SMW KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
(Morristown, TN, August 13, 1994)

In the summer of 1994, I had an idea for a different kind of wrestling tournament, one in which wrestlers would draw numbers and then wrestle in that order, beginning with 1 and 2 against each other, the winner facing wrestler 3, the winner of THAT one facing 4, and so on until they got to the last wrestler. On a lark, I sent it to the promoters of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, calling it the "King of the Mountain" tournament, and to my COMPLETE surprise, they wrote me back and said they would use it on a show later that summer. Photos from the resulting card are right here. Many thanks to Brian Hildebrand, who graciously allowed me to put myself in harm's way for the sake of coming back to Texas with some cool pictures. (By the way, I never thought about it being similar to the finals tournament format of the Pro Bowlers' Tour, until Dave "Woodward & Bernstein" Meltzer pointed it out in the Wrestling Observer.)

Thrillseekers vs. Bodies
The Thrillseekers were scheduled to face the Heavenly Bodies on the card, but since Chris Jericho had broken his arm the week before, referee Mark Curtis ruled not only that Jericho's partner, Lance Storm, could wrestle the Bodies in a handicap match, but that Jericho (in the ring, in shorts and cast) could stay at ringside. This is why Cornette and the Bodies have that look on their faces.

All tied up
In another two-on-one handicap match, Jim Cornette (the handicap!) needs a Boy Scout, or at least his partner Killer Kyle, to get him untangled after Bullet Bob Armstrong knocked him silly and got him staggering around like Otis Campbell on a bad day.

Over and out
In the first match of the KOTM tournament, Ricky Morton takes Jimmy Del Ray for a ride in a sunset flip (thanks, in part, to Mark Curtis kicking Del Ray's hand off of the rope) and scores the pin. Morton would next defeat Killer Kyle before meeting...

A Steel Shampoo
...his arch-enemy Chris Candido, wearing a semi-mask to hide the haircut he received a week before at the hands of the Rock 'N' Roll Express. Morton leveled Candido with this chair shot, but Candido, thanks in part to his ever-present better half Tammy Fytch (a/k/a Sunny; I'm STILL kicking myself for not taking any pictures of her!), recovered and won to advance in the tourney, only to meet...

Fighting in the corner
...Robert Gibson, Morton's ticked-off partner. This time, Tammy's interference backfired, and Gibson got the win and moved on to an intriguing match against...

A scientific match (for once!)
...his good friend Tracy Smothers. The only thing Mark Curtis needed to do was just count the pin, which he did when Smothers won the match. This put the Wild-Eyed Southern Boy up against...

Pounding the Bruiser
...the just plain wild Bruiser Bedlam, under the tutelage of Jim Cornette. (In retrospect, I think Bruiser Bedlam may have been a prototype for Goldberg.) The former union buster rebounded from this beating to defeat Smothers, but the next and final KOTM match would be no picnic, as Bedlam went up against...

DWB lets Corny have it
...Dirty White Boy, who was having some serious personal issues with both Bedlam and Cornette. White Boy managed to take out his frustrations on Cornette before Bedlam got on the attack and scored the pin to become Smoky Mountain Wrestling's first (and only) KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!


SMW Super Bowl Of Wrestling, Knoxville, TN with Pre-Show Meet & Greet--August 4, 1995

SMW FanWeek Picnic & house show, Barbourville, KY--August 5, 1995

SMW vs. USWA, Louisville, KY--August 6, 1995

SMW house show, Marion, VA--August 7, 1995

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