If youre thinking Rubin produced a Fozzy album at some point, youd be wrong. Thanksgiving and Christmas had been a big time of year for us, but when Thanksgiving weekend in 1995 earned us less than it had the previous year, I knew it was inevitable to halt things. It was eye-opening to see that other side of him. It was exciting to be just getting out of the military and getting my start in wrestling. Who is after two or three years in the business? Location Jericho asked me if he could go in the ring to practice some stuff. Christmas Chaos - Day 2 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 Sign up for BINGE to watch. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) Inactive promotion in the Americas region. The most important thing about wrestling is know your audience and Cornette really knew that southern area. 7/16 5/10 A 10-man tournament was held in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in November, featuring many SMW wrestlers; the participants were Tracy Smothers, Devon Storm, Eddie Gilbert, Johnny Gunn, Chris Candido, Al Snow, Dirty White Boy, Jerry Lawler, Lou Perez, and Osamu Nishimura. 5/6 Several SMW wrestlers would soon obtain work in the WWF, including Tracy Smothers, The Dirty White Boy, and Boo Bradley. Thats how they got there in Smoky Mountain. 8/7 7/4 8/18 Former employees in SMW consisted of professional wrestlers, managers, play-by-play and color commentators, announcers, interviewers and referees. His talent was great, but the fans didnt know exactly how to take him. 7/22 It was an invaluable experience. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event, your favorite shows, new movies, live sports, and more. Pro Wrestling is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Rick Rubin was a big wrestling fan and he had just made like $100 million from CBS Records. CORNETTE: Rob Mazzie was 6-foot-8 and 300-something pounds. 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. 6/10 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." If you're thinking Rubin produced a Fozzy album at some point, you'd be wrong. 2. Later on, he turned into Jim Cornette the manager. I offered Chris and his girlfriend Tammy to come to Knoxville. STORM: Jericho was still going back and forth to Mexico and Japan, so he was going 100 miles an hour in one territory and 10 in the other. The OJ car chase had just happened and Rodney King a few years before that, so I came up with The Gangstas from South Central LA. May 1 - May 2. Cornette formed the promotion in October 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling with Stan Lane, Tim Horner and Sandy Scott. [8] This led to The Rock 'n' Roll Express wrestling The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Stan Lane) at SuperBrawl III in February 1993. And that created a lot of controversy. 170: Marcus McCarson, East Henderson. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. First Team: 106: Aydan Mull, Tuscola. There were a lot sliced tires and keyed cars. I think he was the longest tenured roster member. 8.8/10 Excellent! 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. 3/19 Knoxville was their biggest market, but its not a big enough market to sustain a wrestling company. He unmasked himself when I called him out for being ashamed of his father. Christmas Chaos - Day 1 Anything you wanted Dirty White Boy to do, he was there to do. TRACY SMOTHERS: They were hillbillies. 12/29 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. Legends like the Rock And Roll Express extended their runs as well as perennial Journeyman like Tony Anthony, one of the regions hottest heels - The Dirty White Boy (WWE fans would know him as the Plumber, TL Hopper). $159. 2/13 CORNETTE:This woman in Barbourville, Ky, grabbed Tammy [Sytch] and dragged her on the gym floor by her hair and wrists, determined to drag her out of the back of the building. 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. SMOTHERS: I was there the night Kevin [Sullivan] cut up [W*ING] Kanemura. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 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. He liked southern territory wrestling, wild stuff, big heat, that type of thing. TV Taping 10/30/91 in Greeneville, SC @ the Memorial Auditorium 4/15 6/5 It was a personality-driven territory. 6/25 7/31 After SMW folded, The Louisville Slugger, Jim Cornette went to work for WWE. 9/24 A lot of experience. 6/7 9/5 Nobody really did that back then have wrestlers from all these different promotions come in. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) Play all Shuffle 1 SMW Episode 1 2/1/1992 Old School Rasslin! 3/11 [26], The King of Kentucky Tournament was a one-night single elimination tournament held in Hazard, Kentucky on June 24, 1993. 4/1 They had been bugging me to come down to Smoky Mountain, so I said, Youve gotta wear dresses. You couldve heard a pin drop. Contents Formation Territorial reach Notable talent 3/12 He was a retired wrestling legend and talked better than anyone on the roster. 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. 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. The hero is going to be very much Clark Kent, straight and honest. Every night he went out there and busted his hump. 4/3 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. 7/19 ARMSTRONG: I got to wrestle with all four of my sons at one time or another while Smoky Mountain was going on. It was a great time for me. SMOTHERS: He never came back to the dressing room. ARMSTRONG: You never knew what he was going to do next and I always had to be on my best. There were about nine guys living in this house. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship, SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 4/23 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 10/9 The Moondogs, The Dirty White Boy and The Dirty White Girl vs. Brian Lee and Tammy Fytch, The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. 3/18 9/18 8/27 (2) 10/29 Rasslin' Smoky Mountain Wrestling 1991-1995. The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship. 11/4 CORNETTE: Until April 1995, we were doing fairly well. 6/18 STORM: We were always trying to push a little further in the ring and Jim was trying to pull us back. He asked, What are you doing May 26? And he showed me a paper for a Klan rally. 10/17 3/25 Though the promotion was highly thought of, it struggled to get a profitable television deal, and operated throughout a wrestling recession that would not end until 1997. They were heartthrobs. 7/3 ARMSTRONG: I was commissioner, so Jimmy and I were always at each others throats. 4/17 From 1992 until the promotion's end in 1995, Chris Candido wrestled for Jim Cornette 's Tennessee-based outfit Smoky Mountain Wrestling. 7/23 Brian Hildebrand was a Smoky Mountain mainstay, occupying such myriad roles as Head of Merchandise, referee (under his alter ego Mark Curtis) and sound director. He could talk like crazy. 10/7 They think its broken, but hell be back.. 6/1 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. When you see guys later in a WWE locker room, theres an instant connection that you did time in the territory together. BOB ARMSTRONG: Cornette was a fan club president of mine when I was in Memphis. [28], The Carolina Cup Tag Team Tournament was a one-night single elimination tournament held at the Grady Cole Center on August 13, 1995. It was a really big deal and Jericho did more than he should have. * Note: The was the first ever Smoky Mountain Wrestling show. He beat up my dad and put him down on the chairs and went to do a moonsault off the top. I couldnt believe it. I hit him with a pair of brass knux and he had to leave town. But if there was ever anything wrong with the paychecks, hed make it good. LAWLER: There were some backwoods fans, rednecks and coal miners that would come over from Virginia. 126: Damon Landreth, West Henderson, Matthew Mehaffey, Pisgah. Cornette was able to broker deals with both WCW and WWE, bringing talent like the highly understood Heavenly Bodies to both promotions to get a big look. 8/20 1/22 Brawl In The Hall Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 2 3/13 Related: 5 Things Jim Cornette Gets Right About Modern Wrestling (And 5 He's Wrong About). Wrestling and swimming are determined based on votes from coaches and conference championship results . People knew him, he could talk and knew how to work the style. 4/8 4/30 It was Marilyn Manson before he got famous. 9/2 7/4 5/5 We put baby powder on him so if he was dropkicked, dust would fly out. 2/13 Results ; Team Name . This is somebody you have to worry about., Watch The Gangstas address The Undertaker from a southern graveyard. He had a good match, was a great kid, came to eat ribs with us and I liked the way he carried himself. For everyone who has paid a lick of attention to Jim Cornette over the past decade or two then you already know how bombastic the guy is. October 1991 He was tailor-made for the region. Cornette formed the promotion in October 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling, with Sandy Scott and backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. 11/5 (c) refers to the champion (s) heading into the match. 6/10 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. The promotion was backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. 9/4 3/6 Jim CornetteTim HornerStan LaneSandy Scott 4/22 ARMSTRONG: You have to show southern fans you know what youre doing and The Mummy made it really hard to do that. He broke in under Jerry Jarrett, who, at one time, was one of the most creative guys I knew. Brian had worked in Memphis and had a lot of potential. Then we got The Steiners to come have rematches in Smoky Mountain. All the mom and pop promotions were dropping like flies. The Rock n Roll Express and Tracy Smothers could give you an education you cant get in the ring. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. Learning when to do things, why to do them and getting the crowd to react the way you want. 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. 10/7 10/29 CORNETTE: I met [Chris] Candido and his girlfriend, who were teenagers, in New Jersey. Style CORNETTE: I had made a deal for Eddie Gilbert to come in January 1995 and Dutch had said he had this big guy in Puerto Rico. Just give it a try, he said. During the early 1990s, wrestling was in a state of transition. Owner CORNETTE: DLo Brown was a CPA, had a good job, but he quit and moved to Knoxville to be in the wrestling business. From what I understand, Jim paid really well. I wanted Brad Armstrong in that spot from the start, but hes one of the only ones I couldnt get from WCW. 7/10 10/1 The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Bruise Brothers (Don Bruise and Ron Bruise) vs. And I dont know where the kids came from, there were no houses. We knew they were going to be stars. 12/18 5/1 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. 8/28 (c) refers to the champion (s) heading into the match. 11/6 Then he studied under Bill Watts, who had a great wrestling mind. ROAD DOGG: I got to travel with my family, do what I love to do and be with the people I love. 1/16/23 - HI!, WE'RE STILL IN BUSINESS! The result was a unique Appalachian institution that attracted fans who traveled over the hills on the backs of mules to watch performers like Chris Jericho, Road Dogg, Sunny and a guy called Dirty White Boy. Marietta Debut It lasted almost five years and Ill never forget it. ROAD DOGG: Brian Lee was a great wrestler, a big good-looking guy and had a lot of talent. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 He started with us and was there when we closed. CORNETTE: We led up to a World Tag Team Title Match against The Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam. WWE now owns the SMW video library. The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. I had wrestled in Knoxville many times before, but it had been a while since Id been back. He talked like one of the people because he was one a plumber from east Tennessee. CORNETTE: Hes an Armstrong. The way he spoke, it was just like, Wow. 8/6 7/12 Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. 5/21 1/16 3/4 Thats not something southern America in 1994 was probably ready for. 6/12 5/4 6/5 Theres a difference between country people and hillbillies and they were bona fide hillbillies. In 1974, The Mummy was fantastic, but I was 12 and times have changed. But Rick wanted a mummy. He was the best performer of the three of them, so I made him their posse member. We also got WYMT in Hazard, Ky., so we had eastern Kentucky covered, too, with those three stations. Eventually, he was walking around in a full body cast. 10/8 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. 7/2 They built a lot of heat. 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. In hindsight, considering where we were, Jim was right. 3/19 What was I gonna do? To some of them, it wasnt just entertainment. 8/6 People had never seen it before. 4/22 10/22 Brad has his old Badstreet costume from WCW, which we turned inside out, put on Brian and called him The Dark Secret. WWE for the first time ever acknowledged another wrestling promotion. 8/14 106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 . BROWN: [Smoky Mountain] was like my first year in college. 7/8 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. 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) SMW also featured a number of younger wrestlers who had not yet made their mark on a national stage, including Bob Holly, New Jack, Al Snow, Balls Mahoney, Chris Jericho, Glenn Jacobs (then known as Unabomb, later better known under the ring name Kane), Lance Storm, Chris Candido, Tammy Lynn Sytch, Brian Girard James (B.G. That memory will always stick with me. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee . Both Curtis Comes Home and the 2005 sequel show, held in memory of SMW head referee Mark Curtis are both considered "unofficial" reunion shows. 11/5 It didnt matter if we had 112 people in Pikeville, Ky. CORNETTE: I had visited my friend Cat, who was touring with Danzig. We were trying to be a little more serious than the colorful world of WWE. 5/8 11/12 They could get pretty rowdy. Watch the big Steiner Brothers vs. Heavenly Bodies match at SummerSlam 1993. 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. The Black Bears have won 13 of the past 16 conference championships, according to The Mountaineer. Mustafa couldnt say sooey if the hogs had him, but looked like he could break you in half. 9/23 They take their rasslin very seriously. It took a while to get ingratiated into the style of being slowed down. MANTEL: I used to tell some of the guys in the locker room, The crowd is aggressive towards you because you might be the biggest stars theyll ever meet. Rock stars dont play concerts back in those hills. Its hard to make your product seem impressive enough when youve got WWE and WCW to compete with. 8/20 The gardens and a portion of the palace were completed before Ludwig II's mysterious death. 8/27 ARMSTRONG: He worked himself to death. He was legitimate. The Mummy was cool. I said, I loved The Mummy, too. 10/23 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. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 4/2 ROAD DOGG: My dad was already getting up there in years and there were a lot of young guys, so he became the commissioner. 11/19 138: Jacob Ed, West Henderson, William McCoy, Smoky Mountain. Summer Blast 6/17 12/10 He had people screaming during a Chain Match in Pikeville, Ky., population: 6500. Youre not going to see that in Madison Square Garden, I can assure you. 3/5 Super Saturday Night Fever 11/14 Weight Class . 8/5 7/9 The palace sits on an island in the middle of the lake and requires a ferry for access. For a guy who sometimes feels some on his roster are too southern, at various points Vince McMahon employed an awful lot of guys who had plenty of experience wrestling along the Appalachian Trail. 6/19 1/21 11/13 1980 - 36 Disks. Night Of Legends The basketball teams are voted on by league coaches. In addition to making occasional appearances on the independent circuit in Georgia and Alabama, Armstrong acted as the commissioner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling and worked backstage with Southeast Championship Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Federation. 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. 5/21 Bankrolled by an LA-based music genius who produced Eminems latest album, the fiery Louisville Slugger founded Smoky Mountain Wrestling as a throwback to what he believed to be the lost art of southern-style rasslin. What made this small, regional organization so memorable? 1994 saw Randy Savage head to Smoky Mountain Wrestling to compete at their Volunteer Slam 3 PPV. He and The Rock n Roll Express together showed how much fun a locker room can be if you dont take yourselves too seriously. 2/5 But Cornette wanted to have a hand in everything. 7/29 Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. December 1995 Later, Mark Curtis came running up to me saying, Jericho went to the hospital. Smokey Mountain Wrestling was a wrestling promotion founded by Jim Cornette, Rick Rubin and others. 5/7 1/9 The company honored the traditional wrestling sensibilities Cornette came up with, and continued to espouse long after, with a focus on realistic action featuring legitimate tough guys. 8/21 Chris was really moving too fast for small towns in Kentucky. Watch every Premium Live Event and get unlimited access to WWE's premium content - available to you anywhere, anytime, on any device. Warren went 22-3 at 185 pounds with a win at the Smoky . CORNETTE: We ran shows in Marietta, Ga., wed use some of the local promoters guys and there was New Jack. 9/4 2/4 Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 2/25 I got this tape from a guy called Lance Storm who I saw leaping from the top rope and cutting these great dropkicks. Cornette, Lane, and Scott had five years to try and earn the music maven some money. I didnt want it to get to a point where I owed talent money. So that was the idea behind Smoky Mountain Wrestling. BROWN: The thing I really think about is when Jimmy went to WWE, he split his time and focus, and obviously hes putting most of his thought and input into WWE. SMW event tours also included high school gyms and fairs in cities throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. The Mountain 7 has released its all-conference teams for the 2022-23 winter sports seasons. 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. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 12/3 5/22 9/8 11/21 5/27 6/18 CORNETTE: In one of my late night phone calls with Rubin, he said, I think we ought to have a mummy. 1/22 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. 9/24 Thats when Smoky Mountain started to become less important. 8/21 They were either already established stars or were guys that went on to become stars. 9/5 9/25 4/24 Having my sons with me, it was a great family experience and one of the greatest experiences of my life. MANTEL: The business had morphed. 7/15 The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard) and Jim Cornette for the SMW Tag Team Championship, Bobby Eaton and The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard) vs. Arn Anderson and The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. Dutch Mantell and The Stud Stable (Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden), Brian Lee, The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) and The Stud Stable (Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden) vs. Kevin Sullivan, The Tazmaniac, Killer Kyle and The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard), Tracy Smothers vs. 4/21 1/28 That really raised my opinion of him right there, when he did that. 9/4 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, use fried chicken and watermelons as props and win matches as a result of a two count (rather than the conventional three count), which the Gangstas (kayfabe) insisted on due to Affirmative Action. 