Just about one month ago, the wrestling world mourned the loss of a great friend. Competing just about everywhere, no one had a bad word to say about Tracy Smothers, a hardworking individual who will be greatly missed. Speaking on a VOC Nation special earlier this week, Robert Kellum (known in WCW as The Maestro) shared some great memories of his time with Smothers and the tenacity the wrestler had in his final days.
On Tracy Smothers’ legacy:
“He definitely gave a lot more than he received in my estimation. He loved pro wrestling so much and he just wanted to see people do well in the industry. He really reached out to quite a few of us when he really didn’t have to. What you saw with Tracy is what you got. (He was) very genuine, which is very rare in this industry.”
On how Tracy Smothers helped him:
“I first met Tracy through my time at Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He was one of the ones that reached out to help me out along with the Rock N’ Roll Express, Tim Horner, Jim Cornette, and a few others in the company. Tracy was a big advocate for me in the company. We had some great matches; he wanted to showcase to the company what all I could do… he not only did that with Smoky Mountain Wrestling, but he was a big advocate for me during my time in Memphis with USWA and different places. He was a genuinely great guy and always was there for advice and always wanted to make (you) even better in and out of the ring. He was always the go-to guy for advice and to learn from.”
On maintaining his positive persona through his battle with cancer:
“Even during that time and what he was going through, he was still upbeat, happy go lucky. He’s always stayed the same guy and I can’t thank him enough for all the help he’s (given) to me and many in the business. He’ll always be remembered as one of the greatest people in the business.”
For the full discussion, including comments from Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Brady Hicks and former Philadelphia radio personality Bruce Wirt, as well as the last interview Tracy gave before his death, the full VOC Nation special is embedded below:
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