BROWN: I was scared out of my wits of New Jack. 8/7 195: Titus Bridges, Pisgah. 10/7 He unmasked himself when I called him out for being ashamed of his father. Hes a creative genius bordering on insanity, which is the best kind of genius. 11/20 10/15 3/25 5/29 Popular attractions Heimatmuseum Oberstdorf and Neue Skischule . What made this small, regional organization so memorable? Owned by the trio of Sweet Stan Lane, Sandy Scott, and Jim Cornette, SMW was very much an analogue to ECW the same way that its promoter is and was an analogue to Paul Heyman. 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. Smoky Mountain Wrestling Current abbreviation: SMW Status: Inactive Location: Morristown, Tennessee, USA Active Time: 1991 - 1995 Details Names: Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991 - 1995) Abbreviations: SMW Owners: Jim Cornette & Sandy Scott (1994 - 1995) Jim Cornette, Sandy Scott & Tim Horner (1991 - 1994) Popular events: After a while, he became a great fan favorite. Matches from these shows were first shown in February 1992. JIM CORNETTE: In WCW in 1990, The Midnight Express Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane and myself were still there. She was a huge cornfed farmwoman and Brian Lee was trying to save Tammy without hurting her. 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. 6/12 4/9 He had people screaming during a Chain Match in Pikeville, Ky., population: 6500. BOB ARMSTRONG: Cornette was a fan club president of mine when I was in Memphis. 6/17 The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Dirty White Boy vs. Bruiser Bedlam and Jim Cornette, Bambi and The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. Tammy Fytch, Chris Candido and Brian Lee, The Dirty White Boy vs. Chris Candido for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, Bob Armstrong, Tracy Smothers and Road Warrior Hawk vs. Bruiser Bedlam and The Funk Brothers (Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk), The Dirty White Boy, Tracy Smothers and The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. Boo Bradley, Bruiser Bedlam and The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa), The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa) vs. I think he was the longest tenured roster member. Cornette, Lane, and Scott had five years to try and earn the music maven some money. * Note: The was the first ever Smoky Mountain Wrestling show. 4/2 Sign up for BINGE to watch. People were scared of them. Buddy Landell, The Punisher, Tommy Rich, Terry Gordy, Sgt. Watch Dirty White Boy sneak up on Dutch Mantel in a scrapyard. [29], After SMW closed, Brad Armstrong declared himself SMW champion and defended the SMW Heavyweight Championship in the United States Wrestling Association. We were far away from breaking even and it wasnt getting any better. [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. Then we got The Steiners to come have rematches in Smoky Mountain. Every night he went out there and busted his hump. ARMSTRONG: You never knew what he was going to do next and I always had to be on my best. If youre thinking Rubin produced a Fozzy album at some point, youd be wrong. CORNETTE: Rubin was working with Mick Jagger, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Crowes and Johnny Cash and he got behind on watching the TV shows. Im a country boy, but that was too much. The same show that we would do live in Memphis every Saturday morning would then show the following week in Louisville. Two kids were on the mule, they rode up, got off, slapped him on the ass, and he went back over the hill and the kids came to the wrestling match. 7/1 11/4 If he was seven-foot and 300 pounds, hed kill 20 people. American professional wrestling promotion, NWA World Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1994), List of former Smoky Mountain Wrestling personnel, SMW "Beat The Champ" Television Championship, SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship, List of independent wrestling promotions in the United States, "Smokey Mountain Wrestling > Ring Results > 1991-92", "Smokey Mountain Wrestling > Ring Results > 1993", "Smokey Mountain Wrestling > Ring Results > 1994", "Smokey Mountain Wrestling > Ring Results > 1995", "A Look Back at Smoky Mountain Wrestling", "Nostalgia Review: WCW SuperBrawl III; Sting vs. Vader Strap Match, Hollywood Blondes, Barry Windham vs. 10/7 2/12 The Undertaker walked out and Im like, Wow, oh my God, Im about the wrestle The Undertaker. You can feel the people breathing. 3/26 TRACY SMOTHERS: They were hillbillies. Fans didnt know how to take them. [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]. 7/9 Watch Smothers battle Chris Candido in an early Ladder Match. The next spring, I beat him in a cage with a tennis racquet and sent him to the hospital and Scott came back with Steve, his other son, and then we did this big Lumberjack Match. 