Mark Young (wrestler)

Mark Young
Mark Young
Birth name	Luke Joseph Mark Scarpa Jr.
Born	April 23, 1967; Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Died	February 25, 2016 (aged 48)
Family	Chief Jay Strongbow (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Mark Young; Private Mark Pyle; Vince Young; Todd Overbow; Mark Scarpa
Billed height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight	105 kg (231 lb; 16.5 st)
Billed from	Atlanta, Georgia; Minneapolis, Minnesota
Trained by	Stu Hart
Debut	1986
Retired	1993

Luke Joseph "Joe" Mark Scarpa Jr. (April 23, 1967 – February 25, 2016)

professional wrestler, known by his ring name Mark Young, who competed in the World Wrestling Federation in the 1980s and early 1990s, World Championship Wrestling, and many independent promotions. He was the adopted son of Chief Jay Strongbow

.

Early life

Scarpa was a second generation wrestler; his adopted father was

World Wide Wrestling Federation

in the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Early years (1986–1989)

He was trained by Stu Hart and made his professional wrestling debut in 1986 for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, wrestling as Mark Scarpa. He left the promotion in January 1987.

Scarpa signed with the

The Nightmares, who would also implode as Nightmare Ken Wayne turned on Nightmare Danny Davis, on May 29. In February 1989, Scarpa, as Vince Young, would join World Championship Wrestling as part of a wave of fresh talent brought in under the new ownership of the company. Now given a breakdancing gimmick, Young defeated Trent Knight in his debut on the February 18, 1989, issue of WCW's Saturday Night show. While well received in his first match, his second encounter was met by a fan during a February 25 match against Joe Cacane who yelled, "This ain't Chip 'n Dales!".^[4] Although he was not defeated in his tenure, Young abruptly left WCW following a March 23 match against Kendall Windham

in Harrisonburg, VA after receiving a full-time position with the World Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Federation (1989 - 1990)

Now a contracted performer with the WWF, Mark Young made his return on June 27, 1989, when he defeated

The Brooklyn Brawler in a match that aired on International Wrestling Challenge. This marked his first victory with his father's company. Young was positioned as an opening match talent that was roughly parallel to Paul Roma, Steve Lombardi, Brady Boone, and Tim Horner. Scarpa was given a strong initial push, scoring victories against Lombardi, Barry Horowitz, Bill Woods, and Bill Brundt

that summer.

That August he began his first house show series, where he was paired off against

The Brain Busters. In November he was paired against Earthquake in the latter's initial run of house show matches, and gained his first victory on American television when he pinned Barry Horowitz on the December 4th edition of Prime Time Wrestling.^[5]

Scarpa was less successful in 1990, and spent the first two months of the year on a losing streak before finally defeating

Bad News Brown, Earthquake, Mr. Perfect, Al Perez and Rick Martel. After a brief departure for an All Japan tour that summer, following a loss to Ron Garvin on September 8, 1990, Scarpa left the company once more.^[6]

Last years (1990-1993)

In May and June 1990, Scarpa joined

Papa Shango on the February 23rd edition of Wrestling Challenge. He did not sign to a full-time contract, and these would be his only appearances that year. Still billed as Todd Overbow, Scarpa journeyed the following month to the Global Wrestling Federation. In his first match he was defeated by Steve Dane on March 20, 1992, on GWF TV. Overbow was winless during his brief time in the promotion.^[8]

Wrestling once more as Vince Young, Scarpa made a return to World Championship Wrestling when he teamed with Al Jackson in an unsuccessful effort against

WCW Worldwide.^[9] Scarpa retired in 1993. His last match on record occurred on May 8 for the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation

, teaming with Trent Young (no relation) in a loss to Joe Thunder and Johnny Blaze.

Later years and death

On April 3, 2012, his father died from complications from a fall.

On February 25, 2016, Scarpa died at the age of 48. His cause of death is unknown.^[citation needed]

References

^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Mark Young « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
^ "1987". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ "1988". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ "WCW 1989". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ "1989". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ "1990". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ "1992". thehistoryofwwe.com.
^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Mark Young Global Wrestling Federation Matches". CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
^ "WCW 1992". thehistoryofwwe.com.

External links

[1]
[2]
[3] (in German)
[4]
[5]

[1] Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Mark Young « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-04-27.

[2] "1987". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[3] "1988". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[4] "WCW 1989". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[5] "1989". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[6] "1990". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[7] "1992". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[8] Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Mark Young Global Wrestling Federation Matches". CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.

[9] "WCW 1992". thehistoryofwwe.com.

[4]

[5]

[6]

[8]

[9]