WARNING: The following text contain graphic descriptions and references pertaining to bloody occurrences in professional wrestling. Also, there are several words used below that may offend some. So, it is not recommended that the squeamish or easily offended read on. Read on at your own risk.
NEW JACK vs. VIC GRIMES
Alright, now that we're done with the warning, we can start on recapping the New Jack vs. Vic Grimes feud, one of the greatest hardcore rivalries in U.S. pro wrestling history. On Sunday, March 12, 2000, Extreme Championship Wrestling (or ECW, for short), held their "Living Dangerously" Pay-Per-View at Danbury, CT's O'Neill Center. Balls Mahoney had just defeated Big Japan hardcore standout Kintaro Kanemura, and, after the match, he was attacked by an ECW stable called "The Baldies," which was comprised of Angel, Tony DeVito, and Vic Grimes.
All of a sudden, New Jack's music ("Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube) blared over the P.A. system and he entered the arena with his trademark garbage can full of weapons (which included a pizza-cutter, Playstation system, guitar, and a few crutches). In an impromptu matchup, "The Original Gangsta'," New Jack, teamed with Balls to take on Angel and Vic Grimes. This match would begin the classic New Jack vs. Vic Grimes bitter rivalry.
The ringbell is sounded, and the match begins with an all-out brawl. Jack breaks one of his crutches over Angel's back, and then places a Playstation system in front of DeVito's crotch, who's layed up against one of the ring turnbuckles. He proceeds to take another one of his crutches and whack the Playstation right into DeVito's crotch with all his might, causing a howl of agony from DeVito. Jack then takes another crutch and slams it over Angel's head. Grimes enters the ring and starts pummeling Jack, and eventually decides to use the pizza-cutter and to cut Jack's forehead open.
Grimes and Jack continue brawling into the crowd of rowdy ECW fans prompting an "EC-Dub!" chant. Grimes gets the best of Jack, which allows him some time to set up a table. He picks up Jack and places him on it, and then takes another table and sets it up on top of both of them. He starts climbing a scaffold structure nearby, and it doesn't take long for Jack to get back up and start climbing up the opposite side. Both eventually eventually complete the ascend and meet at the very top, which must be at least 35 feet high!
The two brawl on top for awhile, until Grimes attempts to powerbomb Jack the 35+ feet down off of the scaffold and through the tables, but Jack escaps the horrifying predicament with the ever-trustworthy low blow. Now, this where the real story occurs...Jack whips Grimes off of the scaffold (!), but as Grimes' falling off, he grabs Jack's arm and pulls him off, too!!! Both men fall 35-40 feet and both crash extremely hard down onto the concrete floor!!!!! The two missed the one of the tables, and all of Grimes' 400+ lb.'s landed on top of Jack's chest and face, making for one of the most incredible bumps in professional wrestling's history!!!
After the gruesome fall, video immediately cut to the crowd and ECW began advertising their upcoming live events, so it was obvious that both were legitimately hurt. ECW officials frantically come out within seconds, and medical personnel follow soon after, as the two are helped to the backstage area.
New Jack talked about the incident in the July 2001 edition of "RAMPAGE" and the August 2001 edition of "Wow Of Wrestling" magazine, both of which are top professional wrestling magazines. Here's what he had to say in RAMPAGE: "Vic Grimes -- I got hurt coming off the scaffold with him in Danbury, Connecticut. I lost my sight for about five months. I broke my arm, my leg, and cracked my sternum. After that, Pauil E. wouldn't put us in the ring together, because he knew that eventually I was going to kill Vic. Because the angle was something Vic wanted to do, and I asked him if he had gone up the sccaffold to check it out and he told me he did, but actually he didn't.
"When we went up there to go through these two tables on the floor, he said, 'Jack, I can't do it, it's too high.' And I said, 'Man, you're gonna do it, this is a Pay-Per-View' -- so I just grabbed him and pulled him off, and he landed on me and my head hit the floor. So I almost killed myself and wasn't too happy about it."
