Formation (2012) Initially, O'Neil (who was then a
face) and Young were rivals on
WWE NXT during its fifth season, named
NXT Redemption. Early on, O'Neil was paired with then-friend
Percy Watson against Young and his NXT pro,
Chavo Guerrero. The feud was put on hold when Guerrero was released and Young was suspended. On the November 16, 2011, episode of
NXT, O'Neil was assaulted by a returning Young. Young was then able to get the better of O'Neil twice in tag team matches. The conclusion to O'Neil's feud with Young came when O'Neil defeated Young in a no disqualification match on the January 18 episode of
NXT. O'Neil then
turned heel after the match, verbally ripping on the audience, his former pro
Hornswoggle, and NXT itself. O'Neil urged Watson to also turn his back on the fans on the January 25, 2012, episode of
NXT Redemption. When Watson refused, O'Neil shoved him and a match between the two was booked, leading to O'Neil defeating Watson. O'Neil continued to attack Watson after the match, leading to
Alex Riley saving Watson. O'Neil then formed an alliance with former enemy Young, and the duo teamed up to defeat Watson and Riley on the February 1 and February 29 episodes of
NXT Redemption. O'Neil also faced and defeated Riley on the February 22 episode. On the March 7 episode, Watson received his rematch against O'Neil and defeated O'Neil. O'Neil and Young then moved on to feud with
The Usos.
WWE Tag Team Championship pursuits and split (2012–2014) On the April 18 episode of
NXT Redemption, it was announced that O'Neil and Young had been moved to the main roster. The team made their debut for the
SmackDown brand on the April 20 episode of
SmackDown with a victory over The Usos. They started on a winning streak defeating the likes
Ezekiel Jackson and
Yoshi Tatsu and
Santino Marella and
Zack Ryder. However, on the May 18 edition of
SmackDown, their winning streak ended when they were defeated by the
Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston and
R-Truth. On the June 1 edition of
SmackDown, O'Neil and Young named themselves the Prime Time Players. At
No Way Out, they won a Fatal-four-Way tag team match to become the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship following assistance from
A. W. who had turned on his clients,
Primo and Epico in favor of the Prime Time Players, prompting a feud between the two tag teams. On the July 16 episode of
Raw, the Prime Time Players unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for the WWE Tag Team Championship. O'Neil and Young bounced back with two singles victories over Kingston and R-Truth. On the August 10 episode of
SmackDown, they defeated Primo and Epico in a number one contenders match via disqualification when A. W. provoked Kofi and R-Truth (who were doing guest commentary) into interfering in the match. That same day, A. W. was released from his contract. On the August 13 edition of
Raw, it was announced that the Prime Time Players would receive their championship match at
SummerSlam. That same night, after R-Truth defeated
Heath Slater, O'Neil and Young ambushed R-Truth and left him laying in the ring (Kingston was away on an international tour). At
SummerSlam, O'Neil & Young were defeated by Kingston and R-Truth. On the September 7 edition of
SmackDown, O'Neil and Young defeated
Primo and Epico and
The Usos in a triple threat tag match to once again become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship. The following week of
Raw, they were defeated by
Daniel Bryan and Kane, who became the new number one contenders. At
Survivor Series, the Prime Time Players took part in a losing effort in a
ten-man elimination tag team match. In an interview released on August 15, 2013, Young revealed his
homosexual orientation in
real-life. On the August 19 episode of
Raw, the Prime Time Players started to wrestle as
faces, due to management's and the fans' support for Darren Young coming out. At the pre-show of
Night of Champions, the Prime Time Players won a "Tag Team Turmoil" match and thus a title shot by last eliminating the Real Americans (
Antonio Cesaro and
Jack Swagger). Later that night, they lost to defending champions
Seth Rollins and
Roman Reigns of
the Shield. After their face turn they did several comedy segments backstage including selling merchandise and a hotdog eating contest. On the January 31, 2014, episode of
SmackDown after Young was pinned in a tag team match against
Ryback and
Curtis Axel, O'Neil viciously attacked him after the match, turning
heel and officially disbanding the team. They would have a match at
Elimination Chamber, with O'Neil getting the victory. A rematch took place on the February 26 episode of
Main Event, which was won by Young. In April, Young underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee that would take him out of action for several months. Meanwhile, O'Neil formed a dysfunctional tag team with
Heath Slater, known as Slater-Gator (a reference to O'Neil being a
Florida Gator), to little success.
