November 9, 2020 Observer Newsletter: The life & times of Tracy Smothers
Most of the time when a top wrestler passes away, people talk about the memories they provided in the ring, or their accomplishments.
When Tracy Smothers passed away after a battle with cancer, after years of health issues, the modern generation talked about little of that.
Smothers, who was 58 when he passed away on 10/28, was talked about for being a mentor to a generation of people who started out working long road trips to small shows for very little money. Most of them made little money but created lifelong memories, including of Smothers, a one-time star who loved the business more than anything and kept at it until he physically could no longer, and still, while near death, longed for one last match.
Others made it big. But they never forgot the one guy who was always smiling, always encouraging, and always fun to be around in the dressing room that they had seen growing up and was still having fun.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.