Referee Tommy Youngs career ending injury

[GrandFunker]

Referees today suck so bad. Bob Armstrong is the only guy I can take even a lil bit seriously. The Hebners are awful. They're slow, often to the point of being in the way of the action. Their counts are never consistent. They behave in this awkward, maudlin fashion, making these big motions to ensure the blind in the back know that hair pulling is bad mmmkay.He should be working FCW or OVW training the young guys about timing and match structure. Who reffed Flair/Steamboat @ Wrestlewar '89? hmm?

[foxnewsfanify]

It's actually not fake. No shit. I know Tommy Young somewhat and that was not part of the matche's story line. The scar is NASTY. 2 cracked vertebre. Semper Fi

[rburton34]

4:10 Ref: "go home".

[Derby14]

Tommy Young was a staple in the NWA...this is a real shame.

[Tubewings]

Wrestling Factoid: Tommy Rich was once NWA World Heavyweight Champion...for 96 hours.

[jdbankshot]

@Tubewings lol.. ya, according to legend, harley was not informed of the finish & was quite pissed.... not the kind of dude you wanna anger. 1981, if i recall...great times.

[1Shepard1]

You're an idiot, he wasn't paralyzed from the neck down, and you can see in the video him moving his arms. It was a back injury and he returned to ref some matches later.

[clvlndmike]

Mike Rotunda came back to WWE for a gimmick match as IRS not too long ago. I was really surprised, but he was still in great shape and could still go after all these years.

[LMTR14]

why the fuck didn't they help him immediately, idiots

[dagreatcapri82]

This is the part I hate about Pro wrestling. When somebody gets hurt, they keep going as if nothing is wrong. The fans can see that somebody is in danger, they are not that dumb (maybe some of them).

[akuma4u]

poor ref,.. but what the hell was up with the lights going off like that, did they not pay their electric bill?

[dagreatcapri82]

@akuma4u LMFAO!!!

[mrbignasties]

Fake ass shit.

[Puddi77]

Did the ref get paid for the whole match?

[matrix4022]

Thankfully, this wasn't a career-ender for Tommy, as he returned to refereeing in the mid-90s; he even joined the WWF as part of their NWA angle.

[tonypanz]

"all right fellas he has a neck injury so make sure you dont keep him still! Roll him around and make sure you let his head and neck roll around in any direction! Try to make him walk it off on his own power!'' wow

[illicitstill]

this is an ignorant republican trailer trash sport

[sirwankify]

@illicitstill so are you an ignorant republican trailer trash?

[CoDBOxIPWNubZx]

was that good ol jr commentating?

[Sammy4549]

Whoa, Mike Rotunda? IRS?! He looked so different without slicked back hair.

[deebyers]

as I understand it, Tommy's back refereeing again and doing fine. Oh, and @shiothead6661 , when have you even set foot in a ring? Troll.

[shiothead6661]

Ref's a wimp

[HellsGladiator]

I remember that the blackout was one thing that Young mentioned as well. The lack of lighting caused it to be a worse slip up as well. Just a bad series of incidences led to this. Thanks for the footage of how this transpired.

[xXJBEAST69XxHD]

What the fuck kind of name is mittens mctwist??? Lame ass faggot

[MittinsMctwist]

Fuck u douche bag Jim Ross is a fat fucking loser

[MittinsMctwist]

Listen to that fat overrated bastard Jim

Ross talking fat fuck

[Cavillier1970]

@MittinsMctwist DROP DEAD A-HOLE!

[dillowman]

@MittinsMctwist real fucking nice!!

[POWEvents]

I was wondering how it happened. Much respect to you Mr. Young.

[YourIgnit]

Lol what a great way to handle someone with a neck injury

[wow77777]

tommy young was ref for smoky mountain wrestling for awhle after this

[tickyul]

Wow, they shouldn't have moved him, should have waited for a Emt with a back/neck brace. Oh well, guess they were more concerned with keeping the phony wrasslin story going.

[JJJJNobody]

What happen to him after that ? Is he still alive ? Is he paralyze etc ??

[jessicacook23]

i just remember the second person fight in this match i think is irs

[aaronfowlowmusic]

@jessicacook23 Yes. Mike Rotunda was IRS in WWF.

[AWFnrich30]

I read about this a few months ago. It scares me because I am an independent pro-wrestling referee in the midwest and I work for several promotions in my area. I take bumps all the time and Tommy Young is one of my inspirations. To see his career terminated that easily is frightening. I try to be careful but anything can happen in the ring. I haven't been injured to seriously yet, thankfully.

[KreatorOfEvile]

What idiots. Did they not realize taking bumps on the mat could've injured him more?!! IDIOTS!!!

[nickolasjames]

A nice, clean, scientific win for Captain Mike

[jantjuh1992]

fake rolf...

