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A CYNICAL VIEW....CONVERSATIONS WITH TRACY SMOTHERS

The Cynical View
Talks With Tracy Smothers
Newry 26/10/07
By Michael Campbell

Welcome back to “The Cynical View”, where as usual, I’m uttering a load of nonsense about just what has got on my nerves over the past week in the wacky world of Pro-Wrestling. Except, this time round, I’m not really ranting, and it isn’t nonsense. In fact, it’s not even my opinions. Instead, it’s the opinions of a certain Tracy Smothers.

At a recent Irish Whip Wrestling Show, during the promotion’s 5th anniversary tour, I was lucky enough to catch up with Smothers, after the event, which saw him work the main event, teaming with Irish Whip regular, The Ballymun Bruiser, against former WWE star, Kid Kash, and his partner, Mandrake. Being my useless self, and this meeting being as impromptu as a New Jack match, I was completely caught off-guard. Therefore, the following is a not a literally transcript of what Smothers said, but rather a recap. Hopefully a more detailed follow-up will occur at some point, as Tracy is one of the most well-travelled, and insightful minds to travel these shores (or anywhere, let’s be honest) on a frequent basis.

Smothers opened the conversation by immediately slagging off the WWE (which he does frequently, and did come back to repeatedly during our conversation). He described to me what he sees as a negative trend in the WWE’s monopoly, especially around Europe. He believes that their regime has limited the jobs available for younger guys, as the McMahons have created a system whereby the only way for young wrestlers to make real desirable money is to go to Stamford. Whether or not this is the case, his point is a valid one, as for so many, the WWE is their ultimate goal. However, it’s mass-control over the industry is something that he sees for as potentially devastating. It’s something that Smothers views as akin to how McMahon “eat up the territories, back in the 80’s”.

We briefly touched on the subject of drugs, which Tracy explained he had been contacted about by numerous media outlets to discuss, but had chosen to decline. He was not afraid to pretend that a drug problem does not exist within the Wrestling industry. It was summed up when he told me that “Vince has it coming with Congress”.

Tracy’s main point of contention for our talk was with Scott Hall and Sid, whom he recently had an issue with at a Juggalo Championship wrestling show. According to Smothers, he was working a show on October 6th in Indiana. At this point in time, he was dealing with a family issue, that led to him not being in particularly great form at the show, leaving him somewhat shorter on patience than perhaps usual, and possibly, as he admitted, better to have pulled out. Instead, he was booked, and wanted to work. Tracy described the show as being home to a number of Marks, a portion of whom were abusive and insulting. Throughout the evening, they’d been getting braver (i.e. Stupider,) and had been throwing stuff at the heels. Tracy related how, on the way to the ring, he had items thrown at him, by one such group of ignorant audience members. This isn’t especially uncommon for him throughout his experience, but was difficult to deal with on this occasion. The situation worsened, when several of the fans threw cheap shots at him behind his back. 

Losing his patience, Tracy retaliated against these guys, before the situation was diffused. Afterwards, backstage, Scott Hall was supposedly stirring the situation, and got in Sid’s ear over what had happened, running down Smothers. This led to both guys getting into an argument of sorts, stirring the heat amongst each other, and basically bitching that Smother’s actions ruined the booking plans for the evening (Tracy was meant to be involved in a face turn, which was spoiled because he had beat up the fans who would later have to cheer for him). But Smothers was irritated by the way in which the Hall stirred the pot, and how he was then accused of being “bush-league”, and “unprofessional”, which is somewhat ironic coming from either of those two (Scott Hall, seriously???).

Obviously, having briefly discussed Steroids, it was difficult to stray away from the subject of Chris Benoit. Tracy was keen to get across his point of view, as he believes Chris Benoit did not murder his family, but in fact, was also a victim of murder himself, or as he said, “Benoit did not kill his family, and was professionally done”. Without going into the exact details, Smothers basically drew on his knowledge of homicide situations and the law (he has previously worked as a Bounty Hunter). Some of the details of the case were brought up, including the nature of Benoit’s death, and the improbability of how he was able to hang himself, and certain eccentricities in the crime scene. His points were interesting and passionate, but he seemed unsure as to whether these details would emerge, or the case will be re-evaluated.

Also mentioned was JBL, specifically his disgraceful behavior at ECW One Night Stand, back in 2005. He was of course, referring to the incident, where during a brawl between ECW and Smackdown/Raw wrestlers, Layfield sucker-punched the Blue Meanie, then beat him up for real, badly bloodying the former ECW star (if you watch this back, you can see the aftermath, and Meanie being pulled to safety while Al Snow asks him what happened). JBL was not punished for this incident, which was shockingly unprofessional, and I’m sure was probably privately applauded by the more loutish members of the roster. Tracy had nothing nice to say about JBL, but did put over the fact that it got a TV shot, a pay-day, and a high profile Television victory for Meanie, as compensation.

A certain Mrs. Stephanie McMahon Helsmley was also brought up. And it’s safe to say, Tracy’s not in the Steph Fan Club. He neither admires her ability to do her job, or her personality. In fact, the words he chose to describe her were, “ A cosmetically enhanced bimbo”. He also said (this was just prior to Halloween), that this was “her time of year” being that she’s “a witch”, and “looks the part”.

Tracy concluded by again getting torn into Sid and Scott Hall. He challenged them to come to Irish Whip, during their tour next March, and he would take them both on for real, and kick their asses. At this point, I lost him, as he told me he would “Stick a pin in Sid’s ass, and suck the steroids out of him”. He also threatened to use a toothpick to pin Scott Hall to a wall, and mentioned using him as a yo yo, which was different, but hey, still effective! That’s one handicap match that Irish Whip would be only to happy to book, though I can’t imagine the results….

In all, Tracy Smothers was an incredibly interesting guy to speak with. Additionally, he was extremely courteous, and very open with his opinions. My apologies to this being a quick recap, rather than a complete Interview, as I said. Maybe next time!


Thanks indeed for taking the time to read this article, If you have any questions, or comments about the “Cynical View” column, or wish to discuss anything wrestling related, feel free to email me at bazilalfonso@hotmail.com Thanks for reading!