Norman Smiley

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For the English brewer and brewing executive, see Norman Bryce Smiley.

Norman Smiley
Smiley in 2007
Birth nameNorman Anthony Smiley
Born (1965-02-28) February 28, 1965 (age 59)
Northampton, England[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Black Magic
  • Lord Henry Norman
  • Norman Smiley[2][1]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2]
Billed weight240 lb (109 kg)[2]
Billed fromLondon, England[2]
Trained by
Debut1985[2]
Retired2008

Norman Anthony Smiley (born February 28, 1965) is an English-American retired

Championships held by Smiley over the course of his career include the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW Hardcore Championship
.

Early life

Smiley was born in

Miami, Florida.[1] Smiley attended Miami Beach Senior High School, where he took part in amateur wrestling and powerlifting. He graduated in 1984.[1][5][3]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1985–1991)

Norman Smiley trained under

Starrcade 1990 event teaming with Chris Adams against the team of Konnan and Rey Misterio Sr.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (1991–1997)

In 1991, he began wrestling for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico as "Black Magic", winning the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and holding it until losing to Brazo de Plata in 1993.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–1996)

In 1995 and 1996, he briefly competed in the

promotion
.

World Championship Wrestling (1997–2001)

Early years (1997–1999)

Smiley signed with

Fall Brawl, Smiley faced Ernest Miller in a losing effort.[9]

Smiley turned

wood chipper on the January 11, 1999, episode of Nitro.[13] This culminated in a match between the two at Souled Out on January 17, which Smiley won.[14]

Hardcore Champion (1999–2001)

In late 1999, Smiley entered the

Bunkhouse Brawl on January 6, 2000, episode of Thunder. The following week, on Thunder, Smiley lost the Hardcore Championship to Knobbs,[17] which he failed to regain at Souled Out in a fatal four-way match also involving Fit Finlay and Meng.[18]

Smiley would then begin feuding with

championship from a group of children during a vignette. Smiley and Ralphus unsuccessfully challenged Funk for the title in handicap matches at Slamboree and the following night's edition of Nitro. On the May 23 episode of Nitro, Smiley teamed with Funk to challenge Shane Douglas for the title in a handicap match, which Funk won. Smiley would then continue to pursue the Hardcore Championship as he unsuccessfully challenged Big Vito and Lance Storm
for the title on various occasions.

On the August 14 episode of Nitro, Smiley defeated newly crowned champion

"I Quit" match on the August 23 episode of Thunder. Smiley was stripped off the title by the WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders on the September 27 episode of Nitro. Smiley made his final pay-per-view appearance in WCW at Millennium Final, where he participated in an 18-man battle royal which he failed to win. Later that night, he defeated Fit Finlay in an Octoberfest Hardcore match
.

Smiley's final

World Wrestling Federation
in March 2001. He was not hired by the WWF following the sale.

Independent circuit (2001–2008)

Smiley wrestled for the short-lived

X Wrestling Federation and the World Wrestling All-Stars
before returning to the independent circuit.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002, 2006–2007)

He wrestled briefly for

The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Machete
) this tag team match would turn out to be Smiley's final match with TNA.

WWE (2007–present)

In 2007, Smiley relocated to Orlando to work as a trainer for WWE's then development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling. He also wrestled his last WWE match in November 2007 against Vladimir Kozlov in a dark match at a Heat taping. In early 2010, he started making on-camera appearances as the lieutenant general manager of FCW and later in August of that year he was known on FCW TV as the liaison for the FCW president, Steve Keirn.

Since its inception as a developmental territory, Smiley has continued to work as a trainer for WWE in NXT.[19]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Murphy, Ryan (11 November 2011). "Where Are They Now? Norman Smiley". WWE. WWE. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Norman Smiley". WCW.com (via Wayback Machine). World Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on 19 January 2001. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Varsallone, Jim (23 July 2001). "Smiley hopes for spot in WCW". St. Petersburg Times. Times Publishing Company. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ^ Fennessy, Paul (10 December 2014). "The Irish wrestler who's living the dream in WWE". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015. The coaches here include Billy Gunn, Matt Bloom, Norman Smiley and Terry Taylor...So there's just a wealth of experience to learn from.
  5. Sun-Sentinel. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original
    on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  6. ^ Cawhton, Graham. "WCW World War 3". The History of WWE. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  7. ^ "WCW Results — 1998". History of WWE. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  8. ^ "WCW Nitro — June 8, 1998". slashwrestling.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  9. ^ "WCW Fall Brawl '98, 9/13/1998". accelerator3359.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Norman Smiley biography". accelerator3359.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  11. ^ Video at YouTube
  12. ^ Powell, John (28 December 1998). "Nash wins title, ends Goldberg's streak". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ "WCW Monday Nitro — January 11, 1999". pwwew.net.
  14. ^ "The Furious Flashbacks – WCW Souled Out '99". 411Mania. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  15. ^ "Mayhem". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  16. Post and Courier
    . Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  17. ^ "WCW Thunder — January 12, 2000". pwwew.net.
  18. ^ "Souled Out pay-per-view results". The History of WWE. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Where Are They Now? Norman Smiley".
  20. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4
    .
  21. ^ "FOW Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. 2002.
  22. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2000 - the Internet Wrestling Database".
  23. ^ "PWI 500 of the PWI Years". Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  24. ^ WCW Hardcore Championship, at Wrestling-Titles.com

External links

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