Upon learning of the passing of Jerome Young — New Jack — on Friday, friends and colleagues posted their memories of the unpredictable wrestler.
Brian “Blue Meanie” Heffron (Facebook):

Blue Meanie and New Jack.
CW Anderson (Facebook):
Man I’m at a loss for words right now. Hearing New Jack is no longer with us is heartbreaking. We’ve been tight for a long time and I have lost my brother. Rest in Power Jack. You will definitely be missed. Love you bro.
Mike “Super Nova” Bucci (Facebook):
If you were ever going to come up with a list of professional wrestlers who were polar opposites in real life, I think my name and New Jack’s would have been paired up. To say we came from different worlds would be an understatement but we always got along.
I actually never saw New Jack ever start an argument or get into it with anyone. He was always forced to react. For whatever reason, people would mess with him or start something then he would wind up finishing it. I was around the man every weekend for five years and he was always a pleasure to be around. I’m going to expose his gimmick right here right now too…. He was actually a proficient in ring wrestler!! You read that right. He could do all the moves as we saw it many times before the show during our practices. He would tell us he didn’t do them during the show though because that’s not what people would pay to see. When you came to see New Jack, you didn’t pay to see wrestling. You paid to see violence and stuff that no one else on the show would do except for him. When that music hit, the place went insane. Natural Born Killers was a huge part of the soundtrack of ECW.
The stuff I saw him be a part of, I’ll never forget. The guys that were in ECW with me, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The stuff he did in the locker room. His entertainment value to all of us.
The time he stood up in the locker room and told us all that he saw the pay-per-view bonus out in the ocean and it was on the way (you had to be there).
The time he stabbed Angel L. Medina in the ass with a barbecue fork in a haunted arena.
The time him and Sandman went to the ring in Pittsburgh and were looking up in the sky yelling out for the Taco Bell Chihuahua.
The time he did a run in and saved me at Anarchy Rules after Chris Chetti had a near career-ending injury and couldn’t finish the match.
The time me and Meanie did the run into save Tommy Dreamer to the Natural Born Killers music , as Jack looked on from the stage because he was injured and tried to throw the garbage can into the ring with our plunder. Go watch the video. It didn’t turn out the way you think it would have. Trust me. Haha
I could go on for hours about this. All I’ll say is that if you were cool with Jerome Young, he had your back. He really did. He was an innovator and a pioneer. He was a huge part of ECW and all that we did there. He was truly one of a kind.
RIP New Jack
(Ps…for all my ECW family out there, tonight, let’s go find the YouTube video of the Bootsy Collins song so we can all yell out loud “Awwwwww Yeahhhhhh…Whoddd ya all come to seeeeee…NEW JACKKKKK!!)

New Jack and Johnny Devine (as Havok).
Johnny Devine (Facebook):
Oh wow. I am shocked. I had no idea he passed. All my memories of him were good and Jerome was a very great guy! #RIP New Jack

Terri Runnels. Howard Brody and New Jack.
ECW photographer George Tahinos

New Jack at a signing in 2017. Photo by George Tahinos
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