Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 5/21 Eventually, he was walking around in a full body cast. Twenty-eight wrestlers from 16 schools made this year's All-WNC wrestling list, led by Robbinsville junior Kage Williams' 57-0 campaign. 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. Founder 5/28 8/5 Nobody really did that back then have wrestlers from all these different promotions come in. The early 1990s saw Jim Cornette launch his own wrestling promotion, Smoky Mountain Wrestling. 4/24 3/27 11/13 CORNETTE: I couldnt believe the sight of it. 3/6 Recently, music producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin was a guest on his former employee, Chris Jerichos podcast. People were scared of them. Wrestling was not popular in America. Theyre very vocal about who they like and who they dislike. CORNETTE: Hes an Armstrong. My wife and I became really great friends with them. I hit him with a pair of brass knux and he had to leave town. It was a match made in heaven. And that created a lot of controversy. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. 10/22 Alumni [ edit] Male wrestlers [ edit] Female wrestlers [ edit] James / Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but ultimately, like most independents, was not financially successful. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. 5/6 1981 - 39 Disks. During the bout, Bruiser got off to a slow start, as would be expected considering Savage's stature. 9/1 What made this small, regional organization so memorable? 106 113 120 126 132 138 145 152 160 170 182 195 220 285 . 1/23 3/11 How did it gain national attention? Parent 10/7 9/1 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. 5/7 They take their rasslin very seriously. If you're thinking Rubin produced a Fozzy album at some point, you'd be wrong. [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. 113: Kane Bryson, Pisgah, Davey McCoy, Smoky Mountain. 10/15 He really did. 8/5 6/5 6/1 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. 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. Weight Class . 9/4 Sunny, New Jack, D-Lo Brown, Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, and more were able to first get noticed due to their time with Cornette. 160: Xander Hill, Pisgah, Jaime Vega, North Henderson. But we knew they were going to be stars. SMOTHERS: Some of the best matches Ive ever had were with Chris. 170: Marcus McCarson, East Henderson. The winner was Chris Candido, who defended his title mostly at SMW events. I live 500 miles away from Knoxville, but wed go up and stay until the matches were over and then drive home. 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. ARMSTRONG: You never knew what he was going to do next and I always had to be on my best. 4/2 6/24 This was in sharp contrast to ECW, in which edgy angles, "tweeners" and anti-heroes increasingly took precedence over clearcut heroes and villains. 11/8 CORNETTE: Nobody knew what the hell we were doing because we werent talking with any wrestlers. 5/3 CORNETTE: We led up to a World Tag Team Title Match against The Steiner Brothers at SummerSlam. 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. 5/20 ROAD DOGG: I got to travel with my family, do what I love to do and be with the people I love. 6/4 1/29 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. Theres a difference between country people and hillbillies and they were bona fide hillbillies. 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. There was an opening act where a guy came out in a skirt, combat boots, piercings and was spitting on the fans. 8/7 (c) refers to the champion (s) heading into the match. 9/7 120: Gunnar Marshall, East Henderson, Cooper Williamson, Tuscola. Not wrestling heat. 6/12 King Of The Mountain Tournament 11/20 4/15 Fire On The Mountain 1994 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. 4/3 The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner), The Bruise Brothers (Ron Bruise and Don Bruise) vs. I was trying to think about wrestling in a positive way, and I had noticed that every time we ran the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, the crowd would really like it. They had been bugging me to come down to Smoky Mountain, so I said, Youve gotta wear dresses. You couldve heard a pin drop. The signal up in those mountains went 100 miles in almost any direction. Cornette formed the promotion in October 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling, with Sandy Scott and backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. 1/21 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. 