 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Kevin Frear (1970-02-01)February 1, 1970[1] Salisbury, Maryland, United States |
| Died | May 11, 2014(2014-05-11) (aged 44) Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | A. C. Golden Golden Phoenix Homeboy Mark Frear |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Debut | c. 1988 |
| Retired | c. 1998 |
Mark Kevin Frear (February 1, 1970 - May 11, 2014)[2][3][4][5] was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameA. C. Golden, who competed inMid-Atlantic andSouthernindependent promotions during the late 1980s and 1990s. He was a longtime mainstay of theUnited States Wrestling Association inMemphis, Tennessee, where he andNew Jack won theUSWA Tag Team Championship in 1993, as well as in theMid-Eastern Wrestling Federation where he was a top contender for theMEWF Heavyweight Championship up until his retirement in 1998. He also made occasional appearances in theWorld Wrestling Federation early in his career.
Mark Frear made his professional debut around 1988 and spent the first year of his career wrestling in theMid-Atlantic andSouthernindependent circuit as The Golden Phoenix. One of his first major opponents during his rookie year was against Dirty Dennis Allen whom he faced inWoodbury, New Jersey, for WWA Wrestling. That same year, he appeared as apreliminary wrestler in theWorld Wrestling Federation. In his first WWF match, he teamed with George Skaaland, son of the legendaryArnold Skaaland, againstThe Powers of Pain (The Warlord &The Barbarian) at theCivic Center inSpringfield, Massachusetts, on August 29, 1989. The match was later aired onWWF Wrestling Challenge. A day later onWWF Superstars, Frear was pinned byAkeem at theCumberland County Civic Center inPortland, Maine, after abig splash. At the end of the match, Frear was handcuffed to the ring ropes by Akeem's tag team partnerBig Boss Man and beaten with hisnightstick.[6] A year later, he and Joe Sturnam lost toRhythm & Blues (The Honky Tonk Man &Greg Valentine) inSyracuse, New York, on April 3, 1990.[7]
By 1991, Frear was back on the indy circuit and found success in several promotions, most notably, Gordon Scozzari's American Wrestling Federation, the Wrestling Independent Network[8] and theMid-Eastern Wrestling Federation.[9] On July 11, 1992, he entered a championship tournament inPasadena, Maryland, for the vacantMEWF Heavyweight Championship and lost toMax Thrasher in the finals.[10][11] Later that year, he wrestled"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert in a special "challenge match" at an MEWF show inHampstead, Maryland, on November 21, 1992. The event was to raise money for theNorth Carroll High School, the show taking place in the school's gymnasium, with the proceeds going to purchasecomputer software for its business department.[12]
In early 1993, Frear began wrestling for theUnited States Wrestling Association inMemphis, Tennessee. Under the name Homeboy, he andNew Jack began teaming together and quickly became contenders to theUSWA Tag Team Championship. On June 21, 1993, they defeatedThe Southern Rockers (Rex King &Steve Doll) for the belts at theMid-South Coliseum in front of 2,000 fans.[13] They continued feuding with The Southern Rockers and defeated them in a rematch the following week.[14] On July 5, he and New Jack lost to King and Doll in separate singles matches, and lost the tag team titles toC.W. Bergstrom & Melvin Penrod later that night.[15]
After this, he returned to the MEWF where he spent the last years of his career. In one of his last matches, he lost toGlenn Osbourne in the finals of a championship tournament for the MEWF Heavyweight Championship inBaltimore on February 1, 1998.[10][11]