Reunion and WWE Tag Team Champions (2015–2016) On February 16 episode of Raw, O'Neil made a save for Young who, along with independent wrestler
Kevin Kross (who would later return to WWE under the ring name "Karrion Kross" in 2020), was being attacked by
The Ascension. This signified a reunion of the team and face turn for O'Neil. On the February 23 episode of Raw, they officially reunited and gave The Ascension their first loss in the WWE. They once again defeated The Ascension on March 14 episode of
Main Event. They then participated in the
André the Giant Memorial Trophy Battle Royal at
WrestleMania 31, which was won by
Big Show. After WrestleMania, they began performing comedic skits that poked fun at other tag teams including
The New Day, The Ascension,
Los Matadores and
Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. They became one of the five teams to challenge the New Day for the Tag Titles at
Elimination Chamber, and eliminated The Ascension and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, but lost after all of The New Day pinned Titus O'Neil. The following week on
SmackDown, they won a triple threat tag team match against the
Lucha Dragons and The Ascension, to become the number one contenders for the tag team championship against The New Day at
Money in the Bank. At
Money in the Bank, the Prime Time Players defeated
The New Day to capture the
WWE Tag Team Championship, their first ever titles in WWE. At
Battleground, the Prime Time Players successfully retained their titles against The New Day. At
SummerSlam,
The New Day defeated The Prime Time Players in a
Fatal-4-Way tag team match to become the new
WWE Tag Team Champions. On the September 7 episode of
Raw, it was announced that The New Day would defend the titles against The Prime Time Players in a rematch the following week, and the winners would defend the titles against The
Dudley Boyz at
Night of Champions. On the September 14 episode of
Raw, The New Day defeated The Prime Time Players, thus setting up The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz for Night of Champions. Towards the end of 2015, O'Neil and Young began focusing on singles careers. On the November 9 episode of
Raw, O'Neil competed in the first round of the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament against
Kevin Owens, in a losing effort. At the
Survivor Series pre-show, O'Neil teamed with a returning
Goldust,
Dudley Boyz and
Neville against
The Cosmic Wasteland,
The Miz and
Bo Dallas, in a
five-on-five traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match, in a winning effort. O'Neil and Young appeared as a team on January 15, 2016, at a
house show on WWE's
India tour. Young teamed with Damien Sandow on the
Royal Rumble 2016 Kickoff Show in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match, while O'Neil competed in the
Royal Rumble match itself. On the February 2, 2016, taping of
Main Event, the duo returned to team with
The Usos, to defeat
The Ascension,
Stardust and
Tyler Breeze. They have since quietly disbanded when O'Neil received a 60-day suspension after the February 8 episode of Raw after an alleged physical altercation with Vince McMahon. After O'Neil's suspension, both Young and O'Neil returned to singles competition. O'Neil began a feud with
Rusev for the
WWE United States Championship while Young started a storyline with
Bob Backlund, challenging
The Miz for the
WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Second feud (2016) When the
WWE Draft returned in July 2016, both of them were drafted to the
Raw brand. On the August 1 episode of
Raw, O'Neil started a slow
heel turn when he questioned Young's motives on being "great again". Later that night, he defeated Young when he pinned him while grabbing Young's tights. Afterwards, he got into a backstage altercation with Bob Backlund before Young came to the defense of Backlund by attacking O'Neil. The week after on
Raw, Young defeated O'Neil via pinfall by grabbing O'Neil's tights, mimicking the way O'Neil defeated him. On the August 15 episode of
Raw, Young and O'Neil reconciled and were placed in an
ad hoc tag team match against
The Shining Stars. During the match, O'Neil attacked Young, officially turning heel in the process for the first time since 2015. On October 29, 2017, Darren Young was released from his WWE contract thus ending any possibilities of a reunion. ==Reception==