— Dave Meltzer (from the Wrestling Observer) this week responded to comments made by Tracy Smothers over on the wrestling classics message board, as listed below:
He’s got a quick temper and is tough. I’d suspect JBL is considerably tougher.
Smothers was a very good high school wrestler but he’s 43 now. I once talked with him about wrestling and he went to Springfield College, an NAIA school, and didn’t last wrestling there “because those boys were really tough.”
— Smothers today responded back to these comments, with the following:
First of all Dave, who’s never been in the ring, or more than likely been in a real fight in his life, or done anything athletic period, needs to get his facts straight when it comes to talking about me or anything else he writes or talks about when it comes to our business that he leeches off of.
I was a four sport letterman in high school in football, wrestling, baseball and golf. Not that I was any super great athlete because it was a small school and everyone played every sport because they loved it. I went two years to Carson Newman College on a football and wrestling scholarship. I only played football because I couldn’t keep my grades up because academically it was #2 in the state to Vanderbilt. After my second year I wanted t pursue my dream of playing football, or trying to, for the Univeristy of Tennessee. I went home and went two quarters to Vol State Community College to get my grades up and applied to go to UT in the fall for school and to walk on to try and play football for UT.
It didn’t happen because I met Steve Keirn and Stan Lane, who were then on fire as The Fabulous Ones in TN working for the Jarretts. It was always in the back of my mind, because I always loved watching wrestling growing up. After a year of bugging those guys they finally agreed to train me and train me well. After that I worked out in the ring every Sunday for 6 months with Tojo Yammatto, while holding a full time job loading trucks and wrestling 2-5 times a week on call for the Jarretts.
So when you print something, Dave Meltzer, you need to have your facts straight. You should kiss the ground that all the boys walk on in thanks that you are in our business because if it weren’t for them you would not have made a dime. You never contributed anything that was good. All you ever did was knock everyone.
As I said before you’ve never been in the ring in your life and you never will. You know about as much about the wrestling business as I do making a nuclear weapon because you could never physicaly get in the ring and do it and never will. So you are bitter at the ones that do. You have critized more guys, and for some reason people listen to you and some office people also, and have aided in causing guys to get fired, me included.
I can remember back in the day when you were first coming around. You would not reveal who you were to anyone because of what the boys would do to you physically. You had a good reason to be scared. I heard you saw Terry Gordy out somewhere in Japan back when he was on top and told him who you were. He took the sheet out of your hand, dropped it on the ground, and pissed on it, and then told you to write that in your sheet. That is the way that you and others who have criticized and knocked people in our business should be treated.
You know nothing about me, just what you’ve heard and whatever I have told you is what I wanted you to know. You will never know where I have been or what I have done outside of wrestling and you never will because you can’t even fathom it. So kick back, watch some tapes and keep leeching off our business, which you and others have done who haven’t sweat or bled a drop.
Oh, and by the way Dave I am 42 and will be 43 on september 2nd.
Tracy Smothers
