Author: New Jack locked himself in a room as over twenty police officers arrived. Of all the things to cause chaos at a wrestling event featuring Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Cesaro, and The Dudley Boyz, it was a concession stand mix-up involving New Jack that stole attention away from the ring.
New Jack and the 7 Up / Sprite Incident
Jerome Young, better known to pro wrestling fans as New Jack, was one of the most notorious wrestlers in the game. He is best remembered for his time spent in ECW, where he tortured opponents with headshots, weapons, staple gun usage on their bodies, and for being a target for high-risk dives from considerable heights and lengths.
New Jack’s legacy is documented in our article entitled The Story of Wrestling’s Most Violent Man, where we go in-depth on Jack’s dark story as well as incidents involving Mass Transit, Vic Grimes, and Gypsie Joe which, if unfamiliar, are the assault of a minor, a near murder, and the bludgeoning of a 70-year-old wrestler.
However, one incident not often discussed revolves around a lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink.
The incident took place at the Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia on September 13, 2006. This is a venue fans may remember better as the ECW Arena but is now known as the 2300 Arena. On that night, the promotion Pro Wrestling Xplosion was presenting its debut event, Lighting The Fuse, to a crowd of around 300 fans, and New Jack was booked to take part.
Several of today’s big names competed at the event, such as Christopher Daniels, AJ Styles, Cesaro, and The Dudley Boyz. New Jack was set to take part in the seventh match on the card, which would have seen him compete in a Triple Threat match against Mana and Ian Rotten, but Jack never ended up competing at the event.
At some point during the night, New Jack visited the concession stand to purchase a drink. New Jack asked for a Sprite. He was given a 7 Up instead. Perhaps the arena did not have Sprite on the menu, or perhaps this was simply an oversight by the worker. Whatever the case might have been, it set New Jack off.
The angered ECW veteran proceeded to ream out the female concession staffer, who happened to be the daughter of venue operator Roger Artigiani, before being confronted by another arena worker.
The Wrestling Observer reported that this worker was a member of the ring crew who was familiar with the concession staff worker. Despite the ring crew worker’s courage to stand up for his friend, it earned him a punch in the face by New Jack.
New Jack’s confrontation with the ring crew worker drew the attention and presence of Ronnie Lang, the head of Atlas Security and promoter of the night’s show. Lang and New Jack got into a heated conversation which escalated into a shoving match where the two had to be separated. In all this melee, the police were called.
Approximately 20-30 police officers attended the scene and broke up the chaos. At this point, New Jack locked himself in a room. However, it wasn’t long before the police were able to escort him out of the arena.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that a physical altercation occurred during the debut event for a promotion that warranted police presence, it happened while a match was taking place, which took attention away from the in-ring action.
Although New Jack was removed from the building, he was not done.
Jack confronted the ring crew worker that he had punched outside of the building, though fortunately, things did not escalate further from there. Despite being punched in the arena and shouted at outside, the ring crew worker did not press charges against New Jack, nor was Jack arrested. Despite this, New Jack was forever banned from the venue following these incidents.
Stories on the personal life of New Jack, who passed away on May 14th, 2021, aged 58, are not necessarily feel-good tales, and he made his enemies pay for their breach of trust, professionalism, and safety. Breaching the man’s request for a specific beverage clearly makes his "list." Of all things to cause chaos with one of the performers at a wrestling event, a Sprite – 7-Up mix-up at the concession stand may have been the last thought on everyone’s mind.
These stories may also interest you:
- New Jack – The Unimaginable Story of Wrestling’s Most Violent Man
- 10 Wrestlers You May Not Know Appeared in ECW
- Macho Man Randy Savage – The Waffle House Incident
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