The wrestling world is currently mourning the loss of Jerome Young, better known to wrestling fans as New Jack. He passed away on Friday in North Carolina at the age of 58 from a heart attack, leaving behind a wife and children. He will be remembered as a polarizing character who left his mark on the world of pro wrestling.
While his career spanned almost 30 years and multiple promotions, he will always be remembered for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 90s. The man who brought him to the promotion, Paul Heyman, paid tribute to the ECW original this week’s episode of Talking Smack. Initially, he said he hoped New Jack had faked his death and that while WWE would typically show footage of a deceased wrestler, they couldn’t with such a non-PG performer. He’d conclude by saying that he wishes everyone an extreme weekend, Gangsta style.
Heyman always stood by New Jack, and the former ECW head-honcho spoke up for him during his trial for the Mass Transit Incident. This was when New Jack brutally assaulted Eric “Mass Transit” Kulas in a match when the untrained seventeen-year-old lied to Heyman to get on the show. His testimony would help New Jack get acquitted. Despite the negative attention Jack brought to ECW and almost costing them their opportunity on pay-per-view, Heyman would keep him on their roster until the company closed in 2001.
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