Jerome Young (born January 3, 1963) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his stage name New Jack in ECW. Young is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff hardcore wrestling style, often taking high risks and "shooting" on opponents. He is also known for having his theme song ("Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre) play throughout his matches in ECW. The inspiration for his ring name came from the movie New Jack City.
Video New Jack
Professional wrestling career
United States Wrestling Association (1992-1993)
Young trained under Ray Candy and debuted in 1992 in the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA), where he adopted the name New Jack. In June 1993, he won his first championship, the USWA World Tag Team Championship with his partner Homeboy, defeating Simply Devine for the titles. They would hold onto the titles for two weeks before losing them to C.W. Bergstrom and Melvin Penrod, Jr. He would remain with the company until the end of the summer.
North Georgia Wrestling Alliance (1993-1994)
After leaving Memphis, Young, returned to Atlanta and wrestled for North Georgia Wrestling Alliance, and won their Heavyweight Championship. In early 1994, he paired up with former WCW enhancement talent Mustafa Saed and formed The Gangstas, and won NGWA Tag Team Championship in July 1994, but quickly vacated them, as they left the territory.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1994-1995)
In July 1994, The Gangstas went to Knoxville and wrestle for 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 pinfall as opposed to the conventional three count. They engaged in a long feud with the Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson). During their stint, the NAACP would picket outside the performance venues because of the "Gangsta" gimmick, claiming that no racial violence had occurred in the Tennessee area for years, and they did not want the reputation of gangsters to be put into the Tennessee area. After the feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express ended, they feuded with The Thugs (Tracy Smothers and Tony Anthony) and with USWA's PG-13 until they left the company in June 1995.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
The Gangstas (1995-1997)
In July 1995, The Gangstas joined the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion. They won the ECW Tag Team Championships twice before Saed was fired from the company in 1997.
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. Axl, however, never made it to the show for reasons never made clear. (In the 2005 documentary Forever Hardcore, New Jack said he thinks something happened with Axl's grandmother, which forced Axl to not make it). Rotten was replaced with "Mass Transit" Eric Kulas, an untrained seventeen-year-old who convinced booker Paul Heyman that he was twenty-three and had been trained by the veteran Killer Kowalski. Kulas was hospitalized 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. Kulas died on May 12, 2002 at the age of 22 due to complications from gastric bypass surgery. Later, Kulas' parents tried to sue New Jack because they believed their son's death was caused due to depression and a major eating disorder after what New Jack did to him.
The Gangstanators (1997-1998)
New Jack then formed The Gangstanators, a new tag team with former Eliminator John Kronus, going on to win a third ECW Tag Team Championship. New Jack began dragging in a garbage can full of weapons and throwing it into the ring as a sort of ultra-violent trash bag.
Singles competition (1999-2001)
New Jack throughout the late-1990s was in a bitter feud with Da Baldies and their leader The Spanish Angel over the unofficial title of "King of the Streets". The two battled back and forth over the matter in bloody street fights. One of ECW television's most gruesome moments is when in the course of a match, Angel used New Jack's staple gun (which he often wore around his neck with a chain) against him, stapling him in the eye. Referees called off the match, and New Jack disappeared from the air for many months. New Jack returned by the end of 1999 with his eye seemingly recovered, now sporting a scythe around his neck, claiming that he had "upgraded" the staple gun. The first match he had against Angel since his return was a successful one, as he continued his feud against Da Baldies.
On March 12, 2000, at the Living Dangerously pay-per-view in Danbury, Connecticut, New Jack suffered legitimate brain damage and was permanently blinded in his right eye when he and his opponent, Vic Grimes, fell around 15 feet off a scaffold, missed the tables that were supposed to absorb the force of their fall and landed on the concrete floor, with Grimes landing on New Jack's head.
In a rematch between the two on February 23, 2002, at an Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) show called "Freefall" in Los Angeles, New Jack threw Grimes from a scaffold (which, this time, was directly above the ring), and Grimes plummeted around 40 feet into the ring. The stunt did not work out as planned, as Grimes only landed on two of the 12 tables that were intended to break his fall and ended up dislocating his ankle on the ring rope. In the 2005 documentary Forever Hardcore, New Jack claimed that he had intentionally thrown Grimes too hard in the hopes that he would hit the ring post and for Grimes to be injured or killed, but under further evaluation Grimes can be seen noticeably pushing off the scaffold with his foot which is one of the main factors leading to the botch. Also in the interview, he said that the Living Dangerously accident was his own fault for prematurely pulling Grimes down from the scaffold. Jack has said that Grimes had been going around telling the locker room that he hurt New Jack, until Jack replied by saying "I hurt me."
XPW and the independent circuit (2001-2012)
After ECW declared bankruptcy in April 2001, New Jack began wrestling on the independent circuit. In 2001 and 2002, he wrestled for XPW, and in 2003, he made multiple appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and also Combat Zone Wrestling, competing in Cage of Death V. New Jack appeared at the ECW reunion show, Hardcore Homecoming, on June 10, 2005, as well as competing on the "Extreme Reunion" tour from September 15-16.
In April 2003, New Jack was in a memorable hardcore match with longtime wrestler Gypsy Joe. Joe was continuously no-selling New Jack. New Jack also states on a shoot interview that Joe headbutted him in the nose. This caused New Jack to legitimately attack the sexagenarian with a chain, a framed picture of his aunt, a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, and several other weapons. Before the match Jack met Gypsy Joe and went to the booker of the show and asked exactly what he was supposed to do with Joe. Jack was told "Gypsy Joe is as tough as leather", and Jack replied that he was not going to lose dollar value from this match and will not have either a comedy, or a gimmick match, and told the booker he will kill Gypsy Joe in this hardcore match.
