Jersey man

During Téa's flashback of how Yugi rescued her, Téa was trying to earn money so she could study dance in New York. A mugger left her a note from Yugi telling her of a dance studio in the warehouse on Spring Street, and when she got there he cornered her and told her to hand over her money. As he was about to beat her up, Yugi came in and attacked him, but he threw Yugi against some equipment, knocking him out cold. Téa responded by biting the mugger's finger, and he threw her against the wall in retaliation, knocking her out. Yami took over Yugi's body at that moment and challenged the mugger to a game where they each draw a single card and the weakest card loses. He told him that if he lost, he'd decide his fate. The mugger thought Yami was crazy, but accepted the challenge anyway after Yami asked if he was afraid. The mugger drew Curse of Dragon (2300) but Yami drew Dark Magician (2500). Not caring about the outcome, the mugger attempted to beat Yami up, but before he could lay a hand on the Pharaoh, his soul was banished to the Shadow Realm with a Mind Crush.

When Téa regained consciousness, Yami told her she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. When the flashback ends, Téa asks Yugi what it was he did to the mugger. Yugi responded "I don't know. When I came to, that mugger was already on the ground." A split-second image of the mugger's Mind Crush is shown at the Season 1 intro, along with several other images.

In LittleKuriboh's parody series Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series, the flashback is shown in Episode 14. Though he makes it clear he is a mugger, both Téa and Yami think he is a dancing instructor, and when he asks Téa to hand over her money, she bites him, refusing to pay for her dancing lessons, and he knocks her out against the wall. The fact that Téa is unconscious during Yami's confrontation (when it was in her flashback) is pointed out. Yugi does not enter and get knocked out in this scene, but rather Yami enters, mistaking the mugger for a dance instructor. When the mugger told him to get lost, Yami gives him a Mind Crush in a scene parodying the Hulk ("You won't like me when I'm angry. Hulk Smash!").