The wife of Jerome Young, better known to wrestling fans as New Jack, has confirmed to PWInsider.com that her husband passed away Friday afternoon in North Carolina. The cause of death is said to have been a heart attack.
The ECW original had previously retired in 2013, but like so many wrestlers before him, he couldn’t stay away from the ring and returned in 2015. His final match took place just last month, following an 18-month hiatus when he competed in a six-man tag match for ICW No Holds Barred in Florida.
New Jack initially became known to wrestling fans in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1994 and jumped to ECW in 1995. However, the general public learned about him due to the Mass Transit Incident when he brutally assaulted Eric “Mass Transit” Kulas, an untrained seventeen-year-old who lied to Paul Heyman to get on the show. He was charged with aggravated assault but was later acquitted and subsequently likened himself to OJ Simpson. Following that incident, WWE never had any interest in him, and once ECW went out of business, he was consigned to the independent circuit and occasional appearances for TNA.
New Jack will be remembered as a polarizing figure in wrestling. Some fans will always consider him an outspoken charismatic entertainer. In contrast, others just saw him as an unsafe worker who on occasion performed despicable actions on those who trusted him with their bodies. Regardless of anyone’s opinion, he left his mark on the world of pro wrestling, and it’s unlikely they’ll ever be another wrestler as controversial as he was.
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