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Michael Smith (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Michael Maurice Smith (born October 11, 1963) is a second generation professional wrestler who is best known for competing under the ring name
Sam Houston in the 1980s. His father is former wrestler Grizzly Smith
, his half-brother is Jake "The Snake" Roberts
, and his younger sister is Rockin' Robin
.
In 1985, he began working in the NWA
's Jim Crockett Promotions
. He was billed as a protege of Dusty Rhodes
and Magnum T.A.
, which made him a target for the Four Horsemen
. They finally got to him in the summer of 1985 when Tully Blanchard
, Ole Anderson
, and Arn Anderson
(kayfabe
) broke his arm during a six-man tag team match.
In late 1985, he feuded with Krusher Khruschev
over the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
, which he won in January 1986. He then feuded with Black Bart
, who won the title from him a few months later.
Houston formed a cowboy themed team with Nelson Royal during the summer of 1986. He moved on to the Central States territory later that year, where he won the title while feuding with Bulldog Bob Brown and Bill Dundee
. His first few months of 1987 were spent in the Universal Wrestling Federation
where he teamed up with Terry Taylor for a short period of time.
Houston moved on to the WWF
in the summer of 1987, feuding with Danny Davis
, Barry Horowitz
shortly after his arrival. Also had a lot of house matches against Outlaw Ron Bass well into 1988. After his dead-end feud with Davis ended, Houston was used primarily as enhancement talent, losing to the likes of the Honky Tonk Man in under a minute. During his time in WWF he teamed with fellow cowboy Scott Casey on a number of occasions and appeared in the first Royal rumble event and was in WrestleMania IV as part of the 20-man battle royal. He left WWF in 1989 and then ended up in the USWA promotion, which had bought up the WCCW promotion in Dallas where he feuded once again with Black Bart. After leaving there he then wrestled on the independent wrestling scene before showing up in the Global Wrestling Federation
in 1992 as The Midnight Rider.
In 1993 he went to WCW for a brief run, mostly as enhancement talent.
He returned to wrestling on the independent wrestling circuit for GWE, OWE, and others in 2007. Wrestling against some top independent wrestling talent,such as Mike Dibiase
.
. His siblings were also wrestlers; his half-brother is Jake "The Snake" Roberts
, and his younger sister is Rockin' Robin
.
Before his departure from the NWA, Smith had begun dating Tully Blanchard
's valet
Nickla Roberts
, better known by the name Baby Doll. They were married in Lubbock, Texas on July 30, 1986 & went on to have two daughters together, named Mikala Joy and Mikka Tyler (Smitty). Roberts chose to devote her time to her new baby girls instead of returning to wrestling. She divorced Houston in 1994, claiming Smith wanted to "be the life of the party".
In August 2005, Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison for repeated DUI
arrests. He had been arrested numerous times before, with his ex-wife Roberts claiming in 2005 that he had had an average of two DUI arrests per year for the past ten years before he was sent to prison.
Smith's home near New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
. He worked part-time at a construction company, and also helped his father at a cemetery, which is operated by the Firemen's Charitable and Benevolent Association, near the French Quarter
in New Orleans.
In 2009 Smith resurfaced on the Louisiana indy scene wrestling for Old School Wrestling Entertainment based in New Orleans and Mid South Wrestling Entertainment in Houma, Louisiana
. Smith also tried to open his own wrestling company called Mid South Entertainment. He ran only one show booking the likes of Rod Price, One Man Gang, and many local wrestlers but at the end of the show Smith ran out with out paying any of the wrestlers. He tried to run another show in Hammond, Louisiana
but could not get permission from the Louisiana Wrestling Commission. On the night before the show was to go on, Smith was pulled over in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
and arrested for yet another DUI. This violated the terms of his parole and was sentenced to serve the remainder of his first sentencing; he will not get out of prison until 2014.
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
Sam Houston in the 1980s. His father is former wrestler Grizzly Smith
Aurelian Smith
Aurelian Smith was an American professional wrestler better known as Grizzly Smith. He was the father of professional wrestlers Aurelian, Jr...
, his half-brother is Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jake Roberts
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
, and his younger sister is Rockin' Robin
Robin Smith (wrestler)
Robin Denise Smith , better known by her ring name Rockin' Robin, is a retired American professional wrestler. As the daughter of Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, she is a second generation wrestler. Her brother Sam Houston and half-brother Jake "The Snake" Roberts are also wrestlers. Smith worked for the...
.
Career
Smith started wrestling in 1983, initially competing in Championship Wrestling from Florida.In 1985, he began working in the NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
's Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
. He was billed as a protege of Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
and Magnum T.A.
Magnum T.A.
Terry Wayne Allen is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Magnum T.A..-Early years:...
, which made him a target for the Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)
The Four Horsemen were a professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard...
. They finally got to him in the summer of 1985 when Tully Blanchard
Tully Blanchard
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a semi-retired second generation American professional wrestler. He is best known as an original member of the Four Horsemen....
, Ole Anderson
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski , better known by his ring name of Ole Anderson, is a retired professional wrestler and a promoter. He held numerous NWA World Tag Team Championships with Gene Anderson, who was portrayed as his brother...
, and Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
(kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
) broke his arm during a six-man tag team match.
In late 1985, he feuded with Krusher Khruschev
Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...
over the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions , a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers...
, which he won in January 1986. He then feuded with Black Bart
Rick Harris
Rick Harris is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name , Black Bart. He is the son of the late George "Two Ton" Harris.-Career:Rick Harris started wrestling in 1975...
, who won the title from him a few months later.
