9/10 Smoky Mountain Wrestling was an organization staging professional wrestling in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. SMW Twenty-eight wrestlers from 16 schools made this year's All-WNC wrestling list, led by Robbinsville junior Kage Williams' 57-0 campaign. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 Summer Blast JERICHO: When youre in front of 200 people, theres no need to do a dive over the top rope to the floor. List of former Smoky Mountain Wrestling personnel, Last edited on 23 November 2022, at 01:50, "The Complete History of Smoky Mountain Wrestling", "The Name on the Marquee: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (2.22.1992)", "Smoky Mountain Fell Victim To Changing Times (Part Two)", Smoky Mountain Wrestling alumni at Cagematch.net, Smoky Mountain Wrestling alumni at OWW.com, Smoky Mountain Wrestling alumni at Wrestlingdata.com, Pro Wrestling Statistics: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991 to 1995), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_former_Smoky_Mountain_Wrestling_personnel&oldid=1123310255, Brian Logan / Gabriel Brimstone / The Hornet, Bob Armstrong, Brad Armstrong, Scott Armstrong, Steve Armstrong, Bobby Blaze, Tracey Smothers, and The Rock 'n' Roll Express, Federation of International Thugs and Eliminators, Bruiser Bedlam, Chris Walker, Killer Kyle, and The Funk Brothers, Moondog Rex, Moondog Spot and Moondog Splat, Gen. Jim Cornette, Lt. Christmas Chaos - Day 3, 1/15 11/14 Watch Cornette go too far in his verbal attacks on the Armstrong family. 9/23 1/22 Thanksgiving Thunder. Being around veterans who had been there, done that, they were willing to share what they had learned. CORNETTE: Brian Lee was playing the part of Brad Armstrong. CORNETTE: All the talent in Smoky Mountain either got their big opportunity later, like Al Snow, Candido or Unabomb, or already had their opportunity, such as The Rock n Roll Express and Bob Armstrong. 6/26 The Last Tango In Tennessee SMOTHERS: In 1993, Dirty White Boy burned the rebel flag in a trash can while I was handcuffed. 9/19 A lot of experience. 5/7 December 1995 He had all the rebel gear on, and the son had it on, too. 12/10 6/5 Smokey Mountain was the exact opposite of that, so even at the time, as a teenager, it felt like watching wrestling that my parents might have liked. 6/10 9/12 7/3 Smoky Mountain was, however, the birthplace of the controversial "Gangstas" gimmick, where black wrestlers New Jack and Mustafa would cut promos about activist Medgar Evers, while also using fried chicken and watermelon as props. The Thugs (Tony Anthony and Tracy Smothers) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, Robert Gibson and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. Its an art. 6/7 11/7 SMW (Wrestling) - TV Tropes I had wrestled in Knoxville many times before, but it had been a while since Id been back. 10/1 3/18 3/13 AWA TV. That was a crossover time in wrestling where WWE and WCW were getting ready to go head-to-head and a lot of the regional promotions had folded. 1 and No. Though they did eventually run events over that large of a region, including a few shows at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta, Georgia, the promotion's biggest towns included Knoxville, Tennessee, and Johnson City, Tennessee. 7/8 THE 10 CLOSEST Hotels to Gasthof Alte Schreinerei, Steinsfeld - Tripadvisor Hotels near Residenzschloss Oettingen Hotels near Der Marktplatz - Oettingen in Bayern Hotels near Stadtmauer und Holzgraben Hotels near Knigsturm Hotels near Heimatmuseum Oettingen in Bayern Hotels near Evangelische Pfarrkirche St. Jakob Hotels near Das Rathaus - Oettingen in Bayern Hotels near Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Sebastian Hotels near Vlkerkundemuseum im Residenzschloss Hotels . Ever since WWE became a national promotion in the 1980s, wrestling promotions have risen to present themselves as alternatives to Vince McMahon's pro wrestling empire, if not direct competition. Watch WrestleMania and other WWE Premium Live Events on Flow. 7/8 6/18 It doesnt matter what kind of match I prefer, I have to deliver the kind of match that the people who bought the tickets want. With this upheaval also came the near-overnight disappearance of the territorial era when local stars and fanbases migrated to the increasingly global organizations of WCW and WWE. 4/15 Other names that helped in the founding of this promotion were: The money bag behind the whole thing was Rick Rubin, who is a well-known wrestling fan and music producer. The previous champion Shane Douglas had infamously "threw down" the NWA title in favor of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship after defeating 2 Cold Scorpio at the NWA World Title Tournament three months earlier. 4/23 The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. In 1974, The Mummy was fantastic, but I was 12 and times have changed. But Rick wanted a mummy. 12/31, 1/7 We put baby powder on him so if he was dropkicked, dust would fly out. He asked, What are you doing May 26? And he showed me a paper for a Klan rally. 