In WOW, he also had basically the same story: "Vic Grimes, the big stupid-ass, called a spot (at a match at Living Dangerously on March 12, 2000, in Danbury, Conn.). He wanted us to go off this scaffolding that was very unstable. I asked him had he checked it out. He said yeah, but he hadn't. He didn't want to do it after he got up there; he said it was too high. I said, 'Vic, pay-per-view. Let's go.' He said, 'Jack, it's too high. I can't do it.' So I just snatched him, and we fell. The first table broke my fall, and he did a flip in the air and his back ran up against my head, and my head hit the floor. From that alone, I broke my leg, my right arm, cracked my sternum, cracked my skull and lost my sight. I was laid up for a long time after that one, and I still came back."
So, as you can tell, the bump resulted in several injuries for Jack, but "The Original Gangsta'" is known for just that: the unique ability to take pain. New Jack and Grimes never worked together again during the rest of their respective stays in ECW. Vic Grimes left ECW in late 2000 and began wrestling for various independent promotions. Also in late 2000, Jack left ECW, the promotion he had worked for about five years. New Jack's career looked to be over, and it seemed that all of his blood loss and brutal bumps had finally caught up with him. All of his fans interpreted it as the "end of an era." How wrong they were...
On January 13, 2001, former-porn movie direct Rob Black and his relatively new Xtreme Championship Wrestling (or XPW, for short) presented their highly-anticipated "New Year's Revolution" show from Patriot Hall in Reseda, CA. The show aired live on the local television channel, KJLA. The main-event saw former-ECW World Champion Sabu defending his XPW World Heavyweight Championship against XPW's own chosen one (not Jeff Jarrett), a young superstar simply referred to as, "The Messiah."
Messiah, who was playing the heel character, won the title that night after some dubious officiating. Sabu won it back in an impromptu match, though. After the match, though, was the real story, as The Black Army (the major heel faction in XPW, which was comprised of XPW's top heels, including XPW's owner, Rob Black, former-ECW World Tag Team Champion John Kronus, and The Messiah) attacked Sabu, pummeling him to the mat and not showing any sign of stopping.
All of a sudden...Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" blasted over the PA system and...NEW JACK came walking out with his trademark shopping cart filled with all of his favorite weapons! Jack used his various weapons to rid the ring of all of the Black Army members, and then, to all of the fan's surprise, just as he (Sabu) was starting to get to his feet after the beating he'd sustained, smashed a guitar over Sabu's head!!! Jack had said that he was leaving ECW and most fans, including the "smart" ones, thought that meant that he was retiring, as ECW had been his home for half-a-decade. They were wrong, though, as Jack was back and better than ever, and his new stomping ground was XPW.
On February 3, 2001, XPW presented its second supercard of year, entitled "Payback's A Bitch." The show opened with Rob Black and his real-life wife, Lizzy Borden, who were mega-heels in XPW, coming to the ring. They insulted New Jack, and, not surprisingly, this prompted "The Original Gangsta'" to make his way to the ring. However, as he was making his way toward Black and Borden, a hand cut through the ring canvas, and when a hole had been completely cut open, a face appeared, it was VIC GRIMES, who Jack had not seen face-to-face since their infamous incident in Danbury in March 2000.
Grimes used Jack's own guitar to smash him over the head with, and the abuse continued, as the rest of The Black Army soon appeared and assisted Grimes in pummeling Jack and eventually leaving him in the middle of the ring in the middle of a pool of his own blood. He had to be helped by medical personnel to get backstage, but the night was only beginning, and there so much more that would happen...
The main event of the show saw XPW World Champion Sabu teaming with Homeless Jimmy to take on The Messiah and Vic Grimes. Due to a prematch stipulation, the winner of the pinfall would win (or, if it was Sabu, retain) the XPW World Title. Sabu eventually pinned Grimes to retain his XPW Title, but the best part of the night was still to come...
After the match, as The Black Army were in the middle of the ring arguing over who was to blame for their loss, when, suddenly, Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" hit for the second time that night, and New Jack charged the ring. The Black Army scattered their way out of the ring, running through the crowd in order to avoid the one-man crime-spree. Vic Grimes, though, was not as lucky, as he and his 400+ lb.'s weren't able to escape the ring fast enough.
Jack and Grimes engaged in a brawl that truly defined the word, "hardcore," as Jack used all of his usual weapons to batter and bloody Grimes. Then, in what will forever be looked at as one of the bloodiest clips in XPW history, New Jack proceeded to take out his favorite toy, a staple gun, which he used to staple a dollar bill to the forehead of Vic Grimes!!! XPW went off the air that night with Grimes lying in a pool of his own blood and New Jack providing XPW fans with bitter proof that payback for the Danbury scaffold incident had indeed been a bitch for "Vicious" Vic Grimes!!!
At XPW's "My Bloody Valentine" on February 24, 2002, the main event featured XPW King of the Deathmatch The Messiah defending the title against Grimes. The two were both members of The Black Army, and, just like Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan did in WCW as fellow nWo members, Messiah tapped Grimes on the head and he fell down, allowing Messiah to pin him for the 1-2-3, retaining his K.O.T.D. Title. After the match, though, Supreme, one of the top faces in XPW, entered the ring and attacked the army, but he was soon overpowered in numbers, as the army began decimanting him. The amazing part is that Supreme was even able to walk, as he was in the match prior to the main event, which was a "No-Rope, Barbed-Wire, Beds of Glass, Nails, Thumbtacks, and Light Bulbs Deathmatch, which saw Supreme fall off a ladder and crash through the bed of barbed-wire, glass, nails, thumbtacks, and light bulbs. He was able to walk, though, but he was no match for The Black Army...alone...that is...
Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" blasted over the P.A. system as the fans began going bananas. New Jack came running out and helped Supreme in beating the living hell out of each of the Black Army members. This included powerslamming Messiah into the bed of thumbtacks and smashing Rob Black over the head with a guitar. Then came the interesting part, as New Jack challenged any two of the Black Army members to take him and Supreme on in a tag team match at XPW's next supercard, on March 17.
The challenge was agreed upon, and at March 17's "The Night XPW Stood Still," the main event saw Grimes and Messiah taking on Jack and Supreme. New Jack, as usual, entered to Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz, along with his signature trash can of weapons. This time, his toys included an gardening shears, ironing board, old Nintendo system, and, of course, his staple gun. As soon as he entered the ring, Jack dumped out all of his weapons onto the mat and the brawl was on.
There was no semblance of order whatsoever, as the two teams brawled over the arena. Highlights included Messiah whipping Supreme off of the top of the bleachers all the way down to the concrete floor (!) and Grimes suplexing Jack on the steel entrance ramp. Then came the good part. Jack placed Grimes on a table and climbed up to the top of a 15-or-so-foot tall basketball backboard and leaped off, sending both he and Grimes crashing through the table and onto the hard concrete floor!
Back in the ring, two tables were set up as Grimes and Supreme were brawling in one corner and Messiah and Jack were kicking eachother's asses in the other. Rob Black then poured two full bottles of lighter fluid (!!) over each table, and then lit them on fire, causing an inferno to rage up in the middle of the ring! Then, in a historic clip, Messiah superplexed Jack through one of the firing tables, causing Jack's shirt to go up in flames!!! Jack immediately rolled out of the ring and began chasing Lizzy Borden, who was at ringside, setting her hair on fire in the process!
Meanwhile, back in the ring, Grimes attempted to Frankensteiner Supreme off of the top-rope and through the other inferno of flames, but Supreme caught Grimes in mid-move and reversed the manuever into a Top-Rope Flying Powerbomb, slamming Grimes through the flaming table!!! Black quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and sprayed Grimes with it, saving his damn life! The dust and smoke from the spray turned the ringside area into a foggy mess so that nobody could see anything that was going on.
Amidst all the chaos and franticness, a three count was heard and the ringbell was sounded and Messiah's music was blared over the P.A. system. Supreme's hand ended up being raised, though, further confusing all of the fans and ringside officials, along with the participants. XPW Vice President Kevin "Dorko Dude" Kleinrock got on the microphone and announced, under Black's orders, that, inside of the huge ball of fog, Grimes had draped an arm over Supreme, and the referee, Patrick Hernandez, had counted the 1-2-3, and grabbed the nearest hand in sight and raised it. So, even though Supreme's hand had been raised, Grimes and Messiah were announced as the official winners of the match, just as the show went off the air.
