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6/19 And the kid Chris Jericho he was with wasnt too bad either. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event, your favorite shows, new movies, live sports, and more. [28], The Carolina Cup Tag Team Tournament was a one-night single elimination tournament held at the Grady Cole Center on August 13, 1995. Volunteer Slam I 8/27 He started with us and was there when we closed. 10/16 Overview; News and Rumors; History; Events; Event Statistics; Results; Titles; All-Time Roster; Matchguide; Win/Loss Records; Feuds; Promos; Tournaments; Rivalries; Ratings; Comments; Events. 8/18 Fire On The Mountain Enter Jim Cornette. It was a personality-driven territory. [26], The King of Kentucky Tournament was a one-night single elimination tournament held in Hazard, Kentucky on June 24, 1993. The Black Bears have won 13 of the past 16 conference championships, according to The Mountaineer. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 2 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. Plus, get every WWE Premium Live Event and the worlds best TV and movies. 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. One time, before I took the hood off, I worked with my dad in a Loser Leaves Town Match dressed up as a ninja. 10/2 He unmasked himself when I called him out for being ashamed of his father. The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Armstrong Family (Bob Armstrong, Scott Armstrong and Steve Armstrong) vs. Jim Cornette and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard & Jimmy Del Rey), Tracy Smothers vs. Brian Lee for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Armstrong Family (Bob Armstrong, Scott Armstrong and Steve Armstrong) vs. Jim Cornette and The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray). Find the all-conference team for each sport below. 2/11 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. Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) Play all Shuffle 1 SMW Episode 1 2/1/1992 Old School Rasslin! 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]. 1/28 SMW event tours also included high school gyms and fairs in cities throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Smokey Mountain Wrestling was a wrestling promotion founded by Jim Cornette, Rick Rubin and others. 132: Kavan Wilson, Smoky Mountain, Mason Maybin, East Henderson. They were close to 60-years-old at the time and he was doing moonsaults off the top into those chairs. Not meant to be an exact copy, but this is basically the Palace of Versailles of Bavaria. 5/27 Watch the big Steiner Brothers vs. Heavenly Bodies match at SummerSlam 1993. At Bluegrass Brawl in Pikeville, Ky., Dirty White Boy and I had a Chain Match and a member of the Ku Klux Klan showed up at my merch table. How did it gain national attention? Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 4 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 ROAD DOGG: I wrestled the late, great Chris Candido in a Baby Bonnet Match where he had lost and had to wear a baby bonnet until he won another match. 2/13 Cornette had initially envisioned a territory reaching from Kentucky into as far as South Carolina and Georgia. He wasnt able to sit and enjoy his wrestling company. 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. 10/15 AWA TV. 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. Later on, he turned into Jim Cornette the manager. 8/12 Watch Cornette go too far in his verbal attacks on the Armstrong family. Era, SMW did exactly what it needed to do. 7/24 7/12 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. 12/4 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. 3/6 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. 10/14 We were trying to be a little more serious than the colorful world of WWE. 6/2 It was more about the moral high ground than the action. 5/22 11/10 ROAD DOGG: Money has definitely got to be one of the big factors. Sullivan got at him with this spike, and we had to censor it because it was so gross. Speichackerstrasse 2, Oberstdorf, 87561. Super Saturday Night Fever Day 3: Herrenchiemsee Palace. 7/10 1/17 Jim Cornette 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. 3/27 Alumni [ edit] Male wrestlers [ edit] Female wrestlers [ edit] Christmas Chaos - Day 1 May 1 - May 2. ROAD DOGG: We worked high school gyms in small towns, but they were always packed and they were always the best fans. 4/17 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. CORNETTE: I met [Chris] Candido and his girlfriend, who were teenagers, in New Jersey. 3/6 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." Bluegrass Brawl I 9/17 3/15 9,102 likes. SMW promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. We got lost in the mountains, came back and he was giving the meat to kids. 8/5 The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee. But the southern style that Cornette grew up with and pushed forward with his promotion still lives on to this day. 2/25 ROAD DOGG: My dad was already getting up there in years and there were a lot of young guys, so he became the commissioner. 2/5 CORNETTE: [Dirty White Boy] was the perfect villain for the territory from the start. 5/5 We were working so fast and doing all these high spots. 9/12 4/3 I wanted Brad Armstrong in that spot from the start, but hes one of the only ones I couldnt get from WCW. 3/25 That was the genesis. He became a serious student of the business. 3/19 The Heavenly Bodies (Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) then faced The Steiner Brothers for the WWF Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam 1993, and then defeating The Rock 'n' Roll Express at Survivor Series 1993 for the SMW Tag Team Championship. WWE for the first time ever acknowledged another wrestling promotion. 5/7 9/7 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. 4/23 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. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 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. MANTEL: What held Smoky Mountain back was their markets were too small. A lot of experience. 9/11 When you see guys later in a WWE locker room, theres an instant connection that you did time in the territory together. 5/6 4/14 5/28 Watch a Tammy Sytch manage Brian Lee in a Coal Miner's Glove Match. 9/24 Its a camaraderie thats not relevant exclusively to Smoky Mountain. But if there was ever anything wrong with the paychecks, hed make it good. That became The Headbangers. 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. 8/11 BROWN: Ill never forget the whole buildup when The Undertaker came down for a couple of shows and we were going to wrestle in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. 5/21 6/24 People were scared of them. But we knew they were going to be stars. 7/23 9/8 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. STORM: I absolutely love Bob Armstrong. During the late eighties, as wrestling got more cartoonish, Rubin did what any fan with money would do - he forked over some money to Cornette to start a traditional territory like the ones they both had grown up with. 9/23 They could get pretty rowdy. Watch The Rock 'n' Roll Express battle The Heavenly Bodies in a Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match. The Rock n Roll Express and Tracy Smothers could give you an education you cant get in the ring. 10/28 6/17 BROWN: We had what was called the Smoky Mountain Flophouse in Morristown, Tenn., close to Cornettes house. 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.. He had all the rebel gear on, and the son had it on, too. 11/7 2/12 I live 500 miles away from Knoxville, but wed go up and stay until the matches were over and then drive home. Fans had rallies for us not to come to town and paid to see us lose. JERICHO: The thing I really learned a lot about there was interviews. 4/3 3/18 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. 2/19 4/7 I bought a whole package of Peanut Butter crackers and thats all I ate all day. 3/12 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. 4/22 From what I understand, Jim paid really well. 4/22 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. 4/16 I had wrestled in Knoxville many times before, but it had been a while since Id been back. STORM: We were always trying to push a little further in the ring and Jim was trying to pull us back. Rick Rubin on loving pro wrestling, learning from Ric Flair and how "Rowdy" Roddy Piper turned the Beastie Boys Bad. 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. We could get them last. 8/25 6/12 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. 8/21 9/5 Night Of Legends 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. Thanksgiving Thunder. 5/8 He eventually lost the belt to Jerry Lawler on December 30, 1995.[2]. Then he studied under Bill Watts, who had a great wrestling mind. The palace sits on an island in the middle of the lake and requires a ferry for access. 5/14 Brad has his old Badstreet costume from WCW, which we turned inside out, put on Brian and called him The Dark Secret. 8/20 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. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, with offices in Morristown, Tennessee . TRACY SMOTHERS: They were hillbillies. It didnt matter if we had 112 people in Pikeville, Ky. CORNETTE: I had visited my friend Cat, who was touring with Danzig. 8/6 9/10 [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. 6/18 6/18 2/27 10/7 ROAD DOGG: Terry Funk stacked about 40 chairs in the middle of the ring. I was just by myself and The Rock n Roll Express came in to go against The Bodies, but Jim needed a good guy to go against Dirty White Boy. 9/4 7/31 He knew how to work the people, because he was a southern boy and catered to that crowd. The winner was Chris Candido, who defended his title mostly at SMW events. 1/23 Pisgah @ Smoky Mountain . SMW Tribute Page for the history and memories of Smoky Mountain Wrestling!! ARMSTRONG: I was getting on up in age. Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. WCW was struggling with management issues, WWE was moving away from Hulkamanias golden age and the glory days of ECW were still years away. Wrestling and swimming are determined based on votes from coaches and conference championship results. 11/3 9/17 4/9 Having my sons with me, it was a great family experience and one of the greatest experiences of my life. STORM: Tracy Smothers was so much fun to be around. 7/15 10/30 What made this small, regional organization so memorable? 7/7 Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 1 He had a good match, was a great kid, came to eat ribs with us and I liked the way he carried himself. 11/4 They had been bugging me to come down to Smoky Mountain, so I said, Youve gotta wear dresses. You couldve heard a pin drop. Hes a creative genius bordering on insanity, which is the best kind of genius. 7/10 1/9 SMOTHERS: I was there the night Kevin [Sullivan] cut up [W*ING] Kanemura. 3/25 145: Wesley Murray, East Henderson. Recently, music producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin was a guest on his former employee, Chris Jerichos podcast. 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. 8/14 I liked Lee with Candido a lot more than I liked Lee as a hero. Volunteer Slam III Cable was not that widespread, a lot of people used antennas in the hills. 3/11 7/22 10/2 7/23 The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. CORNETTE: Hes an Armstrong. [1] The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. And the stories were good in Smoky Mountain. 4/15 CORNETTE: In one of my late night phone calls with Rubin, he said, I think we ought to have a mummy. 1/16 She was a huge cornfed farmwoman and Brian Lee was trying to save Tammy without hurting her. 6/25 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]. They rode their mule to the wrestling matches. 5/6 The Thanksgiving Thunder 1995 was a Professional wrestling event of Smoky Mountain Wrestling which was taped on November 23, 1995. Rick Rubin was a big wrestling fan and he had just made like $100 million from CBS Records. James / The Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but ultimately, like most independents, was not financially successful. 7/30 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. 2/6 11/13 Tales From The Territories - Smoky Mountain Wrestling - Full Episode 12/30 Original Wrestling Documentaries 62.6K subscribers Subscribe 4K 429K views 5 years ago #TalesFromTheTerritories Follow. I worked with my dad in a Loser Leaves Town Match dressed up as a ninja.. The good guy wore the white hat, the bad guy wore the black hat. Thanksgiving Thunder - Day 3 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,. 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. 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. 5/13 12/3 ROAD DOGG: I got to travel with my family, do what I love to do and be with the people I love. It was special. All the mom and pop promotions were dropping like flies. The Mummy was cool. I said, I loved The Mummy, too. STORM: I told Jericho that I was talking to Jim Cornette about going to Smoky Mountain. Thats Jim in a nutshell. 1/29 5/28 He faced off against Bruiser Bedlam, someone with multiple title reigns in multiple promotions, though he never made it big in WWE. 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. 4/29 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. Al Snow was working in Ohio and northern Kentucky, so I called him up and Al jumped at the chance. 7/14 He asked, What are you doing May 26? And he showed me a paper for a Klan rally. 7/9 After a while, he became a great fan favorite. The company was being mismanaged and we were arguing about our contracts. 11/20 9/3 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. 10/9 Pro Wrestling is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. 11/6 SMW . Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee from 1991 to 1995. 12/12 The first Smoky Mountain Heavyweight Champion, "Primetime" Brian Lee, won the championship in a tournament held at Volunteer Slam on May 22, 1992, in Knoxville, Tennessee. 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. Several SMW wrestlers would soon obtain work in the WWF, including Tracy Smothers, The Dirty White Boy, and Boo Bradley. ROAD DOGG: Brian Lee was a great wrestler, a big good-looking guy and had a lot of talent. We take a look back on this short-lived territory. (c) refers to the champion (s) heading into the match. James / Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but ultimately, like most independents, was not financially successful. [23] Several SMW wrestlers would soon obtain work in the WWF, including Tracy Smothers, The Dirty White Boy, and Boo Bradley. 8/6 Jimmy did it all. MANTEL: When you take the demographics into consideration, Tracy fit it perfectly. And that created a lot of controversy. Brawl In The Hall I hit him with a pair of brass knux and he had to leave town. 10/7 6/6 CORNETTE: Nobody knew what the hell we were doing because we werent talking with any wrestlers. They can all wrestle. 12/10 Its very obvious and straight-forward. ROAD DOGG: Once my skills were improving and could carry the Armstrong name, I started wrestling as Brian Armstrong and tagging with my brothers. JERRY LAWLER: Jim Cornette grew up in Louisville watching our Memphis wrestling company. 12/30, 1/14 12/3 10/17 We trained together, sat by the pool, went to dinner, went to the movies. Smoky Mountain Wrestling held a variety of professional wrestling tournaments between 1992 and 1995 that were competed for by wrestlers that were a part of their roster. [27], The NWA World Heavyweight Championship Tournament was a one-night single elimination tournament held in Cherry Hill, New Jersey on November 19, 1994, to decide a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Pisgah Smoky Mountain. 6/12 Tracey worked so darn hard. That memory will always stick with me. [8] This led to The Rock 'n' Roll Express wrestling The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Stan Lane) at SuperBrawl III in February 1993. Cornette formed the promotion in October 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling, with Sandy Scott and backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. Either the story is good or the story is not good. 7/27 Mustafa couldnt say sooey if the hogs had him, but looked like he could break you in half. 7/21 9/3 The last SMW show was held on November 26, 1995 in Cookeville, Tennessee (though it had been announced on SMW TV's November 25, 1995 episode that upcoming shows were to be held at the Collett Street Rec Center in Morganton, North Carolina on December 1, 1995, and at Cloudland High School in Roan Mountain, Tennessee the following night), and featured the entire SMW roster attacking Jim Cornette, who was then pinned by referee Mark Curtis. * Note: The was the first ever Smoky Mountain Wrestling show. 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. Watch the infamous and controversial Prince Kharis in action. CORNETTE: The following day, he needed surgery on his arm. After years of operating in red ink, Cornette shut the promotion down in December 1995 to work full-time with the WWF. He was tailor-made for the region. The Last Tango In Tennessee Watch Smoky Mountains biggest moments| Watch Smoky Mountains biggest stars in action, We needed buildings and production companies and TV stations so this eccentric music genius could somehow own a wrestling company in Tennessee.. 8/19 Raw results, April 24, 2023: Bad Bunny challenged Damian Priest to a Street Fight at WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico! 10/2 STORM: It was one of the most amazing matches Ive ever been involved in, in that it never should have been that good. 10/29 The Dirty White Boy for the SMW Heavyweight Championship, The Bruise Brothers (Don Bruise and Ron Bruise) vs. 8/20 Big Apple Brawl 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." Sunday Bloody Sunday II The two companies were very diverse and gave a lot of opportunities to some people that have gone on to be cult heroes and legendary icons. 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. Chris Walker defeated Richard Slinger Doug Furnas defeated Killer Kyle (8:46) 11/14 11/20 11/6 He beat up my dad and put him down on the chairs and went to do a moonsault off the top. 7/29 8/11 4/9 We wanted to get away from sports-entertainment.. 10/12 2/26 8/6 Jim Cornette had to fight his way out of more than one of those towns. 2/13 6/19 Sign up for BINGE to watch. 3/17 3/13 October 1991 When we finally had a wrestling match together, it sold out Knoxville Civic Center. 7/17 Wrestling was not popular in America. ROAD DOGG: I wanted nothing more than to go there and wrestle because my family was there.