7/29 8/19 CORNETTE: I met Rick Rubin through Cat Collins, a DJ friend of mine that had worked for Rubin at American Recordings. 7/2 132: Kavan Wilson, Smoky Mountain, Mason Maybin, East Henderson. 12/1 But when Jimmys on his game, hes very intense and wants it done right. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 Weight Class . CORNETTE: We had a deal with the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va. 10/15 Rubin was technically one of Jerichos bosses in wrestling; the producer was a financial backer for the short-lived regional promotion - Smokey Mountain Wrestling. ARMSTRONG: The guy has more guts than I ever thought. 5/13 10/7 8/21 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 10/22 Smoky Mountain Wrestling 1991-1995. 7/15 Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain on Jan 17, 2023 in , NC. Folded I pay those lessons forward now. [14] The Heavenly Bodies, managed by Jim Cornette, were featured heavily throughout the years as they worked storyline feuds with The Rock 'n' Roll Express, The Fantastics and The Armstrong Family (especially Bob Armstrong)[14] SMW also featured a number of younger wrestlers who had not yet made their mark on a national stage, including Bob Holly,[15] New Jack, Al Snow,[16] Balls Mahoney, Chris Jericho,[17] Glenn Jacobs (then known as Unabomb, later better known under the ring name Kane),[18] Lance Storm,[17] Chris Candido,[19] Tammy Lynn Sytch,[19] Brian Girard James (B.G. Owner 9/6 He knew those people so well, what they wanted and when they needed it. 1/18 10/7 5/22 9/18 12/2 ARMSTRONG: Great, great wrestler. Dad knew what Jim wanted and Jim knew how Dad was going to act out there. Where else could a good ole country boy from Springfield, Tenn., like Tracy Smothers have people cheer for him? 4/22 1/9 7/21 7/22 1/28 Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. JERICHO: He would micro-manage it. The good guy wore the white hat, the bad guy wore the black hat. 1/14 Cable was not that widespread, a lot of people used antennas in the hills. SMW promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. 9/25 They were heartthrobs.. Especially when the company was being run by promoters like Jim Herd driving him and everyone else batty due to either their ineptitude, out-of-touch booking style or complete cluelessness. $159. BROWN: Straight heat. Summer Blast 3/20 He liked southern territory wrestling, wild stuff, big heat, that type of thing. ARMSTRONG: It was really bad. 3/19 Smoky Mountain Wrestling is a little-known wrestling promotion that was founded in 1991 by Jim Cornette who had, at the time, just left WCW. 11/8 Just give it a try, he said. 4/20 He wined and dined us to impress us with the biggest show they had and we were just super excited about it. 3/25 [4][5][6][7], In 1993, Smoky Mountain Wrestling signed deals with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation to showcase their wrestlers on the larger companies' shows. Similar to the promotion in Philadelphia that has now earned mythic status, Cornette and SMW were able to do many of the same things that Happy Heyman was able to pull off in ECW. 10/15 James / Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but ultimately, like most independents, was not financially successful. He always sat in the crowd. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) Play all Shuffle 1 SMW Episode 1 2/1/1992 Old School Rasslin! 2/5 It was eye-opening to see that other side of him. 6/13 ARMSTRONG: One time, [my son] Scott and I were trying to find a building. Contents 1 History and overview 1.1 Formation 1.2 Territorial reach First Team: 106: Aydan Mull, Tuscola. Recently, music producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin was a guest on his former employee, Chris Jerichos podcast. 5/7 Anything you wanted Dirty White Boy to do, he was there to do. Then he studied under Bill Watts, who had a great wrestling mind. We used those shows to go to stations to sell a wrestling TV show. Style 4/16 People can watch it on Monday night for nothing, so its hard to get people to come out and pay to see you, especially in the towns and smaller venues we were running. 12/3 3/12 The promotion had a brief association with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), whose flagship promotion Eastern Championship Wrestling had split away in August 1994, leaving the NWA with no World Heavyweight Champion. STORM: Tracy Smothers was so much fun to be around. This is somebody you have to worry about., Watch The Gangstas address The Undertaker from a southern graveyard. 10/1 9/11 10/2 He knew how to work the people, because he was a southern boy and catered to that crowd. Add to history Add to collection Add to watchlist Recommend this Watch every Premium Live Event and enjoy some of your favorite WWE content on Shahid. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 2/11 Smokey Mountain Wrestling was a wrestling promotion founded by Jim Cornette, Rick Rubin and others. Fire on the mountain: The oral history of Smoky Mountain Wrestling facebook twitter During the early 1990s, wrestling was in a state of transition. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. 5/6 [9] The Heavenly Bodies (Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) then faced The Steiner Brothers for the WWF Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam 1993,[10][11] and then defeating The Rock 'n' Roll Express at Survivor Series 1993 for the SMW Tag Team Championship.[12][13]. It was held between March 12 and April 23, 1992; the finals of the tournament was originally scheduled for Volunteer Slam on May 22 in Knoxville, but the teams that made the finals, The Fantastics and The Heavenly Bodies, decided to have the tournament final on the April 23, 1992 TV taping, which aired on May 9. I got this tape from a guy called Lance Storm who I saw leaping from the top rope and cutting these great dropkicks. WWE now owns the SMW video library. It would get scary. Its hard to make your product seem impressive enough when youve got WWE and WCW to compete with. STORM: We were always trying to push a little further in the ring and Jim was trying to pull us back. 7/22 6/4 8/19 MANTEL: Jimmy has a short fuse. What was I gonna do? He wrote an article called Bobs Brigade, and thats when I first became aware of him. 7/24 1/9 DLO BROWN: [Cornette] was a good character and a good entertainer, but he also knew TV stations, syndication, how to book venues and how to promote. What happened to Smoky Mountain Wrestling? - The Pro Wrestler 195: Titus Bridges, Pisgah. CORNETTE: The following day, he needed surgery on his arm. 152: Cameron King, Pisgah. 3/19 They were close to 60-years-old at the time and he was doing moonsaults off the top into those chairs. 4/29 Visit Sony LIV to sign in or sign up and enjoy WWE's premium content. His talent was great, but the fans didnt know exactly how to take him. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. 7/1 MANTEL: The business had morphed. Enter Jim Cornette. He has even stated on several podcasts that he to his day watches eight hours of wrestling a week (Dont hold that against him, the man has a job and cant sit on the couch ALL day to watch). 5/28 12/25, 1/8 120: Gunnar Marshall, East Henderson, Cooper Williamson, Tuscola. 4/29 From 1920 to last week. 5/17 SMW Thanksgiving Thunder 1995 | Pro Wrestling | Fandom Watch every Premium Live Event and get unlimited access to WWE's premium content - available to you anywhere, anytime, on any device. It didnt mean anything for the average Smoky Mountain Wrestling fan, but it was the tape traders that were the ones watching this stuff because they knew who Kanemura was. 4/16 6/12 3/6 The Mountain 7 has released its all-conference teams for the 2022-23 winter sports seasons. People knew him, he could talk and knew how to work the style. He wasnt able to sit and enjoy his wrestling company. STORM: Chris was trying to do a Shooting Star Press, bailed on it and landed as if he was trying to do a dropkick off the top rope. CORNETTE: Scott [Armstrong] wrestled under a mask as Dixie Dynamite. 12/29 Its very obvious and straight-forward. It was Marilyn Manson before he got famous. [3], Cornette had initially envisioned a territory reaching from Kentucky into as far as South Carolina and Georgia. STORM: I got married literally the day before I moved to Smoky Mountain and my wife ended up renting an apartment in the same apartment complex as Chris and Tammy. SmackDown results, April 28, 2023: Find out who was drafted in Night One of the 2023 WWE Draft, WWE NXT Spring Breakin' results, April 25, 2023: Indi Hartwell retains the NXT Women's Championship in gutsy performance at Spring Breakin', Roman Reigns survives Cody Rhodes with controversial victory at WrestleMania, Watch Smoky Mountains biggest stars in action, Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest Road to Backlash, The American Nightmare takes on The Beast at WWE Backlash. 11/4 9/17 After SMW folded, The Louisville Slugger, Jim Cornette went to work for WWE. SMOTHERS: That was different. Big Apple Brawl The same show that we would do live in Memphis every Saturday morning would then show the following week in Louisville. 10/17 He was such a class act. 10/16 And that ended up as our territory. 9/3 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 2 It was me, New Jack, Mustafa, Unabomb, Chris Jericho lived there at one point, Balls Mahoney and another kid who was Little Snot Dudley in ECW. There was one caveat - he wasnt going to continuously invest in the product (and lose money). Former employees in SMW consisted of professional wrestlers, managers, play-by-play and color commentators, announcers, interviewers and referees . 9,102 likes. Chris was really moving too fast for small towns in Kentucky. He broke in under Jerry Jarrett, who, at one time, was one of the most creative guys I knew. He had a big show that night at the Knoxville Civic Center. They rode their mule to the wrestling matches. 5/6 Its a camaraderie thats not relevant exclusively to Smoky Mountain.