Tracy’s book happened because of Tim Denison. A life-long wrestling fan and a respected Louisville attorney, Tim was a mutual friend of mine and Tracy’s who brought us together in 2019. We met at IHOP in Clarksville, Indiana and agreed to work together as soon as work on The Black Panther book was finished.
Tim took care of Tracy’s estate after his passing and counted a number of pro wresters among his friends and clients. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year.
Tracy was diagnosed with cancer right as we started work. We spent many long nights on the phone while he was in the hospital receiving chemo treatment. In fact, chemo nights were very productive. The drugs he had to take to receive treatment fired him up, and he would talk for hours – in between asking for ice cream and peanut butter.
Tracy and I met only twice in person to work on the book. We did one interview at a show in Somerset, Kentucky to kick off the writing of the book. Near the end we met in a Louisville hotel room (courtesy of Manscout Jake Manning) to review the final draft. Tracy was in remission at the time, and we were looking forward to doing some book signings.
Those signings never happened. COVID-19 hit right as we finished the book. With Tracy’s health being so fragile, we couldn’t meet in person to do a signing. Tracy signed a stack of 2″ x 4″ address labels that were affixed to the inside of the book. By the time the world started opening back up, Tracy’s cancer had come back.
Tracy’s book title was chosen carefully. We considered a completely different title, Tracy and the Three Bears, as well as two variations on his “Everybody Dies” catchphrase. “If You Don’t Buy This Book” over “If You Don’t Read This Book” for a simple reason: wrestlers don’t care if you do anything with the gimmicks you buy from them, as long as you do buy from them. That’s gas and food money to get them to the next town!
Tracy is the reason I wrote the Candido book. Tracy loved Chris, and he always named Chris as his favorite in-ring opponent. He told me one day, “That needs to be your next book!” And he got me in touch with Chris’s family and friends. Without Tracy, that book never would have happened.
Tracy and I kept in close contact until the end. The last message I got from Tracy was about Chris Candido. He called and left a voice mail, saying he’d heard one of Chris’s theme songs, “Back in Black” by AC/DC. on an ESPN segment. He was so excited about the Candido book, and his own.
Four days after he left that message, Mad Man Pondo called me on my cell phone at work to tell me Tracy was gone.
The influence of Tracy Smothers on modern wrestling cannot be understated. Through his travels in the independent circuit, he touched countless lives, men and women, who wanted to follow in his footsteps.
If you haven’t read Tracy’s story, it’s in stock now.