his wrestling career in 2002, and has wrestled for numerous ...

and

Joe Gacy Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Joe Gacy. He is the leader of The Schism. Gacy is best known for his work in Combat Z ...

) to win the

Evolve Tag Team Championship The Evolve Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the Evolve promotion. The inaugural champions were crowned on January 24, 2016, at the end of an eight-team tournament. Like most professional wrestlin ...

. At Evolve 142 on December 7, Ruff and Fox lost the titles to The Besties in the World (Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett), ending their reign at 147 days.

WWE (2019–2021)

Though not under contract, Ruff made an appearance on the December 4, 2019 episode of '' NXT'', teaming with Adrian Alanis in a losing effort against The Forgotten Sons ( Steve Cutler and

Wesley Blake Cory James Weston (born September 4, 1987) is an American professional wrestler currently working on the independent circuit under the ring name Westin Blake. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Wesley B ...

). Throughout early 2020, Ruff wrestled as a

local competitor Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the lit ...

on a variety of

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising ...

s including Raw,

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes si ...

, NXT,

205 Live ''WWE 205 Live'' is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by WWE. It premiered on November 29, 2016, and ended on February 11, 2022. The show originally aired exclusively on the WWE Network until March ...

, and

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. On October 7, 2020, Ruff signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

. On the November 11 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff defeated

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name Johnny Gargano. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is best known for his time in NXT, ...

to win the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developme ...

after he was chosen as Gargano's opponent by a roulette-style spinning wheel. The following week on ''NXT'', Ruff retained the championship against Gargano via disqualification when

Damian Priest Luis Martínez (born September 26, 1982) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Damian Priest, and is a member of the stable The Ju ...

, Gargano's rival, intentionally punched Ruff. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Ruff lost the title back to Gargano in a triple threat match also involving Priest, ending Ruff's reign at 25 days. On the December 30 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff faced Gargano in a rematch for the title but was defeated. Leon Ruff would begin teaming with Kushida and both men would enter the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. In the first round, Ruff and Kushida would defeat The Way (

and

Austin Theory Austin White (born August 2, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Austin Theory and is the current WWE United States Champion in his ...

) on the January 20 episode of ''NXT''. On the January 27 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff and Kushida would lose to The Grizzled Young Veterans in the quarterfinals. On the February 17 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff would begin feuding with

Isaiah "Swerve" Scott Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee). ...

after Ruff defeated him in a match but was attacked by Scott afterwards. On the February 24 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff was attacked by Scott before his match with

Tyler Rust Russell Gene Taylor (born January 26, 1987), is an American professional wrestler. Taylor is currently competing for Ring of Honor under the ring name Taylor Rust. In his previous stint with ROH, Taylor was previously known as Rust Taylor. He is ...

. On the March 31 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff would qualify for the gauntlet eliminator on night 1 of NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver. At the event, Ruff was the first man eliminated in the match by Scott. On the April 13 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff would be defeated by Scott in a one on one match and backstage after the match, Ruff would attack Scott. The two fought once more on the May 4 episode of ''NXT'' with Ruff being defeated by Scott in a Falls Count Anywhere match due to interference from

Top Dolla Anthony Joseph Francis (born May 7, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under ...

. On the May 11 episode of ''NXT'', Ruff would be defeated by

Pete Dunne Peter Thomas England (born 9 November 1993) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Butch. He is a former WWE United Kingdom Champion and also a former NX ...

despite attacking Dunne before the match had begun. On August 6, Ruff was released from his WWE contract. His final match took place the same night with a win over

Grayson Waller Matthew Farrelly (born 21 March 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Grayson Waller. Before signing to WWE, he previously wrestled on the independen ...

on ''205 Live''.

GCW (2021-Present)

Leon Ruff made his GCW debut on November 11, 2021, in Detroit, Michigan with a win in a 5-Way Scramble Match.

All Elite Wrestling (2022-present)

On the May 1, 2022 taping of

AEW Dark AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

, Ruff made his debut for

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

facing

Tony Nese Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Ind ...

in a losing effort. He made his televised debut on the June 17 episode of

AEW Rampage ''AEW Rampage'', also known as ''Friday Night Rampage'' or simply ''Rampage'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs every Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time ( ...

, teaming with Bear Country in a losing effort against The Gunn Club and

Max Caster Max Caster (born July 31, 1989) is an American professional wrestler and rapper, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he teams with Anthony Bowens as The Acclaimed. They are former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions. He began ...

. He made a further appearance on the July 6 episode of

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama f ...

teaming again with Bear Country and

Fuego Del Sol Fuego Del Sol ("Fire of the Sun") (born October 16, 1995), is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Professional wrestling career Del Sol debuted in May 2014, largely competing on the independent circuit ...

in a losing effort to The Gunn Club, Caster, and

Anthony Bowens Anthony Bowens (born December 18, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he teams with Max Caster as The Acclaimed. They are former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions. Early life Bowens ...

Personal life

Ruffin is currently in a relationship with WWE

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

Aja Smith. They were engaged on November 30, 2020. They have a dog named Juni.

Championships and accomplishments

* Evolve **

( 1 time) – with

*''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 165 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2021 *

( 1 time)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruff, Leon 1996 births Living people American male professional wrestlers African-American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Florida Sportspeople from Pensacola, Florida NXT North American Champions 21st-century African-American sportspeople