4/29 1981 - 39 Disks. 106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 . Knoxville was their biggest market, but its not a big enough market to sustain a wrestling company. 8/21 The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Bruise Brothers (Don Bruise and Ron Bruise) vs. 7/9 1/21 The way he spoke, it was just like, Wow. In hindsight, considering where we were, Jim was right. This page is not available in other languages. SMW promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. When we finally had a wrestling match together, it sold out Knoxville Civic Center. They wanted an edgier, alternative product. That really raised my opinion of him right there, when he did that. First Team: 106: Aydan Mull, Tuscola. 6/12 5/8 ROAD DOGG: Jim Cornette gave me the name The Dark Secret, because it was a dark secret that the Commissioners son was the one under the hood. Several SMW wrestlers would soon obtain work in the WWF, including Tracy Smothers, The Dirty White Boy, and Boo Bradley. Fire On The Mountain Nobody really did that back then have wrestlers from all these different promotions come in. 4/8 A lot of experience. 11/4 Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain . SMOTHERS: It was originally going to be Steve [Armstrong] and I together to work a program with The Heavenly Bodies, but Steve got a job with WWE. 6/21 Not meant to be an exact copy, but this is basically the Palace of Versailles of Bavaria. October 1991 He had so much heart and loved wrestling more than anybody Ive ever met. CORNETTE: Brian Lee was playing the part of Brad Armstrong. Cornette formed the promotion in October 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling with Stan Lane, Tim Horner and Sandy Scott. 12/17 Christmas Chaos - Day 2 ARMSTRONG: I was getting on up in age. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, Chris Candido vs. Tracy Smothers for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship, The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. 9/19 The promotion featured a number of wrestlers who were regulars in the Southeastern wrestling scene the Heavenly Bodies, Stan Lane and Tom Prichard and later Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray. 8/27 (1) They had been bugging me to come down to Smoky Mountain, so I said, Youve gotta wear dresses. You couldve heard a pin drop. 4/17 7/8 4/1 WCW was struggling with management issues, WWE was moving away from Hulkamanias golden age and the glory days of ECW were still years away. He beat up my dad and put him down on the chairs and went to do a moonsault off the top. 7/22 We did the match and it had a crazy emotion to it.We were wrestling against WWE Superstars and founding members of Smoky Mountain Wrestling. AWA TV. 9/4 There were a lot sliced tires and keyed cars. Jimmy has a temper. However in April 1995, The Rock 'n' Roll Express won the NWA World Tag Team Championship for the fifth time, giving SMW a handful of World Tag Team championship matches. 6/5 [Rubin] would call me at three in the morning, Id hear the latest main event playing the background and wed talk about cool wrestling. MANTEL: Cornette started at about 14 or 15-years-old taking pictures. That became The Headbangers. 4/15 3/20 I learned how to perform a basic, good guy interview and get some personality and charisma involved as well. Here are a few things fans should know about Jim Cornette's promotion. He wined and dined us to impress us with the biggest show they had and we were just super excited about it. 2/19 The Black Bears have won 13 of the past 16 conference championships, according to The Mountaineer. 10/22 4/22 Bob Caudle, who was the play-by-play announcer on the TV program, would also proclaim at the beginning of each show that Smoky Mountain Wrestling was "professional wrestling the way it used to be, and the way you like it." I looked at his arm and there was a dent where one bone was supposed to be and he could bend his forearm in the middle. TV Taping 10/30/91 in Greeneville, SC @ the Memorial Auditorium CORNETTE: [Dirty White Boy] was the perfect villain for the territory from the start. The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard) vs. 1/29 When you see guys later in a WWE locker room, theres an instant connection that you did time in the territory together. 145: Wesley Murray, East Henderson. Ive seen him destroy rings. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 CORNETTE: We led up to a World Tag Team Title Match against The Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam. The Rock n Roll Express and Tracy Smothers could give you an education you cant get in the ring. They were carrying WWEs Superstars, so they aired us from 11:00 to noon and aired Superstars from noon to 1:00 and asked people to vote for which program to keep. In February 1995, however, Candido lost the belt to Ultimate Fighting Championship winner Dan Severn, who as a freelancer decided to become a traveling World Champion, depriving SMW of a basis for World Heavyweight championship matches. Wrestling was not popular in America. The promotion was backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. I hit him with a pair of brass knux and he had to leave town. He was so knowledgeable, dedicated and determined. 