8. Tracy Smothers Buried Himself With Two Locker Room Power Players
Tracy Smothers was hired alongside a number of other former Smoky Mountain Wrestling talent on the recommendation of Jim Cornette, who had suggested that McMahon bring in some well-travelled wrestlers to work with and put over his top stars. The Monday Night War had rendered squash matches obsolete, and fresh blood would support a thin roster who were working with each other week in, week out. Smothers was repacked as hackneyed country bumpkin stereotype Freddie Joe Floyd, a rib name based on the real names of Gerald (Floyd) and Jack (Freddie Joe) Brisco. On his first night with the WWF he managed to make a powerful enemy in locker room leader The Undertaker. Smothers, who knew Undertaker from years back and considered him a friend, listened to the Dead Man rant about the latest whacky edition to the WWF roster, the Body Donnas transvestite manager Cloudy. Taker grumbled, Some guys will do anything to get in this f*****g business. Smothers, noting the irony, quipped, Yeah, I hear ya man. So, how long you been dead now? Undertaker didn't say anything in response, he just silently seethed as his face went beetroot red, shooting Smothers a glance that said more than any words could have. Two months later he sealed his fate when he irked Shawn Michaels. His crime? Looking competitive for twenty seconds en route to a quick defeat to Vader. Michaels was irate that a guy as low down on the totem pole as Smothers had managed to get any offence in against Vader, a man he had worked with at SummerSlam the night before, as he felt that Vader looking vulnerable made him look vulnerable. Smothers apologised, but he knew the writing was on the wall. He was gone from the WWF a few months later having barely featured on television at all in those final days with the company.
The author of the highly acclaimed 'Titan' book series, James Dixon has been involved in the wrestling business for 25 years as a fan, wrestler, promoter, agent, and writer. James spent several years wrestling on the British independent circuit, but now prefers to write about the bumps and bruises rather than take any of them. His past in-ring experience does however give a uniquely more "insider" perspective on things, though he readily admits to still being a "mark" at heart.
James is the Chief Editor and writer at historyofwrestling.co.uk and is responsible for the best-selling titles Titan Sinking, Titan Shattered, and Titan Screwed, as well as the Complete WWF Video Guide series, and the Raw Files series.
