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The Gangstas was a professional wrestling tag team and stable, consisting of New Jack and Mustafa Saed in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The group originally started as a three-man group with D'Lo Brown in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), before evolving into a four-man group with Killer Kyle.
| The Gangstas | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | New Jack Mustafa Saed D'Lo Brown Killer Kyle |
| Billed heights | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – New Jack 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) - Mustafa |
| Combined billed weight | 505 lb (229 kg) |
| Hometown | Los Angeles, California |
| Billed from | South Central, Los Angeles, California |
| Debut | June 1994 |
| Disbanded | 1997 |
Professional wrestling career
editNorth Georgia Wrestling Alliance (1994)
editThe Gangstas was formed by New Jack and Mustafa Saed in North Georgia Wrestling Alliance in 1994. They would win their Tag Team Championship, but quickly vacated them upon leaving the promotion that July.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1994-1995)
editUpon arriving in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in July 1994 alongside D-Lo Brown, they would cut promos about activist Medgar Evers and O. J. Simpson to infuriate the southern white crowd. Ring announcers would, on more than one occasion, confuse their hometown as being Louisiana (LA) instead of Los Angeles (L.A.) which would entice New Jack to verbally abuse the announcer. Killer Kyle would join the Gangstas in March 1995 during their feud with Jim Cornette and Bob Armstrong. They would primarily feud with The Rock 'n' Roll Express, The Thugs, and PG-13.
The controversy of the gimmick, among other things, led to the end of the friendship between Mark Madden and SMW promoter Jim Cornette and their ongoing feud to this day, as Madden--who at the time was coming off the heels of getting Bill Watts fired from World Championship Wrestling after informing Hank Aaron of Watts' employment within the Turner Broadcasting System following publications of controversial comments made by Watts--had called the Gangstas gimmick racist.[1][2]
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995-1997)
editNew Jack and Mustafa left SMW in June 1995, in a controversial fashion,[3] which escalated the long-standing dispute between Cornette and Paul Heyman. In ECW, the now two-man team were known for bringing weapons such as guitars, crutches and staple guns to the ring in trash cans and shopping carts, while the song "Natural Born Killaz" would play through their matches.[4][5] In a distinct difference from SMW, they were embraced as heroes by the northeastern crowd, and the team went on to hold the ECW World Tag Team Championship two times.
Split, solo careers and reunion
editThe team split in 1997 when Mustafa left ECW. New Jack found a new partner in John Kronus of The Eliminators, who like New Jack was left without a partner after the other half of The Eliminators, Perry Saturn, left ECW. Kronus and New Jack became known as The Gangstanators (a portmanteau of Gangstas and Eliminators) and held the ECW World Tag Team Championship once. With Mustafa gone, New Jack went on to greater fame, continuing to use the Gangsta gimmick. New Jack became a surprise attraction at Pay-Per-Views, and was known for answering open challenges by heels and doing run-ins to save babyfaces with his various weapons, to the crowd's delight. In 1999, The two former teammates began a brief feud when Mustafa returned at Crossing the Line '99.
Independent circuit
editOn May 24, 2008, the Gangstas reunited for the first time in over 10 years at Xtreme Pro Wrestling's "Cold Day in Hell" in a match against the Westside NGZ.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
editOn August 8, 2010, the team made an appearance at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, assaulting Team 3D and Joel Gertner after a match. After the beatdown, Team 3D, The Gangstas, Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten celebrated in the ring.[6]
Championships and accomplishments
edit- Extreme Championship Wrestling
- North Georgia Wrestling Alliance
- NGWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)[8]
- Smoky Mountain Wrestling
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "411MANIA". Mark Madden: Jim Cornette is Like a ‘Two-Dollar Hooker’.
- ^ "Hank Aaron Sparked Pro Wrestling's First Major Racism Story 25 Years Ago". Deadspin.
- ^ Williams, Scott (2006). Hardcore History. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5.
- ^ Williams, Scott (2006). Hardcore History. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5.
- ^ Loverro, Thom (2006). The Rise and Fall of ECW. Pocket Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4165-1058-1.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2010-08-08). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ "ECW World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ "Mustafa Saed". OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com. Retrieved February 18, 2017.