10/17 220: Reese Meadows, North Henderson. 11/5 We trained together, sat by the pool, went to dinner, went to the movies. [1] The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. [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. 4/22 6/4 The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, Bobby Blaze and The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. D-Lo Brown and The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. SMW 8/25 CORNETTE: We had a deal with the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va. They could get pretty rowdy. BROWN: We had what was called the Smoky Mountain Flophouse in Morristown, Tenn., close to Cornettes house. 2/19 6/24 The hero is going to be very much Clark Kent, straight and honest. The SMW Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever SMW Tag Team Champions. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. 11/6 (c) refers to the champion (s) heading into the match. JERICHO: He would micro-manage it. They were heartthrobs. LAWLER: I went to Knoxville and beat Dirty White Boy for the Smoky Mountain Title as a part of a crossover with the USWA in Memphis. 9/24 10/29 Owner Being commissioner, they knocked me out and painted an X on my back. 6/16 JERICHO: He flew us to Knoxville from Calgary. He always sat in the crowd. The first Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final on April 23, 1992, in Harrogate, Tennessee, when The Heavenly Bodies defeated The Fantastics. CORNETTE: DLo Brown was a CPA, had a good job, but he quit and moved to Knoxville to be in the wrestling business. 120: Gunnar Marshall, East Henderson, Cooper Williamson, Tuscola. This is somebody you have to worry about., Watch The Gangstas address The Undertaker from a southern graveyard. Alongside his on-screen managerial duties, being the US spokesman for Yokozuna, Corny would start helping with the booking and he was able to help Vince McMahon usher in The Attitude Era before some other Vince came along to drive Cornette insane. 9/4 6/3 3/27 170: Marcus McCarson, East Henderson. Fire On The Mountain 1/14 From what I understand, Jim paid really well. The day-long Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Festival will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. May 6 at the Townsend Visitors Center, 7906 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway, after the Bigfoot 5K race at 9 a.m. 9/17 It was an invaluable experience. DUTCH MANTEL: Sometimes the best baseball managers are not the greatest players, but they spend their playing days in the dugout watching the manager manage the game. Cornette took all he learned growing up on Memphis TV and brought his own southern-style to the masses of the region. Volunteer Slam III Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. Matches from these shows were first shown in February 1992. Results Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event and the worlds best TV and movies. 1986 - 30 Disks . 3/21 Former employees in SMW consisted of professional wrestlers, managers, play-by-play and color commentators, announcers, interviewers and referees. 5/5 5/27 5/7 People didnt just want to see them get their @$$es kicked, they didnt want to see them period. 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. 3/19 When I went to Smoky Mountain, it was totally different than what I remembered Knoxville wrestling being like. 11/6 There, he functioned as both a singles competitor and a tag team specialist, capturing pretty much every title one could win in the company save for the Heavyweight Championship. 10/13 CORNETTE: We would get VHS tapes from wrestlers who wanted to come to Smoky Mountain. Its very obvious and straight-forward. The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa), Jim Cornette and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. D-Lo Brown and The Gangstas (New Jack & Mustafa), Tracy Smothers and The Undertaker vs. D-Lo Brown and The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa), Bob Armstrong, Tracy Smothers and The Undertaker vs. D-Lo Brown and The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa), The Dynamic Duo (Al Snow and Unabomb) vs. Either the story is good or the story is not good. 7/24 8/7 SMOTHERS: That was different. 5/21 6/17 9,102 likes. 9/11 Jim Cornette 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. 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.
smoky mountain wrestling