6/12 He had so much heart and loved wrestling more than anybody Ive ever met. 3/19 SMW - Pro Wrestling The Smoky Mountain Wrestling 1991-1995 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. They were either already established stars or were guys that went on to become stars. MANTEL: When you take the demographics into consideration, Tracy fit it perfectly. 7/4 2/11 Christmas Chaos - Day 1 One time, before I took the hood off, I worked with my dad in a Loser Leaves Town Match dressed up as a ninja. The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard) vs. 1986 1988 . 6/8 MANTEL: What held Smoky Mountain back was their markets were too small. He eventually lost the belt to Jerry Lawler on December 30, 1995.[2]. We take a look back on this short-lived territory. 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. Watch Dirty White Boy sneak up on Dutch Mantel in a scrapyard. 3/25 STORM: I absolutely love Bob Armstrong. 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. If youre thinking Rubin produced a Fozzy album at some point, youd be wrong. 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. 5/5 From 1920 to last week. Sullivan got at him with this spike, and we had to censor it because it was so gross. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee . Former employees in SMW consisted of professional wrestlers, managers, play-by-play and color commentators, announcers, interviewers and referees . 12/17 I got this tape from a guy called Lance Storm who I saw leaping from the top rope and cutting these great dropkicks. 7/24 Four years later, it was gone. 7/31 3/12 10/16 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. 7/27 7/4 Watch Cornette go too far in his verbal attacks on the Armstrong family. 5/4 7/2 Related: 5 Things Jim Cornette Gets Right About Modern Wrestling (And 5 He's Wrong About). 11/5 He wined and dined us to impress us with the biggest show they had and we were just super excited about it. 10/17 That really raised my opinion of him right there, when he did that. The outdoor festival . 9/12 1/9 2/19 7/15 5/13 5/6 7/12 11/6 9/23 8/6 SMOTHERS: He never came back to the dressing room. We passed this guy who had killed a deer. 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: ALL-WNC BOYS BASKETBALL: Here are the 2022-23 All-WNC boys basketball teams, player of the year and coach of the year, ALL-WNC GIRLS BASKETBALL Here are the 2022-23 All-WNC girls basketball teams, player of the year and coach of the year, ALL-WNC WRESTLING: All-WNC wrestling 2023: Kage Williams' perfect season highlights another strong year, Player of the Year: Jackson Lyda, West Henderson, Coach of the Year: Brandon Brooks, West Henderson, First Team: Lukas Kachilo (West Henderson), Truitt Manuel (West Henderson), Grant Putnam (West Henderson), Cal Drake (Franklin), Max McClure (Franklin), Parker Cabe (Franklin), Kehler Lamb (Franklin), Bryson Rowe (North Henderson), Noah Pierce (North Henderson), Micah Pierce (North Henderson), Josh Heiny (North Henderson), Caiden Brewer (East Henderson), Reece Alverson (East Henderson), Caiden Robinson (Pisgah), Sawyer Belue (Pisgah), Jett Benson (Tuscola), Co-Player of the Year: Chloe Burch and Dot Mills, Pisgah, Coach of the Year: Brandon Holloway, Pisgah, First Team: Cayce Lovelace (Pisgah), Whitney Boone (Pisgah), Maddie Rhea (Pisgah), Tori Ensley (Franklin), Cali Queen (Franklin), Avery Moffit (Franklin), Roselyn McCollum (Franklin), Jaza Wilson (West Henderson), Jania Wilson (West Henderson), Ava Heffner (West Henderson), Kayden Lyda (West Henderson), Greenlee Flynn (Smoky Mountain), Xalia Spencer (Smoky Mountain), Lexi Gunter (North Henderson), Amy Rhymer (North Henderson), Karsen Cherry (Tuscola), Kaylee Foushee (East Henderson), Wrestler of the Year: Kane Bryson, Pisgah, Coach of the Year: Erik Wilson, Smoky Mountain. I didnt want it to get to a point where I owed talent money.. 2/27 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. 4/8 8/27 AWA TV. 5/1 JIM CORNETTE: In WCW in 1990, The Midnight Express Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane and myself were still there. 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. The Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane and Tom Prichard) for the SMW Tag Team Championship, The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. 