The Prime Time Players The Prime Time Players is a professional wrestling tag team , consisting of " The Real Deal " Titus O ' Neil and " Mr . No Days Off " Darren Young who currently perform for WWE . The duo , who initially opposed each other in several matches , managed to become the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championship . As the team name suggests , their gimmick portrays them as brash and cocky athletes . History . NXT background . Darren was initially a member of The Nexus as a competitor from WWE NXT ( Season 1 ) . He was managed by CM Punk who was a heel at the time . He had refused to join the Straight Edge Society , and seems to have turned against Punk since Punk was also attacked when Nexus attacked Cena under the guidance of the victor of season 1 , Wade Barrett . Darren was not present when Punk formed the New Nexus , having been kicked out of the group by Wade for losing matches . Titus was a competitor on WWE NXT ( Season 1 ) , a face managed by Zack Ryder . He was the first to be eliminated , and did join the rest of the season 2 rookies in following their predecessors ' example by attacking their pros when Kaval won the finale . NXT Redemption . Feud ( 2011 ) . The two got a second chance at TV when they were brought onto NXT Redemption under new pros . Darren was managed by Chavo Guerrero and Titus by Hornswoggle . Titus O ' Neil was for a long time , a face , pairing with Percy Watson ( see Percy & Titus ) . Darren Young was a consistently a heel for much of the show . March 22 : Titus defeated Darren . March 29 Titus teamed with Byron Saxton and Conor O ' Brian to beat Darren who had teamed with Jacob Novak and Lucky Cannon . April 5 Titus and Hornswoggle teamed to beat Darren and Chavo . April 12 Titus defeated Darren . April 19 Titus helped Hornswoggle beat Darren . April 26 Titus defeated Darren . May 10 & May 17 : Darren defeated Titus . May 24 : Titus defeated Darren . July 5 , Darren and Titus paired ( for the first time ? ) and lost to the team of Miz and Derrick Bateman . July 12 , both lost to Derrick Bateman ( accompanied by Miz ) in a 3 - way elimination match . On July 19 , Titus defeated Darren . Nov 30 they both lost to Derrick Bateman in a triple threat . The pair initially feuded , exchanging victories back and forth . Eventually , Titus O ' Neil made a heel turn by insulting the crowd , and after defeating Percy Watson , won Darren Young ' s respect , and Titus also began respecting Darren in turn . Formation ( 2012 ) . Young and O ' Neil first tagged together on January 31 , 2012 on NXT against Alex Riley and Percy Watson . Smackdown ( 2012 - present ) . On the April 18 episode of " NXT " , Young and O ' Neil were signed by John Laurinaitis to the SmackDown brand . The team made their debut for the brand on the April 20 episode of " SmackDown " with a victory over The Usos . Backstage they gloated over the demoted Teddy Long , insulting him for not having the vision to draft them earlier . Booker T concurred with Laurinaitis ( an oddity , as he had fought for Team Teddy against Team Johnny at WrestleMania ) that the pair were interesting and should have been on the show some time ago . At No Way Out , Darren and Titus won a match to become the # 1 contenders to the Tag Team Championship , after receiving assistance from Abraham Washington who betrayed Primo and Epico . 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 Team Hell No ( 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 face s . 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 . Dissolution ( 2014 ) . The team broke up on the January 31 , 2014 episode of " SmackDown " . After Young was pinned in a match with Ryback and Curtis Axel , Titus viciously attacked him after the match . Reunion and various feuds ( 2015 – 2016 ) . On February 16 episode of " Raw " , O ' Neil made a save for Young who was being attacked by The Ascension , signifying a reunion . The following week on Raw , the Prime Time Players would defeat The Ascension in a tag team match , which resulted in Young being beaten in the ring , furthering their feud . The Prime Time Players would bounce back from this hiccup , and go on to win a series of tag team matches , which put them in the # 1 contender spot . At Money in the Bank 2015 , the Prime Time Players successfully defeated The New Day to earn the WWE Tag Team Championship .