Jerome Young (born January 3, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name, New Jack. He is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff, hardcore wrestling style, often incorporating weapons into his matches.
| Jerome Young | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 3, 1963 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | "The Original Gangsta" New Jack |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) |
| Trained by | Ray Candy |
| Debut | 1992 |
Career
Young was a bounty hunter before he became a professional wrestler. He claims to have committed four justifiable homicides in the line of duty.
Young trained under Ray Candy and debuted in 1993 in the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association, where he adopted the name New Jack. He went on to form a tag team named The Gangstas with Mustafa Saed in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The Gangstas took part in several controversial angles, on one occasion using affirmative action to enable them to win matches with a two count, not the conventional three count. They engaged in a long feud with the Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson).
In 1995, The Gangstas left SMW and joined the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. They won the ECW Tag Team Championships twice before Saed left the company in 1997. New Jack then formed a new tag team with John Kronus known as The Gangstanators, and went on to win a third ECW Tag Team Championship.
New Jack was involved in the Mass Transit Incident on November 23, 1996 in Revere, Massachusetts. The Gangstas were scheduled to face D-Von Dudley and Axl Rotten, but Rotten had missed the event. For whatever reason, Axl Rotten could not make it to the show. Rotten was replaced with "Mass Transit" Erich Kulas; an obese, untrained seventeen-year-old who convinced booker Paul Heyman that he was nineteen and had been trained by the veteran Killer Kowalski. In the course of the match, New Jack attempted to blade Kulas, but inadvertedly cut through an artery, causing him to begin bleeding profusely. Kulas was hospitalised as a result, eventually receiving fifty stitches. New Jack was charged with aggravated assault stemming from the incident, but was acquitted. Kulas subsequently sued New Jack and ECW for damages in July 1998, but lost the case. He died in 2002 of unrelated causes.
On March 13, 2000, New Jack suffered brain damage and was permanently blinded in his right eye when he and his opponent, Vic Grimes, fell off a scaffold, missed the tables that were supposed to absorb the force of their fall, and landed on the floor (with Grimes landing on New Jack's head). In an XPW rematch shortly after ECW went out of business, New Jack threw Vic Grimes off the scaffolding, and Grimes plummeted forty feet into the ring. The stunt did not work out as planned, as Grimes did not go through all four tables that were intended to break his fall and ended up dislocating his ankle on a rope. In the 2005 documentary Forever Hardcore, New Jack claimed that he had intentionally thrown Grimes too hard in the hopes that he would be injured or die.
After ECW declared bankruptcy in April 2001, New Jack began wrestling on the independent circuit. In 2002 he wrestled for Xtreme Pro Wrestling, and in 2003, he made multiple appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. On October 9, 2004 he was arrested following a match in Jacksonville, Florida in which he repeatedly stabbed his opponent (the charges were later dropped after the victim insisted that the stabbing was planned). New Jack appeared at the ECW reunion show, Hardcore Homecoming, on June 10, 2005, and was scheduled to appear at ECW One Night Stand 2005 two days later, but was prevented from entering the state of New York due to an outstanding warrant.
Finishing and signature moves
- 187 (flying splash while holding a steel chair)
- Diving headbutt
- El Kabong (guitar shot)
Championships and accomplishments
- 3-time ECW Tag Team Champion (2-time with Mustafa Saed, 1-time with John Kronus)
- North Georgia Wrestling Association
- 1-time NGWA Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time NGWA Tag Team Champion (with Mustafa Saed)
- 1-time SMW Tag Team Champion (with Mustafa Saed)
- 1-time USWA Tag Team Champion (with Home Boy)
New Jack likes RVF.
Trivia
- New Jack is referenced in the Weezer song "El Scorcho". The line "watchin' Grunge legdrop New Jack through a press table" was derived from a caption for a photograph of New Jack fighting wrestler Johnny Grunge that was published in Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
- New Jack was interviewed in the 2000 wrestling documentary film Beyond the Mat. On May 6, 2000, he appeared in the television series Early Edition as a biker in the episode "Mel Schwartz, Bounty Hunter". He was featured in the video game Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood.