Brian Myers on MJF—’Blackjack’ Jack Lanza passes on

Hot off the heels of MJF’s triumphant return to his hometown of Long Island, New York, Impact Wrestling star, Brian Myers, seems interested in shedding some light into the man behind the initials that certainly can be considered in naming an important pillar of AEW.

It was while he spoke to Wrestling Inc Daily that he spoke about MJF when he was a student at Myers’ Create A Pro wrestling school in Hicksville, New York.

Myers, obviously a pro wrestler of some renown in his own right, trained and trains many aspiring wrestlers at that school, Kris Statlander included, and of course many more, but apparently MJF was one of his first-ever students. He had this to say about the pillar known as MJF:

“He’s a year one guy. His story is not really that out there. But he was supposed to play college football and I think he did a couple of days of the training camp and got in his car in the middle of the night and just blew it off and told his parents he wanted to be a wrestler, that was his real dream…

My version of the story is that his dad kind of just walked him into the school and was like, ‘he’s your problem now, he’s just f**cked off college and I’m kind of pissed.’ But that being said, he always worked his ass off, always a natural athlete. I’ll never forget the first time we did promo class; he went after a real low-hanging fruit, like a fellow class member. And just absolutely slayed him the first time I ever saw him do a promo and I was like, there’s something to this guy.”

via Wrestling Inc Daily

Jack Lanza passes away

At the age of 86, legendary ‘Blackjack’ Jack Lanza has passed away. He was one half of the legendary tag team known as The Blackjacks. The other half was of course Blackjack Mulligan, who passed on in 2016. At the time of this writing, no cause of death has been released for Mr. Lanza. His birth name was of course: John Mortl Lanzo.

He of course wrestled extensively and appeared in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling and of course the WWF (WWE). He later worked as a road agent behind the scenes in WWE for many years; he was very instrumental in the rise of Steve Austin—a big influence on him as well, overall, as Austin has himself stated.

Apparently the black trunks, the black boots, the black vest—all Lanza-inspired apparently.

WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon had this to say about the legend’s passing:

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Jack Lanza. He was a man’s man, respected and beloved by all. He worked for and loved WWE for many years. His loyalty and dedication will never be forgotten.”

via Vince McMahon /Twitter

From all of us here at Pro Wrestling News Hub, we send his wife Barbara, our deepest condolences. RIP Jack Lanza.

NEXT: Adam Cole Addresses Criticism over his AEW Booking—Jack Evans Extorted by Mexican Police