[Hope2009pc]

@jantjuh1992 ROFL lapper.. and it wasn't fake dickwad!!

[jantjuh1992]

@Hope2009pc *facepalm* look lol... this is fake dumbass....

[sammys70]

Yeh that didn't seem like much of a bump that tommy young took,but you have to consider how many of those he took over the years.

[joepod]

Running a match with the lights off...that's an unsafe working condition! Tommy Young could have sued WCW and Turner and gotten more money than Charles Austin!

[sebouhsimon]

look at the idoits rolling him arround not smart.

[mink31]

Growing up I hated Tommy Rich sooooo much. But God, he could bleed and draw money!

[uhm016]

so fake i cant even explain

[oldschool6804]

@uhm016 THE MAN HAD BONES REMOVED YOU IDIOT IT WASN'T FAKE!

[JonathanVonErich]

Tommy Young = Greatest referee ever....love him !

[linkmand]

as have being a former ref in the indy sceen this can happen, I got dropped across the robes one time during an interference my head snapped back hit the mat and got a concussion. it hurt like a mofo. i didnt remember anything befor  or after it happened.

[northsider707]

hey...

its IRS

[carter2]

Crazy how such a small bump can do so much damage

[Speakup84]

damn was it that serious? The Ref seem to fall all light and stuff

[AYSORob]

Captain Mike = IRS!

[jjjack12]

Thanks for post...I always wondered how Tommy got hurt..

[duhkaydawg]

Tommy Young was one of the best Refs in the biz. I always liked him back in the old NWA days

[pchavez1981]

that was probably the most bizarre match i've seen in 20 years a s a fan. i can't believe they actually chose to broadcast it after everything that happened. being that this wasn't live and they probably had 2-3 weeks from this time it happened and still decided to air it. didn't know this footage existed, thanks for sharing.

[nyyterp]

I remember reading about this incident from online discussions back then as Tommy Young was notably absent from the WCW. As was described at the time, he suffered severe whiplash from the impact on the rope. I also recall that while he was on the mend (or after he recovered), Young wanted some kind of front desk job with the company but wasn't offered that opportunity.

[styx4ever1963]

Wildfire probably loved Wild Turkey lmao

[caulibanez]

this is actually quite harrowing.

[denzelsnipes69]

How did the referee get hurt? Rich just brushed him aside and he didn't get up.

[mrhollister09]

To their defense though, they didn't know he was legit hurt though. Maybe Mike did because who knows what Tommy Young said to him. Damn Tommy Rich! That's why he lost the match lol

[ed2kou1]

Tommy Young was a great ref, probably the best. Is he ok now.

[Michaelbos]

he is moving his arms amd legs

[MSVU2009]

ref did a great job at the end by jumping in and counting then back to tommy..stayed in character but looked after what was important

[guy2film]

the wrestlers knew he was hurt. they should have done something to help... like go get a steel chair and tell the announcer or something. that's a shame.

[CJ27870]

@guy2film That is true but the wrestlers did the right thing keeping the match going until Tommy got help and another ref could come out and end the match

[cortezangelfish]

maybe it would have helped in they turned on the lights at the Center Stage. It too dark.

[cortezangelfish]

Jim Cornette used to call him the Felix Unger of professional wrestling. He Got "knocked out" thousands of times.

[msm1876]

Quite a shame...Tommy Young did LOTS to add to the drama of matches! He was a great ref!

[MSVU2009]

i couldnt agree more! i always will remember the matches he reffed as he was one of the few refs i can even remember having an impact on me.

[daredevilpre]

The refs moved Young because it didn't look like a life threatening injury, he just hit the "rope". The rope is actually a steel cable wrapped in a cover and taped. This was a one in a million incident and I have heard pro's mention it as part of training, as a cautionary tale.

[randytelecaster]

He is the best . Would like to see him again .

[clusterfocked]

WTF!!!! Those 2 morons Nick Patrick and that other ref rolling him towards the apron!!!! That's the last thing you want to do to someone with a neck injury!!!! Douchebags!!!!

[sdpinstb]

WOW Its amazing how something so minacule can change a persons whole life.Tommy was great

[philaman1972]

Tommy Young added a lot to the feel of the old JCP shows.

His referee style lending itself to making the matches more dramatic, including his facial reactions when a wrestler did his big move, or his infamous sliding pinfall counts.

[Kjr0se]

It's a shame that Tommy Young can't referee wrestling matches like he used to, I'd like to see him referee in TNA, just to see how he might fair working in the six sided ring, or maybe in the WWE, I did remember seeing Tommy Young work as a special referee for a WWE match as that match was between two former NWA wrestlers, and since Tommy was a former NWA referee, he was asked to referee that match, but it would be cool if he could guest referee a few matches in the WWE, for old times sake.