On April 21, 2001, XPW held their "Scene of the Crime" supercard, and the pre-main event match featured a grudge match between Supreme and Vic Grimes. Thanks to some Black Army interference, Grimes came out of the match with the tainted win, but after the match, as The Black Army was celebrating their win, Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" sounded over the P.A. system and out came "The Original Gangsta," New Jack. As usual, he brought along all of his favorite toys, and it wasn't long before Jack and Supreme began taking back control of the situation.
Supreme bashed Grimes with the most vicious guitar shot ever seen in XPW, but he wasn't quite out, yet, as he began stumbling back to his feet, which prompted New Jack to take out his ever-trusty staple gun and begin stapling Grime's head with it. Supreme took care of the other Black Army members as he knocked out Kraq with a stiff chairshot, sending him down to the mat. The brawl eventually made its way into the crowd, and it didn't take Jack long to set up a table and place Grimes on it. The camera barely caught any of this due to the poor camera work and lighting that XPW produces, so it was quite a sight when Jack leaped off of a 20-foot tall ladder out of absolutely nowhere, splashing Grimes through the table onto the cold hard concrete floor.
At May 26, 2001's XPW "Redemption," New Jack defended the XPW World Heavyweight Title against The Messiah in place of the champion, Sabu, who couldn't make it to the show. In the end, without any Black Army interference, Messiah pinned Jack to cleanly win his first XPW World Title. After the match, Supreme, Vampiro, Vic Grimes, and even hit rappers The Insane Clown Posse (or ICP, for short), who had made an appearance earlier in the show, run down and an all-out brawl begins.
Amidst all the chaos, Jack attacked Grimes and placed him on a table. He then proceeded to climb up a 35-foot tall balcony, and dives off, splashing both himself and Grimes through the table and onto the cold, hard, concrete floor!!! After the match, Jack climbed back into the ring and began celebrating with Supreme, Vampiro, and the ICP, as "Redemption" went off the air.
On July 7, 2001, at XPW's "Rapture," Jack pinned Kronus in a one-on-one bout, but had no confrontation with Grimes. At the next XPW supercard, "Damage Inc.," Jack won a royal rumble-style match by eliminating Homeless Jimmy. Once again, he had no contact with Grimes. At "Halloween In Hell II," Jack lost a TV Title Match to defending champion Kid Kaos, and, again, there was no confrontation between Jack and Grimes.
This all changed at November 25, 2001's XPW "Retribution." Vic Grimes had just defeated Psychosis after hitting his midair Stunner-type finisher, when Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" burst on and New Jack entered the arena and took the microphone. He didn't waste any time, and got right down to business. He let Grimes in on the reasons that he came to XPW in the first place. He reminded him about how they worked in Philadelphia for Paul Heyman's ECW (he didn't mention any names, though), and how his (Grimes') "fat ass" fell on him in Danbury. Tonight, Jack said, he was going to finish the job, and kick Grimes' ass worse than ever.
An impromptu match begins with Jack hammering Grimes. He then takes out his trademark staple gun and proceeds to staple Grimes' head!!! There's blood all over, and the match's just begun! Jack keeps the advantage by smashing Grimes' crotch with a golf club and metal plate! AHH!!! When Jack's not looking, though, Grimes grabs the staple gun and staples Jack's crotch!!! AHH!!! He grabs a pizza-cutter and slices Jack's forehead wide open, and even smashes a light bulb over his head!
Grimes tried to turn the match into a fight, which was a big mistake, as when he started punching Jack, he was responded to with trash can lid shot to the head! Jack grabs a belt and practically chokes Grimes to death, but he (Grimes) is able to escape the submission with a low blow. As he's bringing a table into the ring, Jack comes from behind and bashes Grimes' head with a steel chair and trash can. That's not enough, though, as Grimes stays up and eventually is able to keep Jack at bay for long enough to place him on the table and leap off from the top-rope, splashing him through it. That was enough for the 1-2-3 win for Grimes.
