Early career (1982–1984) Smothers started his career in 1982 after being trained by
Steve Keirn and
Stan Lane.
Championship Wrestling from Florida and other promotions (1987–1989) Smothers joined
Championship Wrestling from Florida in February 1987 and immediately formed a tag team with
Steve Armstrong as "The Wild-Eyed Southern Boys". The Southern Boys (originally without Armstrong) also spent time in Japan to work for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Afterwards, he returned to CWA, which was now the renamed
United States Wrestling Association. Smothers teamed with John Paul to win the vacated
CWA Tag Team Championship from Action Jackson and
Robert Fuller. Armstrong eventually joined up with Smothers and reformed the Southern Boys, and they became embroiled in a feud with
The Stud Stable. They gained revenge by defeating the Pistols on the June 16, 1990, episode of
WCW Worldwide. Smothers and Armstrong started a feud with The Midnight Express, culminating in a match between the two teams on July 13 at the
Great American Bash, which the Midnight Express won. It was considered the best match in the U.S. of that year and one of the all-time classic tag team matches of the era; it was also high in virtually every match of the year poll. On February 24, 1991, at
WrestleWar, they defeated The Royal Family (
Jack Victory and
Rip Morgan). A few days earlier, they were renamed
The Young Pistols. On June 12, The Young Pistols and
Tom Zenk defeated Hayes, Garvin, and Badstreet at
Clash of the Champions XV. The Young Pistols soon turned heel, On the February 16, 1992, episode of
WCW Pro, they lost the titles to
Ron Simmons and
Big Josh. At
Beach Blast on June 20, he,
Ricky Morton, and
Diamond Dallas Page lost to
Junkyard Dog, Big Josh, and Tom Zenk in a
six-man tag team match before leaving the company in August. At Bluegrass Brawl on April 2, Smothers defeated DWB in a chain match to win the SMW Heavyweight Championship. After winning his feud with Anderson in early 1995, he formed a team with
Scott Armstrong, beginning a feud with the newly arrived
Gangstas in which they were winless. The Thugs feuded with The Gangstas during the spring, but did not get a win until April 13. The war between them continued until June, when the Gangstas departed for
Extreme Championship Wrestling. That summer. an interpromotional war broke out between SMW and the USWA; on June 16, the Thugs defeated
USWA Tag Team Champions PG-13 in a non-title match. On July 6, the duo upended
Al Snow and
Unabomb to win the
SMW Tag Team Championship. They successfully retained the titles against Snow and Unabomb, as well as
The Headbangers. before losing the titles at SuperBowl of Wrestling on August 4 to
The Heavenly Bodies. Eight days later, the Thugs defeated Snow and Unabomb in a
loser leaves town match.
United States Wrestling Association (1995–1997) After SMW folded, Smothers continued to work for the USWA. Now teaming with Steve's youngest brother
Jesse James Armstrong, the new duo defeated PG-13 to win the USWA Tag Team Championship on December 11, 1995, at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. Smothers and Armstrong would hold the belts until January 3, 1996, when they would lose them to
Doug Gilbert and
Tommy Rich. In January 1997, he joined the USWA branch of the
Nation of Domination, changing his name to Shaquille Ali (a take off of
NBA star
Shaquille O'Neal and legendary
boxer Muhammad Ali). After becoming the #1 contender to the USWA World Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament, he would face the champion Jerry Lawler for the title, but lost. Both Briscos came from
Bowlegs, Oklahoma, the same home town Freddie Joe Floyd was billed as being from. His first
Monday Night RAW appearance came on July 22, when he was defeated by
Mankind. Smothers and Guido faced numerous opponents that summer, including
Balls Mahoney &
Axl Rotten. On October 17, they defeated Mahoney and Rotten on ECW television. A day later, Smothers and Guido upset
John Kronus and
New Jack to win the ECW Tag Team Championship. As the year wound down, they successfully defended their titles against Mahoney & Rotten, as well as New Jack and Kronus. Their reign however came to an end on December 5, 1997, when they were beaten for the titles by
Doug Furnas and
Phil Lafon. On February 21, 1998, he wrestled former SMW opponent
Al Snow at
CyberSlam in a losing effort. On March 1 at
Living Dangerously, he and Guido lost to
Jerry Lynn & Chris Chetti. At
Wrestlepalooza on May 3, Guido and Smothers lost to
Super Nova and
The Blue Meanie. On May 16 the F.B.I. attacked Nova and Meanie, coming to the ring to the strains of
Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" (Sinatra had died two days earlier). At
Guilty as Charged on January 10, 1999. the F.B.I. (Guido and Smothers) faced Rotten & Mahoney and Roadkill and Doring in an elimination match but were defeated. Smothers wrestled at both of the ECW reunion shows, defeating
The Blue Meanie at
Hardcore Homecoming on June 10 with the help of
J.T. Smith, and accompanying
Little Guido to ringside for his match with
Yoshihiro Tajiri and
Super Crazy two days later at
ECW One Night Stand 2005.
Return to World Wrestling Federation (1999–2000) On July 11, 1999, Smothers returned to the WWF using his real name as he lost to former Freebird
Michael Hayes on
Shotgun Saturday Night aired July 17. This time he worked as a
jobber losing to the likes of
Rikishi,
Chaz,
Tazz and
Val Venis on Shotgun Saturday Night,
Sunday Night Heat and
Jakked. His final match in the WWF was on June 20, 2000 in a dark match for Sunday Night Heat losing to
Scott Vick. Later that year he worked for WWF's developmental territory
Memphis Championship Wrestling until November 2000.
