smoky mountain wrestling

Now picture a company trying to keep him in their employ. 6/19 1/17 2/26 He asked, What are you doing May 26? And he showed me a paper for a Klan rally. Night Of Legends Smoky Mountain was a big tag team territory and Cornette asked if wed be willing to come in as a team. 10/8 My dad moved and Terry just ate the chairs. 7/11 Jim Cornette MANTEL: When you take the demographics into consideration, Tracy fit it perfectly. 9,102 likes. 3/6 When he looked to start his own promotion he met Rick Rubin and got the funding to start SMW. I wanted Brad Armstrong in that spot from the start, but hes one of the only ones I couldnt get from WCW. MANTEL: Up there in eastern Kentucky and northern Virginia, youre back in the hills, buddy. All the mom and pop promotions were dropping like flies. 113: Kane Bryson, Pisgah, Davey McCoy, Smoky Mountain. K-Town Showdown Prince Kharis - Online World of Wrestling 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. ARMSTRONG: The guy has more guts than I ever thought. Smoky Mountain Wrestling 1991-1995 - Facebook 7/16 CORNETTE: Rick Rubin only came to Smoky Mountain shows once. We knew they were going to be stars. 6/5 I offered Chris and his girlfriend Tammy to come to Knoxville. 6/25 3/12 11/14 11/26 It probably never should have happened, considering Chris broke his arm earlier that afternoon and needed surgery. Dad knew what Jim wanted and Jim knew how Dad was going to act out there. 3/4 CORNETTE: We led up to a World Tag Team Title Match against The Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam. 8/28 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." 8/20 11/13 CORNETTE: I got a building rent free and made two TV pilots, which ended up being show No. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 2 5 Things Jim Cornette Gets Right About Modern Wrestling (And 5 He's Wrong About), Jim Cornette, SMW was very much an analogue to ECW the same way that its promoter is and was an analogue to Paul Heyman, Jim Cornette over the past decade or two then you already know how bombastic the guy is, 9 Wrestlers We Forgot Were Managed By Jim Cornette, 5 AEW Stars That Jim Cornette Hates (& 5 He Actually Likes), a guy who sometimes feels some on his roster are too southern,. 11/4 Eddie left without telling me, so I needed a cocky guy to be Unabombs partner. 10/24 Not wrestling heat. Every Version Of Jim Cornette, Ranked From Worst To Best - TheSportster 10/10 We put baby powder on him so if he was dropkicked, dust would fly out. After years of operating in red ink, Cornette shut the promotion down in December 1995 to work full-time with the WWF. 8/21 6/12 I dont think America in 1994 was ready for it. Buddy Landel for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. Its an art. CORNETTE: The last one to come was young Brian [aka Road Dogg]. Jericho asked me if he could go in the ring to practice some stuff. Later on, he turned into Jim Cornette the manager. This is somebody you have to worry about., Watch The Gangstas address The Undertaker from a southern graveyard. ROAD DOGG: Brian Lee was a great wrestler, a big good-looking guy and had a lot of talent. Under Cornette, it was fresh and exciting. CORNETTE: [Dirty White Boy] was the perfect villain for the territory from the start. What made this small, regional organization so memorable? I didnt want it to get to a point where I owed talent money.. 7/3 7/22 Smoky Mountain Wrestling | Pro Wrestling | Fandom 9/27 8/5 Cornette said, Kid, you got eight minutes. 9/23 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. CORNETTE: Brian Lee was playing the part of Brad Armstrong. 10/15 1 and No. When Kanemura came backstage from the ring, I couldnt believe what I saw. They built a lot of heat. Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain . Cornette had initially envisioned a territory reaching from Kentucky into as far as South Carolina and Georgia. 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. 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. He wined and dined us to impress us with the biggest show they had and we were just super excited about it. 9/2 Jim Cornette had to fight his way out of more than one of those towns. 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. Cornette was really . WWE now owns the SMW video library. 10/8 10/1 Theres a difference between country people and hillbillies and they were bona fide hillbillies. CORNETTE: We got Knoxville straight off the bat on the Fox station on Sunday mornings, and we also got WCYB, which was the NBC affiliate in the Tri-Cities Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City. Here are the Mountain 7 conference teams from winter sports in 2022-23 9/8 7/14 4/22 ARMSTRONG: Tracy actually pinned a bear and the guy who owned the bear came to me the next day and said, Please tell Tracy to take it easy on my bear. He was a fantastic wrestler. It was obvious that he was saying as long as we broke even, we could do whatever we wanted. 9/18 Parent We passed this guy who had killed a deer. CORNETTE: Buddy [Landel] shouldve been a top level performer in one of the big companies, but never got a shot because Buddy was his own worst enemy. Cornette eventually signed a working agreement with the World Wrestling Federation to trade talent, manage and serve as an on-air talent for that company. ARMSTRONG: I was commissioner, so Jimmy and I were always at each others throats. 10/7 He talked like one of the people because he was one a plumber from east Tennessee. 7/30 1/29 8/14 It was eye-opening to see that other side of him. It wasnt by accident that he became next in line. 9/23 7/2 Founder 2/19 It would get scary. It didnt matter if we had 112 people in Pikeville, Ky. CORNETTE: I had visited my friend Cat, who was touring with Danzig. 9/7 9/19 6/26 1994 saw Randy Savage head to Smoky Mountain Wrestling to compete at their Volunteer Slam 3 PPV. 8/7 [2] The first Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final at a TV taping on April 23, 1992, in Harrogate, Tennessee, when The Heavenly Bodies defeated The Fantastics; the match would air on May 9, 1992. 8/28 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. 7/2 Bluegrass Brawl II 3/25 Christmas Chaos - Day 2 Tales From The Territories - Smoky Mountain Wrestling - YouTube 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. 9/24 The Mountain 7 has released its all-conference teams for the 2022-23 winter sports seasons. 6/25 Nobody really did that back then have wrestlers from all these different promotions come in. 4/8 3/20 SMW Night Of Legends | Pro Wrestling | Fandom SMOTHERS: Some of the best matches Ive ever had were with Chris. Watch Smothers battle Chris Candido in an early Ladder Match. 3/28 1/23 Watch the infamous and controversial Prince Kharis in action. 7/10 2023 2-Hour Segway Discovery Mnchen Night Tour - Tripadvisor [6][7][22] In February 1995, however, Candido lost the belt to Ultimate Fighting Championship winner Dan Severn,[22] who as a freelancer decided to become a traveling World Champion, depriving SMW of a basis for World Heavyweight championship matches. SMOTHERS: He never came back to the dressing room. It lasted almost five years and Ill never forget it. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991-1995) A firm believer in "old-school" territorial wrestling, Cornette began the Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in 1991. 6.7K views 3 years ago 2 Smokey Mountain Wrestling Episode 2 Back in Time Wrestling 1.1K. She was still in school, and stayed in school at UT while she was working for me. In 1974, The Mummy was fantastic, but I was 12 and times have changed. But Rick wanted a mummy. 7/3 What Smoky Mountain was trying to do was to find that market. 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. He became a serious student of the business. 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. ARMSTRONG: One time, [my son] Scott and I were trying to find a building. SMW Night Of Legends is a Professional wrestling event of Smoky Mountain Wrestling which was taped on August 5, 1994. The SMW Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever SMW Tag Team Champions. After years of operating in red ink, and the loss of financial backing from Rubin, Cornette shut the promotion down in December 1995 to work full-time with the WWF. 10 Wrestlers We Can't Believe Defeated Randy Savage In A - TheSportster Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event, your favorite shows, new movies, live sports, and more. Cornette, a traditionalist, catered to fans that Mick Foley described as "old-time fanswho still believed in good guys and bad guys, and to whom cheating was still reason to get upset." 4/30 132: Kavan Wilson, Smoky Mountain, Mason Maybin, East Henderson. 9/18 But Cornette wanted to have a hand in everything. 12/12 STORM: We were brought in for the Sunday Bloody Sunday show, which was Terry Funk vs. Bob Armstrong. 10/9 Watch every Premium Live Event and enjoy some of your favorite WWE content on Shahid. Brian had worked in Memphis and had a lot of potential. 3/13 December 1995 SMOTHERS: He carried a pistol on him at that time. Bob Armstrong | Pro Wrestling | Fandom 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. Rock, and The Dynamic Duo, This page was last edited on 23 November 2022, at 01:50. (24 reviews) "Room and hotel were not as described. 4/29 Youre in those Appalachian Mountains. 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. During the early 1990s, wrestling was in a state of transition. SMOTHERS: Sometimes the pressure would get to him and hed just snap. 1/16 1/9 And that created a lot of controversy. I knew we could get him back in the ring after someone pushed him too hard, which likely would be me. 8/11 These were people that would get involved. WCW was struggling with management issues, WWE was moving away from Hulkamanias golden age and the glory days of ECW were still years away. Then we got The Steiners to come have rematches in Smoky Mountain. 3/18 6/24 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. I, as The Dark Secret, lost to him so he could take the baby bonnet off. The promotion featured a number of wrestlers who were regulars in the south eastern wrestling scene and was the birthplace of the Heavenly Bodies, Stan Lane and Tom Prichard and later Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray. 1981 - 39 Disks. How to Explore Bavaria in One Week: 4 Complete Itineraries WWE for the first time ever acknowledged another wrestling promotion. 2/6 James / Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but ultimately, like most independents, was not financially successful. They were heartthrobs.. 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. 1/9 Raw results, April 24, 2023: Bad Bunny challenged Damian Priest to a Street Fight at WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico! [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]. 9/5 Summer Blast 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. 6/4 Related: 5 AEW Stars That Jim Cornette Hates (& 5 He Actually Likes). 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. 11/13 Cornette took all he learned growing up on Memphis TV and brought his own southern-style to the masses of the region. 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. 1/16/23 - HI!, WE'RE STILL IN BUSINESS! [1] The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. Smokey Mountain Wrestling was a wrestling promotion founded by Jim Cornette, Rick Rubin and others. 11/10 Buddy Landell, The Punisher, Tommy Rich, Terry Gordy, Sgt. ARMSTRONG: He worked himself to death. Where else could a good ole country boy from Springfield, Tenn., like Tracy Smothers have people cheer for him? Then he studied under Bill Watts, who had a great wrestling mind. There was an opening act where a guy came out in a skirt, combat boots, piercings and was spitting on the fans. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, The Dynamic Duo (Al Snow and Unabomb) vs. I dont know how they got home. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was based . [Rubin] would call me at three in the morning, Id hear the latest main event playing the background and wed talk about cool wrestling. ARMSTRONG: You have to show southern fans you know what youre doing and The Mummy made it really hard to do that. We could get them last. LAWLER: There were some backwoods fans, rednecks and coal miners that would come over from Virginia. 3/4 10 Things Fans Need To Know About Smoky Mountain Wrestling - TheSportster 4/23 9/22 5/21 10/30 Watch The Thrillseekers' amazing video package including riding bumper cars and at a petting zoo. 12/3 6/10 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. 10/16 The Last Tango In Tennessee 6/25 The good guy wore the white hat, the bad guy wore the black hat. 6/13 The signal up in those mountains went 100 miles in almost any direction. 138: Jacob Ed, West Henderson, William McCoy, Smoky Mountain. 10/9 4/24 * Note: The was the first ever Smoky Mountain Wrestling show. 8/22 Cable was not that widespread, a lot of people used antennas in the hills. 11/5 You can take five minutes for the villain to pull the hair and the crowd would get really upset about it. I spent all of 1991 going back and forth to California to talk with Rick. I didnt want it to get to a point where I owed talent money. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) - YouTube I thought it would be great if we paired Eddie, this cocky little guy who could talk, with this big enforcer guy that we called Unabomb. The Thanksgiving Thunder 1995 was a Professional wrestling event of Smoky Mountain Wrestling which was taped on November 23, 1995. After a while, he became a great fan favorite. I wasnt very good at them at the time. We also got WYMT in Hazard, Ky., so we had eastern Kentucky covered, too, with those three stations. 5/7 The gimmick, among other things, led to the end of the friendship between Cornette and Mark Madden and their ongoing feud to this day, as Madden--who at the time was coming off the heels of getting Bill Watts fired from WCW after informing Hank Aaron of Watts' employment within the Turner Broadcasting System following publications of controversial comments made by Watts--had called the Gangstas gimmick racist.[20][21]. 5/28 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. The basketball teams are voted on by league coaches. Knoxville was their biggest market, but its not a big enough market to sustain a wrestling company. 12/31, 1/7 7/4 1/21 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. Event history I liked Lee with Candido a lot more than I liked Lee as a hero. This was in sharp contrast to ECW, in which edgy angles, "tweeners" and anti-heroes increasingly took precedence over clearcut heroes and villains. $159. 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. 7/29 10/22 It wasnt big enough to take that next step. 145: Wesley Murray, East Henderson. 9/12 2/4 7/18 6/17 195: Titus Bridges, Pisgah. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. ROAD DOGG: We worked high school gyms in small towns, but they were always packed and they were always the best fans. 1/22 He was legitimate. I hit him with a pair of brass knux and he had to leave town. 12/5 8/19 As the founder of Def Jam Records and producer of practically half of every album produced over the last forty years or so, Rick Rubin is also just like the rest of us mere mortals. 11/12 8/7 9/23 He had so much heart and loved wrestling more than anybody Ive ever met. Tennessee, Kentucky and all those places that we used to go to, he really knew what people wanted to see there and he was really smart with it. 126: Damon Landreth, West Henderson, Matthew Mehaffey, Pisgah. Cornette established the promotion after having cut ties with WCW, with initial financial backing from Record Producer Rick Rubin. 9/25 It was exciting to be just getting out of the military and getting my start in wrestling. 8/27 (2) 3/6 He had about 20 guys there sitting ringside. 5/21 Who is after two or three years in the business? This page is not available in other languages. I started listening to my audience and trying to engage them rather than trying to entertain the fan that I was.

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