The Briscos won the belts from Steamboat & Youngblood on June 18^th 1983 in Greenville, South Carolina and they feuded for the rest of the year and in that time they "cracked" Jay’s ribs "injuring" him for a little while, but he returned and along with Steamboat they regained the belts on October 3^rd 1983 in Greenville, South Carolina only to lose them back on October 21^st 1983 in Richmond, Virginia, but they got a rematch on Starrcade 83 against The Briscos with Angelo Mosca as the referee and they regained the belts again in an outstanding match, but a month later, Ricky Steamboat announced his retirement. During this time, Jay’s brother Mark had started wrestling in JCP and like his brother did 4 years earlier he came in with an instant mid-card push and he teamed with Wahoo McDaniel at Starrcade 83 where they lost to Bob Orton Jr. & Dick Slater, but as 1984 loomed with Steamboat "retired", the Youngbloods started teaming up more as they were in the NWA World Tag Title tourney on January 8^th 1984 in Charlotte, North Carolina, but were eliminated in the 1^st round by The Assassins.

In 1984, Mark was becoming a bigger star in the area than his brother was, because at this time he held the NWA TV Title and held the NWA World Tag Team Titles on two occassions with Wahoo McDaniel, while he teamed with Jay in between his runs with Wahoo against The Briscos and later Ivan Koloff & Don Kernodle when they held the belts. The Youngbloods stayed in JCP until September 1984 when they among others were phased out of JCP by new booker Dusty Rhodes who was bringing in his own men and like some of the others, they migrated down to Florida where they had success, but on September 1^st 1985 in New Zealand, Jay Youngblood was found dead and they autopsy report said he had suffered a ruptured spleen & three heart attacks, Jay was only 30.

In closing Steve Romero was one of the best babyfaces in the early 80’s and Mark was on his way to stardom, but after his brother’s death, he really was never the same. What a shame.

NEXT MONTH: