Smoky Mountain Wrestling

Smoky Mountain Wrestling was an organization staging professional wrestling in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee with offices in Morristown, Tennessee.

Cornette formed the promotion in 1991 upon leaving World Championship Wrestling with Stan Lane, one half of the legendary Midnight Express, Tim Horner and Sandy Scott. The promotion was backed financially by music producer Rick Rubin. The first events and TV tapings were held in October and November 1991. Matches from these shows were first shown in March 1992. 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, TN. The first Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions were crowned in a tournament final on April 23, 1992 in Harrogate, TN when The Heavenly Bodies defeated The Fantastics. Though the promotion was highly thought of, it struggled to get a profitable television deal, and operated throughout a wrestling recession that would not end until 1997. Cornette had initially envisioned a territory reaching from Kentucky into as far as South Carolina and Georgia. Those plans, however, never materialized. With the promotion's biggest towns being Knoxville, TN and Johnson City, TN, most of the stops on SMW tours included high school gyms and fairs in small cities off the beaten path such as Pikeville, KY; East Ridge, TN; Lenoir, NC; Saltville, VA, and Bluefield, WV. The promotion featured some of the most popular wrestlers in wrestling entertainment and served as a platform for young talent, including Bob Holly, New Jack, Al Snow, Balls Mahoney, Chris Jericho, Kane, Lance Storm, Chris Candido, Tammy Lynn Sytch, Brian James (B.G. James / The Road Dogg) and D'Lo Brown, but was not financially successful. Cornette eventually signed a working agreement with the WWF to trade talent, manage and serve as an on-air talent for that company. To many of his Smoky Mountain followers, Cornette had sold out to the enemy, working for a promotion whose style he had openly opposed. Cornette finally sold the promotion to the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), run by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler.

Cornette, a traditionalist, catered to fans that Mick Foley described as "old-time fans...who still believed in good guys and bad guys, and to whom cheating was still reason to get upset." This was in sharp contrast to Extreme Championship Wrestling and the WWF, in which edgy angles, "tweeners" and anti-heroes increasingly took precedence over clearcut heroes and villains. Smoky Mountain was, however, the birthplace of the controversial "Gangstas" gimmick, where African American 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), purportedly due to Affirmative Action. Additionally, SMW featured many violent and bloody matches that could be considered "hardcore" and several innovative angles.

Brian Hildebrand was a Smoky Mountain mainstay, occupying such myriad roles as Head of Merchandise, referee (under his alter-ego Mark Curtis) and sound director.

The last SMW show was on November 26, 1995. World Wrestling Entertainment now owns the SMW tape library.

Major events
1992
 * Volunteer Slam (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) May 22, 1992
 * Summer Blast (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) July 17, 1992
 * Fire on the Mountain 1992 (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) August 8, 1992
 * Thanksgiving Thunder 1992 (Welch Armory, Welch, WV) November 27, 1992; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) November 28, 1992; (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) November 29, 1992

1993
 * Bluegrass Brawl (Pikeville College Gymnasium, Pikeville, KY) April 2, 1993
 * Volunteer Slam II: Rage in a Cage (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) May 9, 1993
 * The Last Tango in Tennessee (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) May 15, 1993
 * Hot August Night in Mo-Town (East High School Gymnasium, Morristown, TN) August 13, 1993
 * Fire on the Mountain 1993 (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) August 14, 1993
 * K-Town Showdown (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) August 20, 1993
 * Big Apple Grapple (Paintsville High School Gymnasium, Paintsville, KY) October 1, 1993
 * Thanksgiving Thunder 1993 (Memorial Gymnasium, Hazard, KY) November 25, 1993; (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) November 26, 1993; (Knox County High School Gymnasium, Barbourville, KY) November 27, 1993; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) November 28, 1993
 * Christmas Chaos (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) December 25, 1993; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) December 26, 1993; (Knox County High School Gymnasium, Barbourville, KY) December 27, 1993

1994 1995
 * Sunday Bloody Sunday (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) February 13, 1994
 * Blue Grass Brawl II: The Famous Final Scene (Pikeville College Gymnasium, Pikeville, KY) April 1, 1994
 * Volunteer Slam III (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) May 20, 1994
 * The Night of the Legends (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) August 5, 1994
 * Fire on the Mountain 1994 (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) August 6, 1994
 * Big Apple Brawl (Paintsville High School Gymnasium, Paintsville, KY) September 30, 1994
 * SMW /NWA Shows (Stanton Hall, Philadelphia, PA) November 17, 1994; (Pleasantville, NJ) November 18, 1994; (Cherry Hill Armory, Cherry Hill, NJ) November 19, 1994
 * Thanksgiving Thunder 1994 (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) November 24, 1994; (Paintsville High School Gymnasium, Paintsville, KY) November 25, 1994; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) November 26, 1994; (Cobb County Civic Center, Marietta, GA) November 27, 1994
 * Christmas Chaos 1994 (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) December 25, 1994; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) December 26, 1994; (Mulberry Street Recreation Center, Lenoir, NC) December 27, 1994
 * Super Saturday Night Fever (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) January 28, 1995
 * Brawl in the Hall (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) February 25, 1995
 * Sunday Bloody Sunday II (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) February 26, 1995
 * Bluegrass Brawl III (Pikeville College Gymnasium, Pikeville, KY) April 7, 1995
 * Fright Night (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) April 8, 1995
 * Volunteer Slam IV (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) May 19, 1995
 * Charlotte Memories (Grady Cole Center, Charlotte, NC) May 20, 1995
 * Summer Blast 1995 (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) July 15, 1995
 * Superbowl of Wrestling (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) August 4, 1995
 * Fire on the Mountain 1995: Night of the Dream Matches (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) August 12, 1995
 * Halloween Scream (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) October 20, 1995; (East High School, Morristown, TN) October 21, 1995; (Collett Street Recreation Center, Morganton, NC) October 26, 1995; (Cookeville, TN) October 27, 1995; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN)October 28, 1995
 * Thanksgiving Thunder 1995 (Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN) November 23, 1995; (Knox County High School Gymnasium, Barbourville, KY) November 24, 1995; (Freedom Hall, Johnson City, TN) November 25, 1995; (Cookeville, TN) November 26, 1995 [Final SMW Show- ended with entire SMW roster attacking Jim Cornette who was pinned by referee Mark Curtis]