8/19 4/8 4/14 The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray), Brian Lee vs. Tracy Smothers vs. Several SMW wrestlers would soon obtain work in the WWF, including Tracy Smothers, The Dirty White Boy, and Boo Bradley. WWE now owns the SMW video library. He never went out to any bars on the road. He beat up my dad and put him down on the chairs and went to do a moonsault off the top. 4/16 They had such heat. CORNETTE: DLo Brown was a CPA, had a good job, but he quit and moved to Knoxville to be in the wrestling business. 6/26 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 5/8 9/3 12/3 9/3 This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Here are the Mountain 7 conference teams from winter sports in 2022-23, Here are the 2022-23 All-WNC boys basketball teams, player of the year and coach of the year, Here are the 2022-23 All-WNC girls basketball teams, player of the year and coach of the year, All-WNC wrestling 2023: Kage Williams' perfect season highlights another strong year, Here are the Mountain 7 conference teams from winter sports in 2022-23. Smokey Mountain Wrestling was a wrestling promotion founded by Jim Cornette, Rick Rubin and others. 8/27 (1) Buddy Landel for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs. [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. When he looked to start his own promotion he met Rick Rubin and got the funding to start SMW. 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. Jimmy has a temper. 3/5 7/17 3/13 I didnt like the masks, but I liked their work. Later on, he turned into Jim Cornette the manager. This led to The Rock 'n' Roll Express wrestling The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Stan Lane) at SuperBrawl III in February. 12/9 ROAD DOGG: Once my skills were improving and could carry the Armstrong name, I started wrestling as Brian Armstrong and tagging with my brothers. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991-1995) A firm believer in "old-school" territorial wrestling, Cornette began the Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in 1991. Recently, music producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin was a guest on his former employee, Chris Jericho's podcast. I wanted Brad Armstrong in that spot from the start, but hes one of the only ones I couldnt get from WCW. 6/11 Here are a few things fans should know about Jim Cornette's promotion. It was a really big deal and Jericho did more than he should have. So I thought to myself, Well at least Knoxville is still an old-time wrestling town. I started booking a territory in my mind to keep myself from going crazy. They wanted an edgier, alternative product. If Cornette gave up some of the reigns to Sandy Scott or Mark Curtis, they probably could have taken care of some stuff. 3/19 3/6 Night Of Legends Who is after two or three years in the business? 9/4 Brad has his old Badstreet costume from WCW, which we turned inside out, put on Brian and called him The Dark Secret. The deer was strapped up and he was cutting it open at the gut. The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), Shawn Michaels vs. 10/1 8/18 Related: 5 AEW Stars That Jim Cornette Hates (& 5 He Actually Likes). Then we got The Steiners to come have rematches in Smoky Mountain. The basketball teams are voted on by league coaches. 10/1 11/25, 5/16 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. 6/5 8/14 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 The reason ECW was so successful is because Paul Heyman had his pulse on what the youth of America felt at the time. 10/24 He was used as a star of yesteryear that still had it in him and had the crowd on the edge of their seats the whole time. 12/4 The Last Tango In Tennessee Jimmy did it all. 6/4 8/7 4/23 2/20 2/27 Related: 9 Wrestlers We Forgot Were Managed By Jim Cornette. Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain . Of course, 90% of the shows were in small little towns and rec centers and community clubs. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 2 Being around veterans who had been there, done that, they were willing to share what they had learned. 152: Cameron King, Pisgah. 7/21 Former employees in SMW consisted of professional wrestlers, managers, play-by-play and color commentators, announcers, interviewers and referees. ARMSTRONG: The guy has more guts than I ever thought. Learn the amazing story of Smoky Mountains rise and fall from the men who lived it, including an exclusive conversation with Jim Cornette himself, speaking to WWE.com for the first time ever. Christmas Chaos - Day 3, 1/15 9/6 [3], Cornette had initially envisioned a territory reaching from Kentucky into as far as South Carolina and Georgia. LAWLER: There were some backwoods fans, rednecks and coal miners that would come over from Virginia. The way he spoke, it was just like, Wow. 6/18 JERICHO: When youre in front of 200 people, theres no need to do a dive over the top rope to the floor. CORNETTE: In one of my late night phone calls with Rubin, he said, I think we ought to have a mummy. He had people screaming during a Chain Match in Pikeville, Ky., population: 6500. 6.7K views 3 years ago 2 Smokey Mountain Wrestling Episode 2 Back in Time Wrestling 1.1K. Summer Blast 7/16 . 10/9 They used to call us the flying squirrels and mean it. 4/7 1/21 182: Landon Pope, Pisgah. Jim Cornette 3/26 He was paying. 8/28 12/10 8/11 9,102 likes. Christmas Chaos - Day 3, 1/8 10/28 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 . Results Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match. 10/8 10/29 1/22 Watch The Rock 'n' Roll Express battle The Heavenly Bodies in a Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match. 9/3 4/1 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. . It was Marilyn Manson before he got famous. JERICHO: The thing I really learned a lot about there was interviews. 12/30, 1/14 Popular attractions Heimatmuseum Oberstdorf and Neue Skischule . We were working so fast and doing all these high spots. Folded 10/22 3/11 Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) Inactive promotion in the Americas region. 10/2 7/8 9/19 Style Big Apple Brawl Event history [1] The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. SMOTHERS: That was different. I dont know how they got home. Youre not going to see that in Madison Square Garden, I can assure you. 1/22 Thats when Smoky Mountain started to become less important. BROWN: Balls Mahoney had just gotten hired to be Boo Bradley in Smoky Mountain, but he didnt have a drivers license, so he was asking around for someone to drive him from New Jersey to Knoxville, Tenn. We drove all night and he said in exchange for driving him down he would talk to Cornette about giving me a match. This page is not available in other languages. 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 the second half of 1996. Enter Jim Cornette. 6/4 There were zero shades of gray. He had about 20 guys there sitting ringside. 7/22 He was a retired wrestling legend and talked better than anyone on the roster. 10/7 8/27 (2) Fans had rallies for us not to come to town and paid to see us lose. We wanted to get away from sports-entertainment.. 12/5 SMOTHERS: In 1993, Dirty White Boy burned the rebel flag in a trash can while I was handcuffed. 10/15 Rick Rubin was a big wrestling fan and he had just made like $100 million from CBS Records. When I went to Smoky Mountain, it was totally different than what I remembered Knoxville wrestling being like. 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 promotion was backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. 4/17 Fire On The Mountain We cut all the expenses that we could cut, but I had pride. I dont think America in 1994 was ready for it. Even though those guys were very white meat and clich, I learned from Bob Armstrong, Dirty White Boy, Tracy Smothers and The Rock n Roll Express. The whole time I was there, traveling with my dad and brothers and getting my foot in the door of the industry, it was all a really memorable experience for me. Its a camaraderie thats not relevant exclusively to Smoky Mountain. And the stories were good in Smoky Mountain. To some of them, it wasnt just entertainment. Just give it a try, he said. Being commissioner, they knocked me out and painted an X on my back. I spent all of 1991 going back and forth to California to talk with Rick. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 The Black Bears have won 13 of the past 16 conference championships, according to The Mountaineer. Smoky Mountain was a big tag team territory and Cornette asked if wed be willing to come in as a team. 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. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. 8/11 10/7 7/23 8/21 11/12 5/21 Both Curtis Comes Home and the 2005 sequel show, held in memory of SMW head referee Mark Curtis are considered "unofficial" reunion shows.[24][25]. 9/22 Warren went 22-3 at 185 pounds with a win at the Smoky . 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. 9/18 WWE for the first time ever acknowledged another wrestling promotion. 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. It wasnt by accident that he became next in line. The SMW Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever SMW Tag Team Champions. This was in sharp contrast to ECW, in which edgy angles, "tweeners" and anti-heroes increasingly took precedence over clearcut heroes and villains.