Tommy Young started out as a wrestler in 1971 for
Ed Farhat in Michigan and later as a referee in Pedro Martínez's
National Wrestling Federation which evolved into the International Wrestling Association (IWA). He usually traveled with George "Crybaby" Cannon in a large green Buick 225 between matches. Jim Crockett Promotions was able to lure Tommy away from IWA In 1976, he began working for the
National Wrestling Alliance and
Jim Crockett Promotions as a referee. By the 1980s, Young was the Senior Referee for Jim Crockett Promotions and refereed most of the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship matches. In this role, Young officiated many famous matches throughout professional wrestling history, including several classic bouts between
Ric Flair and
Ricky Steamboat. He had a unique style of urgently sliding to the mat to officiate the pinfall. He often employed strong facial expressions and creative body language to
sell wrestler's moves, express pain if he was
attacked, or show frustration over the
villains' cheating. On November 28, 1989, while refereeing a match between
Mike Rotunda and
Tommy Rich at a
World Championship Wrestling TV taping in Atlanta, Georgia, Young suffered a career-ending injury. After an angered Rich threw Young out of his way, Young's head bounced off the rope and he was left
legitimately incapacitated for the remainder of the match. The match aired on December 9, 1989. This resulted in a broken neck and the end of his full-time career as a referee. Following the injury, Young drove a parts truck for a
Toyota dealership and made home deliveries for prescription drugs. In 1998, Young appeared briefly in the
World Wrestling Federation as part of a
NWA invasion angle. He attends wrestling reunion shows and still occasionally referees, including special matches such as the
Rock and Roll Express vs.
Midnight Express matches. In 2010, at
Ring of Honor's
Big Bang! pay-per-view, Young served outside the ring as a
special guest referee for the
ROH World Championship match. He also officiated the
George South Battle Royal at WrestleCade IV in 2015. ==Personal life==