10 Second Generation Wrestlers That Should Have Known Better
5. Rockin' Robin
Robin Smith was born into emotionally challenging circumstances, not least because of her Father's involvement in professional wrestling.
Alongside Luke Brown, the seven-foot Grizzly Smith was a member of a 'Kentuckians' tag team that made waves across numerous territories in the 1960s, before forging a career as a singles star in Texas that cemented his position as one of the decade's premier names.
His record as a father and human being was darkly inferior. Away from his family for the bulk of the time, he refused to tell his children wrestling was predetermined. Son Jake 'The Snake' Roberts recounts being traumatised at his dad wearing a neck brace around the home following a particularly intense brawl the prior weekend.
Roberts publicly stated he was the product of Smith's statutory rape of his then-girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter. Smith would marry the daughter when she was of legal age, but Robin was his daughter from a second marriage following the first's inevitable dissolution.
Promotor Howard Brody wrote in his memoirs 'Swimming with Piranhas' that Smith had a penchant for young girls, including Robin herself. She confirmed in later interviews remembering the abuse beginning when she was 'six or seven years old', and she was thankfully taken from his care by her mother when it was discovered.
Robin's moderate success in a toxic environment she should probably should have steered clear of remains a testament to her incredible mental strength as much as any single physical attribute.