Return to World Championship Wrestling (2000) Smother made a one night return to WCW on January 5, 2000 losing to
The Barbarian on
WCW Worldwide which aired on January 29.
IWA Mid-South (1996–2010, 2016–2019) Smothers would spend most of his career in IWA Mid-South starting in 1996. On October 19, during the Double Death Tag Team Tournament, Smothers and
Corporal Robinson faced
Cult Fiction's
Vulgar Display of Power,
Brain Damage and Deranged, managed by
Halfbreed Billy Gram. Smothers turned on his partner and joined
Cult Fiction. Smothers' appearances became infrequent, but he continued to wrestle for IWA until 2010. In 2016, Smothers returned to IWA Mid-South after a six-year hiatus. On October 6 at IWA Mid-South's Mid-South 20th Anniversary Show, Smother defeated JJ Garrett to win the IWA Mid-South Championship but lost it to Mitch Page on December 22 at the IWA Mid-South Winter Tryout Show. On February 28, 2019, he attempted to regain the IWA Mid-South Championship but was defeated by Aaron Williams at The Heartbreak Ends event. In late 2005 and early 2006, Smothers worked a full-time schedule at various independent promotions in
Tennessee and around the midwest and eastern United States, including the IWC (
International Wrestling Cartel), SSW (
Southern States Wrestling), WOW (Wrestlers of West Virginia), VCW (Vanguard Championship Wrestling), NWA Wrestle Birmingham and
NWA Midwest. On August 25, 2005, Southern Comfort won the IWC Tag Team Championship in a ladder match at IWC Summer Sizzler 2; they would hold the belts until November 25 when they lost them to The Gambino Brothers Moving Company (Marshall Gambino & Mickey Gambino). Smothers traveled to CAPW (Cleveland All Pro Wrestling), where at CAPW Seasons Beatings on December 3, he defeated champion
Claudio Castagnoli and Jason Bane to win the CAPW Heavyweight Championship. He remained the champion until he was defeated for the title by
The Blue Meanie on June 3, 2007. Smothers competed in various independent promotions in 2008 in the United States, but returned once more to Japan to appear at an XWF event, teaming with
Raven and
Super Leather in a match against Kintaro Kanemura, Masato Tanaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda. After returning from Japan, Smothers reformed his FBI partnership with Little Guido and appearing in JAPW (
Jersey All Pro Wrestling), where they won the
JAPW Tag Team Championship on November 15. The FBI would hold the titles for a month, losing them on December 13 to Azrieal & Dixie. Tracy Smothers began to wind down his schedule in 2009. He would not wrestle again until April 17, 2010, where he and Chris Hamrick challenged PWF Tag Team Champions Jay Shaft & JD Hogg for the titles in a losing effort. He wrestled frequently for the remainder of the year, appearing in
NWA Main Event, IWA Mid-South, BWF, and MECW (
Main Event Championship Wrestling). On the following edition of
Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as
Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0), were assaulted by
A.J. Styles,
Kazarian,
Robert Roode,
James Storm,
Douglas Williams and
Matt Morgan of
Ric Flair's stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA. The following week TNA president Dixie Carter gave each member of EV 2.0 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with .
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2007–2011) Tracy Smothers debuted in
Juggalo Championship Wrestling by cutting a series of
promos in which he insulted the company, the owners (
Insane Clown Posse), and the
Juggalo fanbase. Tracy quickly became the company's main
villain by defeating much of their roster and ending most of his matches by choking out his opponents. Tracy and 2 Tuff Tony continued their rivalry into season two. In the first episode, both men faced off in a match which saw Tracy win after a fast count by the referee, who was later revealed as Tracy's
illegitimate daughter,
Isabella. Two weeks later, Tracy caught Isabella listening to
Boondox, the rapper who sings 2 Tuff Tony's entrance music. The following week, 2 Tuff Tony attacked Tracy after his match. Tracy later caught Isabella engaging in sexual actions with Boondox, through storyline, and assaulted him. Tracy and Isabella Smothers were then scheduled to face Boondox and 2 Tuff Tony on August 10, 2008, at
Bloodymania II. However, Isabella was replaced by
Bull Pain after she injured her leg, and Smothers and Pain lost to Tony and Boondox. At
Bloodymania IV on August 15, 2010, he lost to
Booker T, who was accompanied by Boondox. In the summer of 2011 he lost to former ECW star
Rhyno on July 28 and former F.B.I. teammate
Tommy Rich on August 16, 2011. On June 16, 2013, at the Brad Armstrong Memorial Event, Smothers teamed with old partner Steve Armstrong for the first time in over twenty one years. The reunited Southern Boys teamed with Doug Gilbert to defeat Paul Lee, The Storm Trooper &
Vordell Walker. Smothers soon captured the D1W Heavyweight Championship, but lost it to Mad Man Pondo while splitting his time with D1W and IWA Mid South. In March 2016, Smothers appeared in HLW (Heroes And Legends Wrestling), where he teamed with
Bobby Fulton and defeated Jake Omen & Scotty Young to with the HLW Tag Team Championship. Smothers continued to wrestle frequently in 2017, making appearances in the PWA (Pure Wrestling Association) in Canada, as well as RCCW (Rocket City Championship Wrestling), ZERO-1 USA, and IWA Mid-South. He began to wind down appearances on the independent circuit in 2018, and continued to wrestle shows the following year despite health issues; he had a quick temper due to concussions, and believed he had suffered more than two dozen concussions during his career and suffered greatly from the effects. His final match came at HLW Heroes And Legends XIII on October 5, 2019, dropping the HLW Legends title to Dru Skillz. ==Personal life==