Thomas Carter (born September 18, 1974) is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, better known by his ring name: Reckless Youth. He has competed in numerous North American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

promotions including the

East Coast Wrestling Association East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1967 by promoter Jim Kettner. It is home to the annual Super 8 Tournament, one of the longest-running independent wrestling tournaments in the co ...

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent professional wrestling promotion founded in 1999 by John Zandig. Commonly associated with the 2000s hardcore wrestling genre, early CZW shows showcased a brand of wrestling dubbed by the p ...

and Chikara, where he was one of the original founders alongside

Mike Quackenbush Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976) is an American podcaster, author, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, Promoter (entertainment), professional wrestling promoter, and semi-retired professional wre ...

. In January 1998,

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

senior editor

Bill Apter William Stanley Apter (born October 22, 1945) is an American journalist and photographer specializing in professional wrestling. He was an editorial staff member and photographer for several magazines during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, notably ''P ...

called Reckless Youth "one of the most recognizable independent stars" in the United States.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Carter was part of a small group of " backyard wrestlers", including

D'Lo Brown Accie Julius Connor (born October 22, 1973), better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown (also formatted as D-Lo Brown), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to TNA Wrestling, where he works as a producer. He is best known for his t ...

, while growing up in New Jersey. Carter and his friends eventually began renting an actual

wrestling ring A wrestling ring, also known as the squared circle, is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. In Japan, it is also common to see mixed mart ...

from Larry Sharpe's

Monster Factory Monster Factory is a professional wrestling school located in Paulsboro, New Jersey, owned and operated by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Larry Sharpe opened the Monster Factory ...

. Within a few years, Sharpe eventually offered to book the young men on his shows if they joined his wrestling school and sold tickets for live events. Carter made his pro debut in September 1995. He also trained at

Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/ World Wrestling Entertainm ...

's Bodyslammers Gym in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...

during his rookie year.

Great Lakes Wrestling

Youth made his debut for Great Lakes Wrestling in a

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself become ...

with Steve Nixon. He later started a stable alongside "Dirty" Don Montoya and Diamond (later Simon Diamond) called East Coast Invasion. Youth went on to win the GLW World title and competed in the final match in GLW defeating "Dirty" Don Montoya in a

two out of three falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

on January 17, 1997.

Combat Zone Wrestling

Youth's first appearance in

(CZW) was against

Justice Pain Christopher Wilson (May 16, 1978 – January 24, 2020) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Justice Pain. Pain was best known for his time in Combat Zone Wrestling, as well as Xtreme Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestli ...

, at ''The Staple Gun''. He then faced

and Ric Blade in a three-way match at ''Down In Flames'' on June 19, 1999. Youth would also have a memorable three-way match at ''Un F'N Believable'', against

Trent Acid Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 – June 18, 2010), best known by his ring name Trent Acid, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backsea ...

and Blade. He then faced

Minoru Fujita (born September 5, 1977) is a Japanese professional wrestler who works as a freelancer. He is known for working at Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling. Career Japanese independent scene (1997-present) Fujita started in Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) as a ...

at the next three shows, all in a losing effort. His final appearance in CZW was a fatal four-way against Nick Berk, Nick Mondo, and

Tony Mamaluke Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Tony Marinara and with Extreme Championship ...

in 2003.

Personal life

Youth married his wife Kathy on November 4, 2000; together they had three children. Youth pursued the career of accounting, a side job he worked while on the independents, and is currently the Director of the Tax Department at Jones Apparel.

Championships and accomplishments

*American Championship Pro Wrestling **ACPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Big Time Wrestling **BTW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** ECWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Champion (1 time) ** ECWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2001) *Global Wrestling Alliance **GWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Great Lakes Wrestling **GLW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Hardkore Championship Wrestling **HCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **HCW Incredible 8 winner (2003) *Independent Wrestling Union **IWU Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *International Pro Wrestling **IPW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *IPW Hardcore ** IPW Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup winner (2003) * IWA Mid-South ** IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion (1 time) *

Jersey All Pro Wrestling Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) was an independent wrestling promotion based in New Jersey, United States. History 1997 Jersey All Pro Wrestling was an independent wrestling promotion that was founded by "Fat" Frank Iadeavia and Angel Surit ...

** JAPW New Jersey State Championship (1 time) * Jersey Championship Wrestling ** JCW Championship (1 time) **JCW Television Championship (1 time) ** Jersey J-Cup winner (2002) * Maryland Championship Wrestling ** MCW Cruiserweight Champion (1 time) **MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup winner (2002) *Mid Eastern Wrestling Federation **MEWF Cruiserweight Championship (1 time) *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

** NWA North American Heavyweight Champion (2 times) *New Jack City Wrestling **NJCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Northern States Wrestling Alliance **NSWA Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling **PCW Americas Championship (1 time) **PCW Commonwealth Championship (1 time) **PCW Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Lance Diamond *

**PWI ranked him 50 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

in 1998 * Steel City Wrestling ** SCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * *
TomCarter.usCagematch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reckless Youth American male professional wrestlers Chikara (professional wrestling) Living people Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee People from Mount Holly, New Jersey 1974 births NWA North American Heavyweight Champions GCW World Champions Professional wrestlers from New Jersey 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers