Jerome Young, otherwise known by the name “New Jack” in ring, has died at the age of 58. According to a report from Mike Johnson as PWInsider.com, Young has passed following a heart attack in his home of North Carolinam, as Johnson was informed by Young’s wife Jennifer. Young’s work as New Jack began with the United States Wrestling Association, and brought him through multiple promotions until his debut with Extreme Championship Wrestling back in 1995 as part of The Gangstas. Young was seen as one of the more controversial figures in wrestling history, but never once held anything back in terms of the actual performance.
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Young is seen as one of the most controversial figures in wrestling overall, but that controversy also fueled much of his success with ECW and beyond as he held many Tag Team Championships with the promotion. This was due to the fact that Young often had his life literally on the line with his dives off of high places and more. There’s no denying that New Jack remains one of the most memorable figures of that era.
Young’s work as New Jack has even broken outside of the wrestling world as his life and career were once the focus of an episode in Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring documentary series. It was here that fans got some more details (from Young’s perspective) on many moments he had been involved with such as the Mass Transit Incident back in 1996. Not only that, but his reach went even further thanks to using Ice Cube and Dr. Dre’s “Natural Born Killaz” as his theme during his time with ECW.
Regardless of all of that, Young made his statement with the wrestling world at large with being a performer that quite literally put his own body through massive harm in order to give the audience the best show possible. Testing many new limits, and setting safety guidelines for other performers in years to come through his actions, Young will be etched into the history of wrestling for many fans.
Our thoughts and condolences go out to Jerome Young’s family, friends and loved ones along with all of the fans who have followed New Jack through the years.