[RSXemperor]

Jim Cornette said Vince and Sgt Slaughter offered him a full time position as a ref in 98 but he declined because he couldn't handle the road schedule which was pretty brutal.

[sonny4425]

I was a bif fan of Young as well. Never knew why i stopped seeing him. Would have been nice for WCW/NWA to mention something back then!! His interactions w/ Flair are classic!

[Lfdjake91]

Tommy Young was my all time fav referee I just loved the way he refed a match. I was very sad when I heard he had been hurt & retired. I had heard how the injury happened but never seen it as I was not watching wrestling anymore at the time. Glad I finally got to see it although the injury really happened out of camera range.

[Amisbro]

Here's the problem with calling this clip his "career ender":

Back during the "Attitude Era" Cornette did an angle where some wrestlers came from the NWA and a referee.

That ref was Tommy Young!

During the angle Young played a "heel ref" where during at least one match he used the over the top rope rule(a rule that needs to be used universally imo) to disqualify a team that was facing the NWA tag champs.

Mr. Young you can't call this match a "career ender" because you DID ref another one

[Lfdjake91]

Tommy did eventually return to refing but it was only for a short time in a limited role. He was actually advised by this doctor not to do it at all since he was at great risk for furthur injury, but he was so wanting to get back into the buisness he did it anyways.

[NAYellowjackets]

What a great job by Wildfire and Rotunda to keep things going. Today's wrestlers would not have a clue as what to do.

[adheckle]

Didn't Tommy Young ref a couple of matches in the WWF in the late 90's

[JMassey699]

This is really unfortunate. I always wondered what really happened and I thank tim58hsv for posting.

Tommy was the greatest referee in the history of pro wrestling here in the United States.

I cringed when the NWA (as it was moving towards becoming WCW) made Nick "let me put my non-counting hand under your shoulder to raise it when I'm coming down for the three count" Patrick their head official.

I saw Tommy at the NWA 50th Anniversary Show in Charlotte sometime back and he looked good.

[scumgod13]

So did it cripple him? Gadd, what a screwed up way to get hurt. That's terrible.

[xms32]

They certainly didn't have much for brains back then. Both the wrestlers and the refs tossin him around after he just broke his neck. Lucky they didn't finish him off when they did that.

[dadirrtywhyteboi]

ya but Rotunda thought that young was selling that is why he moved and shook him you cant really fault him for that its a tough situation really however they should of possible sent the other ref sooner as everyone back their knew who was going over so send the other ref up and end the match earlier

[satchelmcqueenvideo]

yeah, unlike today when they pick them up and slam them over and over again.

[terryfink]

crazy

[catdaddy2006]

I have always wondered if anyone had this. Thanks...always wanted to see this. I'm looking for the Mulkey Brothers win also.

[cypherhawk407]

anyone know how tommy young is now, i mean is he paralysed or did he "get better"...?

[MrDemolitionMan]

Tommy Young refereed some matches in the WWF in 1998.

[dadirrtywhyteboi]

yes he did but that was more for the WWF vs NWA angle which never really took off as it was the attitude era and the WWF had more important angles to deal with. Young also refed one of Reid Flairs Steamboat's Kids matches

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

Yeah that NWA angle in the Attitude era had too much of a Southern feel to it, so i don't think it ever really took off like they thought it might, it was a very forgettable angle, though, I would've liked to see an all out fued back then, that would've been cool, but you're right, they were to busy with other angle's that were getting way more attention then.

[kingdomoftheworm]

The people who moved Tommy Young are idiots. I know Rotundo was not immediately aware of the severity of Young's injury, but the other refs should never have touched him. You have to be careful when moving someone with any kind of spinal injury, since the injury could worsen with movement, and it was best for them to wait for the doctors.

[zaius316]

Did Young ever sue WCW? With the lights going out, the match should have been stopped, bacause EVERYONE is in danger at that point. Then they go and BROADCAST it

[Lfdjake91]

Yes, he did. In his shoot interview Tommy said he was actually told to sue WCW by WCW President Jim Herd of all people. Tommy did get a small settlement.

[ants84]

I just watched this the other day, i always thought Tommy Rich looked drunk during this run.

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

LMAO, If I was him I would've been, LOL. Wildfire!!!!

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

That wasn't even that hard of a toss, what happened to end his career there? Leg i'm thinking?

[jb0609]

He hurt his neck.

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

Thanks.

[hank7216]

Lol, thought thats what happened. Freak accident huh. Shame

[tim58hsv]

Just added the answer to the 'info' section.

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

Thanks bro.

[hank7216]

Did you read the description lol

[JeffTheFutureJaros]

There was no discription at first.

LOL

[Lfdjake91]

The shove was minor the real problem was Tommy tripped over Rich's foot & fell head first.