Norman Smiley

Norman Smiley (born February 28, 1965 in Northampton) is a British professional wrestler currently competing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is best known for his appearances in the United States of America with World Championship Wrestling as "Screamin" Norman Smiley'''.

Career
Norman Smiley trained under Rusty Brooks and Boris and Dean Malenko before making his debut in 1986 on the Floridian independent circuit, originally known as Black Magic, then as the hated Lord Henry Norman. In 1992, he began wrestling for the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico as Black Magic, winning the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and holding it until losing to Silver King in 1994. In 1995 and 1996, he briefly competed in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion.

World Championship Wrestling
Smiley joined World Championship Wrestling in 1997, wrestling primarily on WCW Saturday Night. After being removed from television, he returned several months later with a new gimmick. His new character saw him add the "Big Wiggle" to his repertoire of moves; prior to this, his signature taunt was a mimed bow-and-arrow motion, informally dubbed "The Sacagawea". After knocking an opponent down, Smiley would perform a dance that he called the "Big Wiggle." He later added the "Smiley Spank", which saw him double an opponent over, straddle him, and perform a slapping motion with his hands.

During his tenure in WCW, Smiley often teamed with Chris Adams. The duo had previously teamed together as the British participants in the 1990 NWA Pat O'Connor tag team tournament, and were close friends.

A heel turn began in a backstage interview on an episode of WCW Saturday Night when he told fans that he was European and that, as such, his name should be pronounced phonetically as "Nor-MAHN Smi-LAY." He then feuded with Chavo Guerrero, Jr., on one occasion destroying Chavo's hobby horse mascot, Pepè, by feeding it into a wood chipper on an episode of WCW Monday Nitro.

In 1999, Smiley entered the hardcore division. Smiley's character was nicknamed "Screamin'" Norman Smiley. Smiley would also come to the ring wearing a jersey (often wearing a jersey of a local professional sports team), along with padding and a football helmet to cushion blows. This comedic gimmick caused Smiley's popularity to soar, and he eventually won the WCW Hardcore Championship by defeating Brian Knobbs in a tournament final. During his 2 reigns, Smiley was a reluctant champion, even attempting to purposely lose matches (although he invariably retained the title inadvertently, much to his chagrin). Smiley holds the 2 longest WCW Hardcore Championship reigns, at 51 and 42 days, respectively.

Smiley feuded with Brian Knobbs, Meng and Terry Funk during his tenures as WCW Hardcore Champion, recruiting Chris Jericho's former associate Ralphus to be his manager. With the assistance of Ralphus, he stole a backyard wrestling championship from a group of children during a vignette.

Smiley remained in WCW until the company was sold to the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001. He was not hired by the WWF following the sale.

TNA & Independent circuit
Smiley wrestled for the short-lived X Wrestling Federation and the World Wrestling All-Stars before returning to the Florida independent circuit. He wrestled briefly for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2002 and then had several tryout matches with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2003 and 2004. In February 2006, he was backstage during the TNA pay-per-view Against All Odds 2006, and he wrestled in an eight-man opening match on an episode of TNA iMPACT! shortly thereafter, doing the Big Wiggle on Jeff Jarrett. At TNA Destination X 2006 on March 12, 2006, Smiley and Shark Boy lost to David Young and Elix Skipper. Smiley and Shark Boy upset Homicide and Machete of the LAX on the March 18 edition of iMPACT! Smiley was inactive for several weeks following an attack at the hands of Scott Steiner, but returned on the July 13, 2006 episode of iMPACT!, losing to Abyss.

On the February 16, 2007 edition of iMPACT! Smiley made his return, teaming with Shark Boy in a loss to LAX.

Recently at TNAWrestling.com, Norman Smiley was taken off the roster page.

Norman Smiley returned to Mexico´s AAA as a member of the "Legion Extranjera" (Foreign Legion) as a sidekick of Ricky Banderas

Finishing and signature moves

 * Norman Conquest (Crossface chickenwing)
 * Big Wiggle (from behind a bent forward opponent, he licks his hands, rubs his chest, and makes a slapping motion on the hips of the opponent)
 * Sunset flip
 * Victory roll
 * Flying crossbody
 * European uppercut
 * Belly to back suplex
 * Jumping headbutt
 * Many Armbar Variations
 * Many Scissor variations

Championships and accomplishments

 * Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
 * CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Four Star Championship Wrestling
 * FSCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Future of Wrestling
 * FOW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Global Wrestling Alliance
 * GWA Global Television Championship (1 time)


 * Independent Pro Wrestling Association
 * IPWA Southern Championship (1 time)
 * IPWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joe DeFuria


 * Maximum Pro Wrestling
 * MXPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him # 375 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003


 * World Championship Wrestling
 * WCW Hardcore Championship (2 times) (First Ever)

Fan tributes

 * The Wrestling Mayhem Show's #1 Favorite tagteam of All Time Norman Smiley and Shark Boy.