The two once again faced off at XPW's next supercard, "New Year's Revolution II," on January 12, 2002, XPW's first supercard of the new year. It was the first match of the night, so Grimes and Jack had to set the tone for the rest of the event. They sure did. It was also New Jack's one-year anniversary with XPW, as he had debuted the previous year at NYR. Grimes got in the first few hits, but Jack soon took the advantage when he stapled Grimes' head!!! He then bashes Grimes' head with a nearby computer keyboard, sending keys everywhere in sight. Jack proceeds to choke Grimes with an extension cord, and then bash him across the head with a trash can. This was followed by a clothesline by Jack, but Grimes soon took back control with a low blow.
Grimes grabs the barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat, which he had brought with him to the ring, and rakes it across Jack's face! He then uses a pizza-cutter to cut open Jack's forehead, and follows with some chops to Jack's chest. Then, in a pecuiliar sequence, Grimes grabs a stuffed animal and uses it to pound on Jack, only to have it ripped up and the fuzzy contents thrown into his face by Jack. Jack whips Grimes into the turnbuckle, causing him to fall to the mat, and then proceeds to place a pan in front of his crotch and use a pool cue to bash it with all his might! He again bashes Grimes' crotch, this time with a golf club!
As Jack's picking up Grimes, he gets nailed with the staple gun, allowing Grimes to take back the advantage. Grimes climbs up to the top-rope and leaps off, deliving a 360° spinning leg drop to Jack. His streak didn't last long, as Jack moved out of the way of a Top-Rope Flying Bodysplash, taking back the advantage. As the two are brawling in the outside ring area, Grimes tosses Jack into the guardrail and hits him with a steel chair. Grimes grabs the golf club and bashes Jack right between his two eyes. Grimes then broke the cue over his very own head!
As he's stapling Jack's testicles, Jack grabs the staple gun and staples a dollar bill to Grimes' head! YUCK!!!!! Grimes continues the match, though, with the dollar bill attatched to his head!. As he goes to bash Jack with the golf club, again, he's low blowed, allowing Jack to take back control. The two brawl to the backstage area and up a stairwell, and guess where they end up...(that's right!) a balcony!!! The two go back and forth, until Grimes hammers Jack toward the edge of the balcony. He's hanging off by just a few fingers, and Grimes keeps punching him until...he falls 35 feet down and crashes through eight friggin' tables!!!!!!! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! Referee Patrick Hernandez rules the match a No Contest.
On the February 2, 2002 edition of XPW TV, a promo vignette aired, featuring New Jack at his own house. Jack says he's fallen through tables, lost his sight, broke his arm, broke his leg, and cracked his sternum, but, no matter what's happened to him, he's still standing. He says that he'll be in Los Angeles on February 23 (the date of XPW's next supercard), and that Vic Grimes had better fear him. He'd better fear New Jack as much as he fears Jesus Christ, himself. He's going to L.A. for one reason, and one reason only. There'll be a scaffold hanging 40 feet above the ring, and Grimes and him are gonna' go at it until one falls off. God himself can't save Vic because, after Jack's done with him, Grimes won't be able to wrestle another match. If Grimes doesn't die on February 23, he's gonna' wish he had because Jack's gonna' put him through absolute hell. The promo was very well done, and it really sounded like Jack meant what the hell he was saying, unlike any of the current WWF promos one sees today.
The scaffold match was hailed as the first-ever "Freefall Match," and XPW continually hyped it at every chance they got over the next few weeks. A graphic was posted on XPWrestling.com, XPW's official website, which contained a picture of both Grimes and Jack, with the following message:
"FREEFALL WATCH TWO WARRIORS FIGHT FROM FOUR STORIES ABOVE THE RING UNTIL ONE MAN IS TOSSED OFF AND EXPERIENCES HIS XPW."
Here's the original graphic:
The XPW supercard was even renamed "Freefall," instead of it's previous name, "Payback's A Bitch." An interesting stipulation was made a few weeks before the event. If Jack lost, he vowed to retire from professional wrestling, once and for all. That's right: if New Jack lost the match, he would retire from the business that made him an extreme legend.