In October 2004, New Jack, wrestling for Thunder Wrestling Federation, was scheduled to fight fellow wrestler William Jason Lane. During the match, New Jack pulled out a metal blade from his camouflage wrestling attire, and stabbed Lane nine times; This action caused New Jack to receive various felony charges, including for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault to commit murder. New Jack claims that the two met prior to the match and agreed to use a "piece of metal" to inflict injury. Despite this, a police officer who was recording the incident stated that it looked like it went "past a routine wrestling match." The promoter of the event, Mr. Maurice Williams, claims the event was never intended to be hardcore. New Jack has claimed that he only stabbed Lane nine times. New Jack announced his retirement on XPW's A Cold Day To Hell in 2008 though he continued working independent shows. In 2012, New Jack competed for Extreme Rising and CZW.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003, 2004, 2010)
During 2003 and 2004 New Jack wrestled occasional events for TNA
On August 8, 2010, New Jack appeared at TNA's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, where he and Mustafa assaulted Team 3D and Joel Gertner after a match.
Ring Warriors (2013-2014)
On September 8, 2013, Jack made his debut in Ring Warriors. Two weeks later, Jack revealed himself as the manager of Frank Stone and Kory Chavis. He competed in a Hardcore Scramble which was won by Necro Butcher.
Retirement
On April 5, 2013 at Pro Wrestling Syndicate's Super Card 2013 Night 2, New Jack defeated Necro Butcher in his official retirement match. Following the match New Jack and Necro Butcher embraced passionately & performed his theme song & celebrated with Marty Jannetty & Ricky Morton.
Return to professional wrestling (2016-present)
New Jack has been wrestling for Money Mark Productions and most recently wrestled Brad Cash in Lewisberg, Tennessee on April 16, 2016. On June 11, 2016, New Jack was set to face former UFC star Phil Baroni in an unsanctioned match at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. In October, New Jack appeared at Crushed 2 wrestling event in Minneapolis, MN interfering in a match between Eugene and Tommy Lee Curtis. He ran out with the garbage can full of weapons and saved Eugene from a beat down and ended up doing a diving splash through a table to pin Tommy Lee Curtis even though he was only interfering. It was billed as his last appearance in the Midwest. In January Jack was eliminiated in battle royal by White Mike but went on to defeat Mike in a singles match, in March he teamed fellow ECW Alumni The Sandman & Justin Credible in a winning effort at an ECPW show.
Maps New Jack
Other media
In the video game ECW Anarchy Rulz, New Jack's theme song was rerecorded by Bootsy Collins with unique lyrics, unlike every other character's theme, which consisted of cover versions of their real themes. The real theme ("Natural Born Killaz") could not be featured; copyright issues from their record labels wouldn't allow it. New Jack was featured in the 1999 wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat. In addition, he appeared in the television series Early Edition on May 6, 2000 as a biker in the episode "Mel Schwartz, Bounty Hunter". He was also featured in the video game Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood.
New Jack is referenced in the 1996 Weezer single "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 took part in a shoot interview with The Iron Sheik and The Honky Tonk Man where the subject was Chris Benoit's murder-suicide. New Jack commented that nothing could excuse what Benoit had done and all people on WWE and elsewhere who were making excuses for him were hypocrites. He also thought it was ironic how Extreme Championship Wrestling was seen as violent and dangerous wrestling when he was working there and still only one person died under New Jack's time with the company, whereas WWE was "averaging three a year."
New Jack recently made his hip hop recording debut. He contributed several verses to indie rapper Duckman's new album Duckman for Presidente. An animated commercial for the album featuring a cartoon version of New Jack was recently released. New Jack's voice is featured in the commercial and he tells listeners to "buy the cd or I'll stab your ass".
New Jack has participated in several shoot interviews for RF Video and Kayfabe Commentaries. He was also interviewed by Pro Wrestling Insider for a two-disc DVD set in which he covered his entire career.
New Jack, along with indy wrestler Jay Lover, made an appearance on The Daily Show, on the May 9, 2013 episode of the show, in a segment entitled "Stay Out Of School". It was later confirmed that this was a one-time appearance.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- 187 (Diving elbow drop while holding a steel chair underneath his arm)
- Gangsta Splash (Diving splash, usually through a table)
- Signature moves
- Airplane spin
- Death Valley driver
- Diving headbutt
- Guitar shot
- Multiple stiff weapon shots
- Side belly-to-belly suplex
- Nicknames
- "The Original Gangsta"
- "King of the Streets"
- Managers
- Jim Cornette
- Wrestlers managed
- Kory Chavis
- Frank Stone
- Entrance themes
- "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio (SMW; 1995)
- "Murder Was The Case" by Snoop Dogg (ECW; 1995)
- "Natural Born Killaz" by Dr. Dre & Ice Cube (ECW / Independent circuit; 1996 - present)
- ""Gangsta" by Dale Oliver (TNA; 2003 - 2004)
Championships and accomplishments
- Extreme Championship Wrestling
- ECW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Mustafa Saed (2) and John Kronus (1)
- Legends Pro Wrestling
- XWF/LPW Hall of Fame Inductee (2/22/08)
- North Georgia Wrestling Association
- NGWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NGWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Festus and Mustafa Saed
- Smoky Mountain Wrestling
- SMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mustafa Saed
- United States Wrestling Association
- USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Home Boy
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #386 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
References
External links
- New Jack on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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