Mark Kevin Frear (February 1, 1970 - May 11, 2014) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

A. C. Golden, who competed in Mid-Atlantic and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

independent promotions during the late 1980s and 1990s. He was a longtime mainstay of the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestling ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, where he and New Jack won the USWA Tag Team Championship in 1993, as well as in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation where he was a top contender for the MEWF Heavyweight Championship up until his retirement in 1998. He also made occasional appearances in the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

early in his career.

Professional wrestling career

Mark Frear made his professional debut around 1988 and spent the first year of his career wrestling in the Mid-Atlantic and

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

as The Golden Phoenix. One of his first major opponents during his rookie year was against Dirty Dennis Allen whom he faced in Woodbury, New Jersey, for WWA Wrestling. That same year, he appeared as a

preliminary wrestler In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

in the

. In his first WWF match, he teamed with George Skaaland, son of the legendary

Arnold Skaaland Arnold Skaaland (January 21, 1925 – March 13, 2007) was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Following a stint in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, Skaaland began wrestling in 1946 under his re ...

, against

The Powers of Pain The Powers of Pain are a professional wrestling tag team. History Paul Jones had previously managed The Barbarian (Sione Vailahi) in National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) territories during 1985–1987, while The Warlord (Terry Szopinski) and jo ...

( The Warlord & The Barbarian) at the Civic Center in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, on August 29, 1989. The match was later aired on '' WWF Wrestling Challenge''. A day later on '' WWF Superstars'', Frear was pinned by

Akeem Akeem is a name of Arabic origin, being a variation of ''Hakeem'', and commonly used in Africa and among the African diaspora. Persons with the name Akeem include: * Akeem Adams (1991–2013), Trinidadian footballer * Akeem Anifowoshe (1968–1994) ...

at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, after a big splash. At the end of the match, Frear was handcuffed to the ring ropes by Akeem's tag team partner

Big Boss Man Ray Washington Traylor Jr. (May 2, 1963 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Big Boss Man, as well as for his appearances wit ...

and beaten with his nightstick. A year later, he and Joe Sturnam lost to

Rhythm & Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

(

The Honky Tonk Man Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by the ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American retired professional wrestler. He previously wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

Greg Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championship ...

) in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

, on April 3, 1990. 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 and the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation. On July 11, 1992, he entered a championship tournament in

Pasadena, Maryland Pasadena is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 24,287 at the 2010 census. The areas of Lake Shore, Riviera Beach and Pasadena are collectively referred to as Pasadena by residents ...

, for the vacant MEWF Heavyweight Championship and lost to Max Thrasher in the finals. Later that year, he wrestled "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert in a special "challenge match" at an MEWF show in

Hampstead, Maryland Hampstead is a town in Carroll County in the U.S. state of Maryland. The population was 6,323 at the 2010 census. History Between 1736 and 1738, Robert Owings was assigned to "cut a new road as Christopher Gist had marked it" south from Conewago ...

, on November 21, 1992. The event was to raise money for the

North Carroll High School North Carroll High School was a public high school located in Hampstead, Maryland, United States, in Carroll County. The North Carroll High School building is located at 1400 Panther Drive. The school was one of three county schools that were cl ...

, the show taking place in the school's gymnasium, with the proceeds going to purchase

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

for its business department. In early 1993, Frear began wrestling for the

. Under the name Homeboy, he and New Jack began teaming together and quickly became contenders to the USWA Tag Team Championship. On June 21, 1993, they defeated

The Southern Rockers Well Dunn, also known as the Southern Rockers, was a professional wrestling tag team who competed in several promotions in the United States. The team was composed of Rex King and Steve Doll, and the team name "Well Dunn" was a play on the term ...

( Rex King &

Steve Doll Steven Lyle Doll (December 9, 1960 – March 22, 2009) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Steven Dunn in the tag team Well Dunn. Professional wrestling career Early caree ...

) for the belts at the

Mid-South Coliseum Mid-South Coliseum is an indoor arena in Memphis, Tennessee. The facility was opened in 1964, and became known “The Entertainment Capitol of the Mid-South” due its significance in hosting events such as concerts, sports games and professio ...

in front of 2,000 fans. They continued feuding with The Southern Rockers and defeated them in a rematch the following week. On July 5, he and New Jack lost to King and Doll in separate singles matches, and lost the tag team titles to

C.W. Bergstrom C.W. Bergstrom (born February 24, 1957) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler who was active in North American regional promotions during the early 1990s including a memorable stint in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) as ...

& Melvin Penrod later that night. After this, he returned to the MEWF where he spent the last years of his career. In one of his last matches, he lost to Glenn Osbourne in the finals of a championship tournament for the MEWF Heavyweight Championship in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on February 1, 1998.

Championships and accomplishments

*National Championship Wrestling **NCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *World Wrestling Association (New Jersey) **WWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** USWA Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with New Jack *Universal Independent Wrestling **UIW Tag Team Championship (1 time, first) *Wrestling Independent Network **WIN Heavyweight Championship (1 time, first) * Pro Wrestling Illustrated **PWI ranked him # 390 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1992

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, A. C. American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Delaware 1970 births USWA World Tag Team Champions