Wrestling Icon ‘New Jack’ Passes Away At 58

Professional wrestler New Jack, a hardcore wrestling icon since the 1990s, has passed away. He was 58 years old.

Jerome Young, aka New Jack, rose to prominence in various regional wrestling promotions in the early-1990s. But when he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995, he gained national attention as one of the most hardcore of the hardcore wrestlers.

Utilizing all kinds of weapons in the ring New Jack took as much punishment as he dealt out, suffering some permanent scars in the process. But no wrestling match was more infamous than the “Mass Transit incident” of 1996.

Going up against Eric “Mass Transit” Kulas, a 17-year-old wrestler who pretended he was 21, New Jack bladed him in the head, delivering an incision that required dozens of stitches. The incident nearly got New Jack sent to prison.

New Jack would get into other highly-publicized and dangerous matches that nearly cost himself and other wrestlers their lives.

Last year he was the subject of an episode of the highly-acclaimed VICE docuseries Dark Side of the Ring.

Though he was never offered a contract by WWF/WWE, New Jack found no shortage of work in hardcore wrestling promotions after ECW.

New Jack remains one of the most controversial figures in wrestling due to some of the violent acts he committed in the ring. But he’ll be remembered as a hardcore wrestling icon for years to come.

Our hearts go out to Mr. Young’s family and loved ones.

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