4/15 JERICHO: When youre in front of 200 people, theres no need to do a dive over the top rope to the floor. Contents 1 History and overview 1.1 Formation 1.2 Territorial reach Last updated by Sean Sweeny on April 28, 2014 Title History Career Highlights 1993: Rob Mayze wrestled as "Prince Kharis" in Jim Cornette 's Smokey Mountain Wrestling managed by Daryl Van Horn .. November 26, 1993 - Thanksgiving Thunder: Pince Kharis (debut) defeated Tim Horner with the sleeperhold.. The Mountain 7 has released its all-conference teams for the 2022-23 winter sports seasons. The good guy wore the white hat, the bad guy wore the black hat. 9/18 STORM: Like ECW, Smoky Mountain was too big to be small and too small to be big. The Undertaker walked out and Im like, Wow, oh my God, Im about the wrestle The Undertaker. You can feel the people breathing. She was still in school, and stayed in school at UT while she was working for me. 8/19 He knew those people so well, what they wanted and when they needed it. 9/16 7/1 I had a police officer keep an eye on them while I took care of White Boy in the ring. WCW was struggling with management issues, WWE was moving away from Hulkamania's golden age and the glory days of ECW were still years away. 7/18 Youre in those Appalachian Mountains. This led to The Rock 'n' Roll Express wrestling The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Stan Lane) at SuperBrawl III in February. He wined and dined us to impress us with the biggest show they had and we were just super excited about it. He was green and learning, but when he switched to a villain, teamed with Chris Candido and was managed by Tammy, he did a lot better work. It was a good chance to get promoted on national television, but I was afraid that if I showed up, people would think I was leaving Knoxville and it would hurt shows, so Bruce got Vince to agree that we could mention Smoky Mountain on WWE TV. 5/5 3/27 Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain . CORNETTE: I met Rick Rubin through Cat Collins, a DJ friend of mine that had worked for Rubin at American Recordings. 3/6 WWE now owns the SMW video library. 12/25, 1/8 10/8 2/20 3/18 The Thanksgiving Thunder 1995 was a Professional wrestling event of Smoky Mountain Wrestling which was taped on November 23, 1995. 6/21 7/29 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: It was my proving grounds and learning period. JERRY LAWLER: Jim Cornette grew up in Louisville watching our Memphis wrestling company. And why did it close so quickly? CORNETTE: Kanemura came in from Japan to work a show for us in 1993. Summer Blast 1981 - 39 Disks. They wanted an edgier, alternative product. Find the all-conference team for each sport below. Acronym 7/17 4/22 6/13 Related: 9 Wrestlers We Forgot Were Managed By Jim Cornette. 11/20 SMW Tribute Page for the history and memories of Smoky Mountain Wrestling!! 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. People knew my friend Cat Collins and were asking, Whos that bum hanging around with Cat? I drove him to Nashville to produce the Johnny Cash album and I got to eat lunch with Johnny Cash. Event history 10/14 8/25 The signal up in those mountains went 100 miles in almost any direction. 3/12 3/5 The early 1990s saw Jim Cornette launch his own wrestling promotion, Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Much like several others, including Ric Flair had left the company, Cornette as well felt he had no choice other to leave or run headlong into a brick wall, since he was getting nowhere to begin with. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. 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. 5/14 3/28 Alumni [ edit] Male wrestlers [ edit] Female wrestlers [ edit] He had a big show that night at the Knoxville Civic Center. 2/11 They used to call us the flying squirrels and mean it. The Thugs (Tony Anthony and Tracy Smothers) and a, Robert Gibson and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. Ricky Morton and The Thugs (Tony Anthony and Tracy Smothers), This page was last edited on 31 January 2023, at 01:59. 11/26 6/12 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. Where else could a good ole country boy from Springfield, Tenn., like Tracy Smothers have people cheer for him? JERICHO: He flew us to Knoxville from Calgary. 10/24 7/31 Hotels near Gasthof Alte Schreinerei, Steinsfeld on Tripadvisor: Find traveler reviews, 386 candid photos, and prices for 842 hotels near Gasthof Alte Schreinerei in Steinsfeld, Germany. 1/17 9/17 CORNETTE: Scott [Armstrong] wrestled under a mask as Dixie Dynamite. 6/5 I, as The Dark Secret, lost to him so he could take the baby bonnet off. I spent all of 1991 going back and forth to California to talk with Rick. 2/5 My wife and I became really great friends with them. Unfortunately, four years in, Smokey Mountain had to close its doors in 1995. 9/3 . 2/26 One time, before I took the hood off, I worked with my dad in a Loser Leaves Town Match dressed up as a ninja. Fire On The Mountain But the southern style that Cornette grew up with and pushed forward with his promotion still lives on to this day. 1/15 2/25 12/11 Rick Rubin on loving pro wrestling, learning from Ric Flair and how "Rowdy" Roddy Piper turned the Beastie Boys Bad.