Houston formed a cowboy themed team with Nelson Royal during the summer of 1986. He moved on to the Central States territory later that year, where he won the title while feuding with Bulldog Bob Brown and Bill Dundee
Bill Dundee
William "Bill" Cruickshanks is a Scottish born-Australian professional wrestler better known by his stage name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton....
. His first few months of 1987 were spent in the Universal Wrestling Federation
Universal Wrestling Federation
The name Universal Wrestling Federation may refer to:*Universal Wrestling Federation , an American professional wrestling promotion owned by Bill Watts...
where he teamed up with Terry Taylor for a short period of time.
Houston moved on to the WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
in the summer of 1987, feuding with Danny Davis
Dan Marsh
Dan Marsh is a former professional wrestling referee and wrestler most famous as Danny Davis of the World Wrestling Federation. He also competed in the WWF for several years as Mr. X, a masked wrestler....
, Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:Horowitz, who is Jewish, attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled...
shortly after his arrival. Also had a lot of house matches against Outlaw Ron Bass well into 1988. After his dead-end feud with Davis ended, Houston was used primarily as enhancement talent, losing to the likes of the Honky Tonk Man in under a minute. During his time in WWF he teamed with fellow cowboy Scott Casey on a number of occasions and appeared in the first Royal rumble event and was in WrestleMania IV as part of the 20-man battle royal. He left WWF in 1989 and then ended up in the USWA promotion, which had bought up the WCCW promotion in Dallas where he feuded once again with Black Bart. After leaving there he then wrestled on the independent wrestling scene before showing up in the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
in 1992 as The Midnight Rider.
In 1993 he went to WCW for a brief run, mostly as enhancement talent.
He returned to wrestling on the independent wrestling circuit for GWE, OWE, and others in 2007. Wrestling against some top independent wrestling talent,such as Mike Dibiase
Mike DiBiase II
Michael Wills DiBiase is an American professional wrestler, who uses the ring name Mike DiBiase.Mike DiBiase is a third generation professional wrestler. His grandfather "Iron" Mike DiBiase grandmother Helen Hild and his father "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase are professional wrestlers. His...
.
Personal life
Michael Smith is a second generation professional wrestler, his father is former wrestler Grizzly SmithAurelian Smith
Aurelian Smith was an American professional wrestler better known as Grizzly Smith. He was the father of professional wrestlers Aurelian, Jr...
. His siblings were also wrestlers; his half-brother is Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Jake Roberts
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
, and his younger sister is Rockin' Robin
Robin Smith (wrestler)
Robin Denise Smith , better known by her ring name Rockin' Robin, is a retired American professional wrestler. As the daughter of Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith, she is a second generation wrestler. Her brother Sam Houston and half-brother Jake "The Snake" Roberts are also wrestlers. Smith worked for the...
.
Before his departure from the NWA, Smith had begun dating Tully Blanchard
Tully Blanchard
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a semi-retired second generation American professional wrestler. He is best known as an original member of the Four Horsemen....
's valet
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
Nickla Roberts
Nickla Roberts
Nickla Ann Roberts is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and valet, better known by her ring name, "The Perfect 10" Baby Doll...
, better known by the name Baby Doll. They were married in Lubbock, Texas on July 30, 1986 & went on to have two daughters together, named Mikala Joy and Mikka Tyler (Smitty). Roberts chose to devote her time to her new baby girls instead of returning to wrestling. She divorced Houston in 1994, claiming Smith wanted to "be the life of the party".
In August 2005, Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison for repeated DUI
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
arrests. He had been arrested numerous times before, with his ex-wife Roberts claiming in 2005 that he had had an average of two DUI arrests per year for the past ten years before he was sent to prison.
Smith's home near New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. He worked part-time at a construction company, and also helped his father at a cemetery, which is operated by the Firemen's Charitable and Benevolent Association, near the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
in New Orleans.
In 2009 Smith resurfaced on the Louisiana indy scene wrestling for Old School Wrestling Entertainment based in New Orleans and Mid South Wrestling Entertainment in Houma, Louisiana
Houma, Louisiana
Houma is a city in and the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and the largest principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's powers of government have been absorbed by the parish, which is now run by the Terrebonne Parish...
. Smith also tried to open his own wrestling company called Mid South Entertainment. He ran only one show booking the likes of Rod Price, One Man Gang, and many local wrestlers but at the end of the show Smith ran out with out paying any of the wrestlers. He tried to run another show in Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
but could not get permission from the Louisiana Wrestling Commission. On the night before the show was to go on, Smith was pulled over in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
and arrested for yet another DUI. This violated the terms of his parole and was sentenced to serve the remainder of his first sentencing; he will not get out of prison until 2014.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Bulldog
- Signature moves
- DropkickDropkickA dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
- Dropkick
- ManagerManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
s- Robert FullerRobert FullerRobert Welch is a professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Robert Fuller and Col. Robert Parker. Robert and his brother Ron co-owned Continental Championship Wrestling for a time.-Career:...
- Baby DollNickla RobertsNickla Ann Roberts is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and valet, better known by her ring name, "The Perfect 10" Baby Doll...
- Angel
- Robert Fuller
Championships and accomplishments
- Central States WrestlingHeart of America Sports AttractionsHeart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...
- NWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Central States Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship a professional wrestling championship that currently serves as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Midwest. For most of its existence, however, the title was defended in the NWA affiliate Central States Wrestling from...
(1 time)
- Global Wrestling FederationGlobal Wrestling FederationGlobal Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
- GWF Television ChampionshipGWF Television ChampionshipThe GWF Television Championship was a secondary title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1993, when it was abandoned. The title was defended on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN.-Title history:...
(1 time)
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions , a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers...
(1 time)
- Pro Wrestling America
- PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Charlie Norris
- World Class Wrestling Federation
- WCWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)