Jim Powers James Manley ( January 4 , 1958 ) , better known by his ring name Jim Powers , is an American retired professional wrestler . He most notably wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation in the mid - to - late 1980s and early 1990s . He also wrestled for World Championship Wrestling in the mid - 1990s . The high point of his career was teaming with Paul Roma as The Young Stallions . Professional wrestling career . Powers was discovered and brought into the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) in late 1984 by Big John Studd who also had a hand in training him . In 1985 , Powers ventured outside the WWF to gain more experience , including two Texas based promotions : Texas All - Star Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling where he appeared at a couple of the federation ’ s featured " Star Wars " events . After gaining more experience , Powers returned to the WWF . Young Stallions . He arguably reached the peak of his career in the WWF when Powers , on March 11 , 1987 , along with another preliminary wrestler Paul Roma , formed a tag team called The Young Stallions . At first the team had no name , and the original pairing saw Roma and Powers teamed with Tito Santana in a six - man tag team match against the team of Don Muraco , Bob Orton , Jr . , and Tiger Chung Lee on " Wrestling Challenge " . Surprisingly the team of Powers , Roma , and Santana were victorious when Santana pinned Lee , after Muraco and Orton walked away from the match . Following the win , the team lost twice to Demolition , as well as an eight - man tag team match against members of The Heenan Family in June 1987 . Powers and Roma finally gained their first televised victory in regular tag team action in late July 1987 when they faced another preliminary team , Barry Horowitz and Steve Lombardi . The team was dominant and announcer Bobby Heenan was stunned when Roma unleashed an off the top rope sunset flip . Fresh off of their first win , Powers and Roma were scheduled to face The Hart Foundation on an August 8 , 1987 episode of " Superstars " ( taped August 4 ) , they scored an upset disqualification victory over WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation . The team seemingly received their name by accident when color commentator Bruno Sammartino referred to them once as " a couple of young stallions " thus naming the team . In October 1987 the Young Stallions became the official moniker of the Powers and Roma tag team . A storyline playing off of their upset win over the Hart Foundation was started as they " stole " the theme song " Crank It Up " from Jimmy Hart , who had intended to use it for his team . Later that month they faced The Hart Foundation in a rematch on " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " . The Stallions were narrowly defeated and now clearly had momentum . Along with The Killer Bees , they were also the only survivors in the elimination tag team match at the first annual Survivor Series pay - per - view on November 26 , 1987 . That momentum however seemed to end in January 1988 when the Stallions faced The Islanders in a best two out of three falls match in the final bout of the inaugural Royal Rumble . Powers and Roma were defeated cleanly in two straight falls . The team was placed in featured matches on television and at house show s , but most times ended up on the losing end to teams such as The Bolsheviks , The Brain Busters , and The Fabulous Rougeaus . Following yet another loss , this time to Demolition on the March 19 , 1989 episode of " Wrestling Challenge " , the team began arguing after the match . Their final televised match was a loss to The Powers of Pain in July 1989 . Soon , they were split up off camera without an official announcement . Roma and Powers went their separate ways and both floundered on the undercard afterward , with Powers sustaining an injury that forced him out of action until March 1990 . Roma and Powers feuded for a while during this period , but this soon was scrapped , and they both returned to competing in singles matches . After the Young Stallions . As Roma began teaming with Hercules to form the team of Power and Glory that spring , Powers began to occasionally partner with Jim Brunzell . Powers had an opportunity to face his former partner in August 1990 episode of " Prime Time Wrestling " when Power and Glory defeated Powers & Brunzell . On house shows , Roma faced off against Powers in singles competition multiple times during that month as well , with Roma coming out victorious at every outcome . For the next four years Powers was featured primarily as a singles wrestler , During this time , he most notably became the first WWF wrestler to lose to Ric Flair when the " Nature Boy " made his Federation debut on the September 30 , 1991 episode of Prime Time Wrestling . While sustaining televised losses to top stars like Mr . Perfect , Ted DiBiase , The Undertaker , Powers also defeated Al Perez , Steve Lombardi , and The Predator . In 1991 , Powers teamed with a variety of partners , with such wrestlers as Marty Jannetty , and Owen Hart , in both House Shows , and televised shows . Probably his peak push came in June 1992 , when he returned after a several month hiatus from television to pin Lombardi and Bob Bradley . He followed this up with numerous house show victories , and closed 1992 with a Wrestling Challenge victory against Brian Lee in October . From this point on however he was unable to move up the card , although he narrowly lost to Jerry Lawler in April 1993 on " WWF Monday Night Raw " and defeated Repo Man on house shows . Powers also defeated The Tazmaniac on a house show on June 30 , 1993 in Atlantic City , NJ . He ended 1993 with a victory over Papa Shango at a house show on July 23 in Syracuse NY . After a five - month hiatus he returned to the roster , wrestling primarily on house shows against Rick Martel and Kwang . His final television appearances came in July 1994 , when he faced Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett on WWF Superstars and Wrestling Challenge . Powers ended his WWF career on a winning streak , defeating Abe Schwartz at Madison Square Garden on October 29 and again in Scranton , PA the following night . He then departed , a full decade after first signing with the company . American Wrestling Federation . In 1994 , Powers competed for the short lived American Wrestling Federation ( AWF ) on the TV series " Warriors of Wrestling " where he was a fan favorite . He also teamed with Johnny Gunn while in the AWF . During all of their AWF tag matches , Powers and Gunn would struggle until Powers lowered his singlet straps to reveal his finely chiseled torso . In apparent awe , the opposing team would instantly wither and Powers and Gunn would quickly secure a pin . Unlike his WWF run , however , Powers had a more successful run as a whole in the AWF , most of the times coming out victorious , even wrestling enhancement talent alongside his tag - team partner Gunn . On the November 22 , 1994 episode of ECW Hardcore TV , Powers unsuccessfully challenged ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas for the title . World Championship Wrestling . Powers resurfaced in World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) in the spring of 1995 . He was scouted and then managed for a brief time by Teddy Long as well as being scheduled to form a mid - card stable with “ Desperado " Joe Gomez and The Renegade but nothing ever came of it . He was attacked and spray painted during a mid - 1996 match by the emerging New World Order ( nWo ) . The reason for the attack was simply that the nWo wanted to address the crowd ; it didn ' t really have anything to do with Jim Powers as he was just an expendable body . Powers found a little success in WCW , including challenging Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship , but he was mainly used to make younger stars look good . Powers teamed briefly with Bobby Walker , and they also were managed by Teddy Long . Powers finally left the company in early 1999 after being one of the sixty competitors in the annual WCW World War 3 pay - per - view in 1996 . Semi - retirement . After spending several years in semi - retirement and rehabbing a neck injury that forced him out of the squared circle in the first place , Jim Powers returned to wrestling for an independent promoter on March 9 , 2007 . Since returning to wrestling , Powers has wrestled for several independent based organizations and has appeared , pairing back up with Young Stallions partner Paul Roma , at several wrestling fan fests meeting his fans and signing their autographs . In 2007 , Powers was contacted by WWE to be a part of their developmental territory and train wrestlers there . Despite meeting face - to - face with WWE booker , John Laurinaitis , Powers never received a contract with the promotion . Powers said in recent interviews that he almost left his then - current job to work with the WWE , and also said Laurinaitis told him there weren ' t any places available in the developmental territories , but would call him if there was one . Powers said Laurinaitis repeated this so many times he didn ' t believe him anymore . On February 3 , 2010 , Powers announced his retirement . In 2012 , Powers was hospitalized , and had two hip surgeries . In July 2016 , Manley was named part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury . The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros , who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE .