Former WCW star The Maestro talks about the impact Tracy Smothers had on the wrestling industry; hear one of the final interviews conducted with Smothers prior to his passing

VOC Nation hosted a special retrospective on the career of Tracy Smothers, including one of the final interviews ever done with Tracy prior to his passing.  Former WCW star The Maestro was part of the panel, and he talked about Smothers’ impact on his career, helping stop a fight with Smothers and a fan, and much more.  Here are some highlights:

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 with my time in Memphis with USWA and different places.  He was a genuine 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 Tracy nearly going after a fan and having to be held back:  “There was somebody in the crowd that really made him upset to the point where he was going to go after them.  I literally had to hook him and tie him up during the match to hold him at bay; I was afraid that if I let go he was going to go after the guy.  After the match I went over to the guy and said ‘dude I just saved your life.’  Tracy comes back in the locker room and he thanks me.  He said ‘Robbie, Robbie thank you so much.  Thank you for holding me down, I was so mad at that guy.  I didn’t know what to do with myself.’ He thanked me because he would have gotten in trouble that night.”

On overcoming the Freddie Joe Floyd gimmick:  “True talent always comes to the surface no matter what situation you’re put in.  Look at Dusty Rhodes for example:  They put him in polka dots and he still got over with Vince.  You mention Freddie Joe Floyd with Tracy Smothers – look at TL Hopper with Tony Anthony (and) the Red Rooster with Terry Taylor; the thing is if you’ve got the talent, you can get anything over.  People will see through that.  Wrestling fans that are really passionate about the business, they see through that.  They (know) good talent when they see it.”

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.”

Following the panel discussion, which included Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Brady Hicks and former Philadelphia radio personality Bruce Wirt, the interview with Smothers is played in it’s entirety.

Link to the episode here:
http://vocnation.com