So, on February 23, 2002, live from Grand Olympic Auditorium in L.A., CA, "Freefall" featured New Jack vs. Vic Grimes in the first-ever "Freefall Match" as it's main event. The ring would be filled with four rows of tables, one table per row, with three tables on top of each. Anotherwards, there'd be tables stacked 4x4. The object of the match was to climb up to the top of the 40-foot high hanging scaffold and throw your opponent off, forcing him to crash through the numerous tables in the ring. If New Jack lost, he'd retire. There was pride, bragging rights, and a hell of a lot medical bills on the line. Neither participant disappointed.
Jack entered the ring first, and he brought along a barbed-wire-covered rake and trash can. Jack got on the microphone before the match and told the fans in attendance and the thousands watching at hime that he was putting everything on the line. If he lost to that "muthafucka," he'd retire, but, either way, he'd leave with his head up. He then ordered Grimes to get his "fat ass" out to the ring, immediately.
Grimes did just that, and the match began with Jack choking Grimes with a chain. He then proceeded to smash a computer keyboard over Grimes' head. Jack brings Grimes into the corner and begins repeatedly stabbing him with a fork!!! Grimes' blood is dripping everywhere!!! EWWWWW! New Jack goes to bash Grimes with a crutch, but he instead gets cut open with Grimes' newest contraption: five pizza-cutters binded together!
Jack climbs out of the ring, but doesn't find much safety on the outside, as he's bashed with a sign. The two brawl up to the top of the XPW entrance ramp. Jack cuts Grimes open more with his barbed-wire rake before the two eventually brawl back into the ring, where Jack keeps control with a golf club shot to Grimes' back. Grimes quickly rolls out of the ring to attempt to find safety, but instead begins climbing up the scaffold. New Jack sees this and begins climbing up the opposite side.
Jack reaches the top first and runs to the other side where Grimes is still climbing up. He grabs him and teases to knock him off, but instead helps to haul him up onto the scaffold, where the two exchange blows. Grimes attempts to toss Jack off, but he's low blowed, which allows Jack some time to get himself back together. He hammers Grimes all the way to the edge of the scaffold, and it looks like Grimes may go off!
All of a sudden, Jack pulls out a tazer and zaps Grimes! Now don't be thinking that it was a fake tazer, as the viewer could clearly hear it and see the smoke gathering everywhere! Grimes is losing his balance, and Jack pushes him off!!! Grimes fell the 35+ feet down, and on his descent downward, he crashed through two of the tables, and got caught in the ring-ropes!!!
It was quite a horrifying sight inside of the Grand Olympic Auditorium, as fans in attendance were told to get the fuck out of the arena due to the seriousness of the incident. Grimes was taken away on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital via ambulance. New Jack, meanwhile, had won the match and saved his career. This would end the classic New Jack vs. Vic Grimes feud.
Well, there you have it: the New Jack vs. Vic Grimes feud. It will be remembered as one of the greatest extreme feuds in U.S. professional wrestling history. These two literally put their lives on the line each match, as both were stapled with staple guns, hit with golf clubs, lit on fire, and pushed off 35+ foot high balconies and other structures. I truly believe that Vic Grimes should become a World Heavyweight Champion in some promotion, as, not only can he take absolutely incredible bumps and bleed with the best bladers in the history of the business, but he can wrestle very well. Jack, meanwhile, I think he's practically a criminal, with the Eric Kulas/Mass Transit incident and all of his other controversies. Nonetheless, I'll always pop for him when I hear Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz" hit, as he's one of professional wrestling's true extreme legends. This feud will be remembered as one of XPW's greatest, if not greatest, feuds, ever.
One-On-One Match Results:
FINAL TALLY: Jack: 1 win; Grimes: 1 win;
Non-Decisions: 1 No Contest
WINNER: Vic Grimes
Tag Team Match Results:
FINAL TALLY: Jack: 0 wins; Grimes: 1 win
WINNER: Vic Grimes
Other Match Results:
FINAL TALLY: Jack: 0 wins; Grimes: 0 wins;
Non-Decisions: 1 No Contest
WINNER: Neither
FINAL TALLY: Jack: 1 win; Grimes: 2 wins; Non-Decisions: 2 No Contests
APPARENT WINNER of the NEW JACK vs. VIC GRIMES feud:
Vic Grimes (2 wins)