{{Short description|American professional wrestler}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox professional wrestler |name = Jack Claybourne |birth_name = Elmer Claybourn |image = Jack Claybourne face.jpg |caption = |names = Black Dragon<br>Black Panther<br>Elmer Claybourne<br>Jack Claybourne<br>Pablo Hernández |height = 6 ft 0 in<ref name="TTCD"/> |weight = 230 lb<ref name="TTCD" /> |birth_date = {{birth date|1910|3|8}} <ref name="NKAA"/><ref name="rootsweb"/> |death_date = {{death date and age|1960|1|7|1910|3|8}} <ref name="cage"/><ref name="NKAA" /><ref name="rootsweb" /> |birth_place = Mexico, Missouri, U.S.<ref name="cage" /><ref name="NKAA" /><ref name="rootsweb" /> |death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.<ref name="NKAA" /><ref name="rootsweb" /> |billed = |trainer = |debut = 1931 |retired = 1958 |website = }} '''Elmer Claybourne''' (March 8, 1910 – January 7, 1960) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name '''Jack Claybourne'''.

== Professional wrestling career == Claybourne began his wrestling career in 1931.<ref name="cage"/>

On September 2, 1941, Claybourne won the Kentucky Negro Wrestling Championship from Hallie Samara in Louisville, KY. The following year he lost the title to King Kong Clayton. He won the Negro World Heavyweight and the Light Heavyweight Wrestling Titles in the United States. He was a recognized champion in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/1266|title=Claybourne, Jack · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database }}</ref> Also he wrestled mainly in the National Wrestling Alliance's Toronto and Hawaii territories where he became a major star during the 1940s and 1950s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oliver |first1=Greg |last2=Johnson |first2=Steven |date=2013 |title=The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes and Icons |location=Toronto |publisher=ECW Press |chapter=Jack Claybourne |isbn=978-1770902695}}</ref>

== Death == On January 7, 1960, Claybourne died of suicide in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="NKAA" />

== Biography == On February 24, 2025, ''Gentleman Jack and Rough Rufus: The Rise of Black American Wrestling'' a biography about the lives of Jack Claybourne and the original Rufus Jones, was released. <ref>https://www.pwinsider.com/article/193343/new-book-traces-the-rise-of-black-american-wrestling.html</ref> The book was written by Ian Douglass and contains a foreword from Dave Meltzer.

== Championships and accomplishments == *'''50th State Big Time Wrestling''' **Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'''Kentucky''' **Kentucky Negro Championship<ref name="OWOW"/> **Kentucky Negro Wrestling Championship <ref name="NKAA" /> **World Negro Heavyweight Title<ref name="NKAA" /><ref name="WNHT"/> **Negro Light Heavyweight Wrestling Titles<ref name="NKAA" /> *'''Maple Leaf Wrestling''' **NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship(1 time) - with Luther Lindsay<ref name="OWOW" /> **NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version)(1 time)

== See also == * List of premature professional wrestling deaths

== References == <references>

<ref name="cage">{{cite web|title=Jack Claybourne|url=http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=13711|website=Cagematch|accessdate=23 February 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="NKAA">{{cite web|title=Notable Kentucky African Americans Database - Jack Claybourne|url=http://nkaa.uky.edu/record.php?note_id=1266|website=University of Kentucky Libraries|accessdate=23 February 2016|archive-date=13 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313054950/http://nkaa.uky.edu/record.php?note_id=1266|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="OWOW">{{cite web|title=Jack Claybourne|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/j/jack-claybourne/|website=Online World of Wrestling|accessdate=23 February 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="rootsweb">{{cite web|title=Jack Claybourne - California Death Records|url=http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=claybourne&given=jack|website=RootsWeb}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

<ref name="TTCD">{{cite web|title=Jack Claybourne|url=http://www.tradingcarddb.com/GalleryP.cfm/pid/52832/col/1/yea/0/Jack-Claybourne?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=|website=The Trading Card Database|accessdate=23 February 2016}}</ref>

<ref name="WNHT">{{cite web|title=World Negro Heavyweight Title|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/world/world-negro-h.html|website=Wrestling Titles|accessdate=23 February 2016}}</ref>

</references>

== External links == * {{Professional wrestling profiles|cagematch=13711|wrestlingdata=6945}} *{{commonscatinline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claybourne, Jack}} Category:1910 births Category:1960 deaths Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers Category:20th-century American professional wrestlers Category:American male professional wrestlers Category:African-American professional wrestlers Category:People from Mexico, Missouri Category:Professional wrestlers from Missouri Category:NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Champions Category:NWA British Empire Heavyweight Champions (Toronto version) Category:1960 suicides Category:Suicides in California

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