Tracy Smothers was inducted into the Tennessee Wrestling Hall of Fame September 26th 2019.
Tracy Stanton Smothers was born on September 2, 1962 in Knoxville, Tennessee and it was in Tennessee where he started his in-ring career, wrestling in the legendary Memphis promotion run by Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jerry Jarrett.
With his good looks, athletic build, and mix of speed, technical skills, and brawling, Smothers fit in well wherever he wrestled, matching what every promoter wanted from their babyfaces—a good-looking man for female fans to cheer and a double-tough fighter for male fans to root for.
Smothers played on his Southern appeal, working for other southern-based promotions such as Florida Championship Wrestling and Southeast Championship Wrestling.
Tracy teamed with second-generation wrestler Steve Armstrong as the Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (later the Southern Boys) in a popular babyface team that captured tag team gold. The Southern Boys’ campaign in WCW led to a highly-regarded feud with the Midnight Express and a heel turn that led to a run with the United States Tag Team Championship.
By the early 90s, Smothers was a veteran wrestler who could always be counted on for good matches. This led to campaigns in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association, and a run in the WWF from 1995 to 1997 where he worked as enhancement talent under the name Freddie Joe Floyd (the name was a rib on future WWE Hall of Famers Jerry and Jack Brisco’s real names).
Later, Smothers worked in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a comedy character. Along the way, Smothers’ was invited to work in several Japanese promotions such as All-Japan Pro Wrestling, W*NG, and IWA Japan.
Like many veteran wrestlers, Smothers never had trouble finding work and continued working in promotions such as Juggalo Championship Wrestling and TNA-Wrestling as well as the indie circuit.
In December 2019, Smothers announced that he was diagnosed with lymphoma but it was non-terminal. However, his health worsened as he was beset with complications from the lymphoma and heart problems and on October 28, 2020, Tracy Smothers passed away. He was 58.
The Wild-Eyed Southern Boy Tracy Smothers was inducted into the Tennessee Wrestling Hall of Fame September 26th 2019 at 127 Pro-Wrestling.
