JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(Staff)– A professional wrestler from Georgia, accused of stabbing his opponent 14 times with a prop during a match, has been arrested on a charge of aggravated battery.
Both wrestlers in the local Thunder Wrestling Federation event told police the prop was brought in as part of what in wrestling is known as “hard-core,” where it is not uncommon to see such props as knives, chains, bats and barbed wire.
The event’s promoter said it wasn’t supposed to be hard-core.
Police charged Jerome Young, 41, of Smyrna, Ga., who goes by the ring name of New Jack, with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was being held under $40,003 bond Tuesday in the Duval County Jail. A court appearance was set for Nov. 2.
Young told police he and his opponent, William Jason Lane, 37, of Fruit Cove, planned before the match to use a piece of metal to inflict some injury. Lane, treated and released at Shands Jacksonville hospital, told officers he wasn’t sure what happened but that “this is a dangerous sport,” according to a police report.
Lane did not want to talk about the incident Tuesday, but a woman who said she was his girlfriend told The Florida Times-Union that the event was supposed to be hard-core but not violent.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. But it did, and he got hurt pretty bad,” said Meghan Hancock.
Promoter Maurice Williams said he doesn’t promote hard-core. “We wrestle. You won’t see any barbed wire bats and chains.”
Williams said wrestlers will be checked closely before future bouts.
“There will be nothing ever coming near Thunder again,” he said.
Witnesses, including a Brunswick, Ga., police officer who videotaped the match, said it looked like it went past a routine wrestling match. Another witness said it looked like one wrestler lost control when he thought the other was “intentionally trying to hurt him,” according to the police report.
A fan scooped up the metal object, which has not been recovered by police.
Jail records Tuesday gave no information on Young’s legal representation.
— with files from Canoe wire services
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