Remembering mat giant Grizzly Smith

It could have been a stroke of good luck, or it could have been a stroke of good timing.

But whatever it was, it was a match made in wrestling heaven when a couple of country boys named Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith and Carl Dennis Campbell first crossed paths in 1960 and came up with the idea of joining forces as a tag team.

Smith was 28 and Campbell was 25, both with just a few years of pro experience under their belts, and looking to make a name in the wrestling business.

Brown had been a standout football player in high school and the Marines before going to Xavier on a football scholarship. He left college, however, to pursue a pro wrestling career in 1958. Smith was working in the Texas oil fields when he also broke into the business that same year.

The two met up in Oklahoma when Smith came up with the idea for a team.

Sporting long black hair and beards, flannel shirts and dungarees, a cow horn, a new home state and new names — Tiny Anderson and Luke “Big Boy” Brown — the team of “The Kentuckians” was born.

Smith, who passed away last weekend at the age of 77 due to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, was a mountain of a man who left a considerable mark on the business and also produced a second generation of wrestlers in offspring Jake “The Snake” Roberts (Aurelian Smith Jr.), Sam Houston (Michael Smith) and Rockin’ Robin (Robin Smith).

Although Smith hailed from Texas and Campbell was a native of Virginia, the two bearded behemoths were billed from the hills of Kentucky. And it fit them to a tee.

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Remembering mat giant Grizzly Smith

Team of Smith, Campbell a formidable force.

Smith became Tiny Anderson, and later Tiny Smith, while Campbell, who started his career as Man Mountain Campbell, adopted the handle Luke “Big Boy” Brown. The two towers of power tipped the scales at nearly 700 pounds between them, with Brown standing 6-7 and Smith not far from seven feet tall.

Smith took the name Tiny Anderson in the Carolinas because promoter Jim Crockett Sr. at that time was using a team known as The Mad Russians — John Smith (Walter Allen) and Ivan Kameroff (John Karney) — and he didn’t want two Smiths in the same territory.

The team was a natural, says Smith, who took an immediate liking to his new partner.

“I met Luke in 1960 in Texas. He and I hit it off together,” Smith said in a 1997 interview. “I was still working in the oil field and wrestling on weekends. I decided to get into it full-time in 1961. We got together as a team, and teamed together in Oklahoma for a few weeks, and then went into Charlotte in 1961. We went to Florida after a few weeks and polished up our team there. We then went to Georgia and returned to the Carolinas in 1963.”

In addition to resembling one another in appearance and physique, the countrified pair shared a genuine trust and respect for one another.

“I was a country boy, too, and I guess that’s why Luke and I got along so good together,” said Smith. “He was the closest thing I had to a brother. I lost my brother when I was only 4 and he was just 9. Luke and I were very close. We enjoyed wrestling and traveling together. We had some great times.”

Tag-team wrestling was at its peak during the ‘60s, and nowhere in the country was it stronger than in the Carolinas and Virginia.

The Kentuckians, with their colorful gimmick and simple-folk appeal, soon became one of the most sought-after teams in the business. The duo won regional tag titles throughout the country during their main-event run from 1961-68, but it was in the Carolinas and Virginia where they perhaps enjoyed their greatest popularity.

Much of that success was due to another team with whom they would enjoy a long-term, lucrative feud.

Joe Hamilton and Tom Renesto, better known as The Assassins, one of the greatest masked teams in the history of the business, went to bat for the hillbilly duo after recognizing that their unique gimmick could make money not only for promoters, but for all four wrestlers as well.

“They were floundering ... between trying to work their gimmick and trying to be mat wrestlers. They had to make up their mind to do one or the other because it just didn’t jell,” says Hamilton.

Hamilton and Renesto, however, saw something in Smith and Brown that had gone unnoticed by promoter Jim Crockett Sr. the first time the pair was in the Carolinas.

“Neither Crockett nor his booker ever took advantage of their gimmick. He had them going out there trying to wrestle like everybody else, and they just didn’t get over,” Hamilton said of The Kentuckians’ initial stint in the Carolinas.

Hamilton had known Smith since he had begun wrestling several years earlier in the Oklahoma territory, and had recommended that Florida promoter Eddie Graham give the two a try in the Sunshine State.

“Eddie brought them in, and we worked a couple things down there that drew big money,” recalls Hamilton.

The hillbilly act also made some noise in the neighboring territory of Georgia where they briefly held the Atlanta version of the NWA Southern tag-team title until dropping the belts to Lenny Montana (who would be best known a decade later for his role of feared hit man Luca Brasi in “The Godfather”) and Gypsy Joe (Gilberto Melendez) in November 1962.

“Tom and I left and went to Atlanta for a couple weeks on our way in to the Carolinas. After we got there, we talked to Crockett and told him to bring those guys back in. He was a little hesitant, but Tom told him not to treat them like he did before.”

The Kentuckians returned, but this time they were given carte blanche to work their gimmick, and they did it to perfection.

“They became a huge drawing card,” says Hamilton. “It was a natural feud between The Masked Bolos (Assassins) and The Kentuckians.”

It was the start of a great program. The two teams worked programs from Charlotte to Los Angeles to Australia.

“All over the country, all over the world,” says Hamilton. “The matches were brutal. They were grueling ... very physically demanding.”

But, in a word, they also were something even more significant.

They were “money,” Hamilton says.

The fact that they lived their gimmick also helped make The Kentuckians such a successful act.

“The thing that got their gimmick over was what you saw in the ring, if you saw them on the street, you saw the same person in the flannel shirts and the blue jeans,” says Hamilton. “The only difference is instead of the moccasins they wore in the ring, they wore western boots on the street. Basically that was how they dressed and how they lived anyway.”

The program between the two teams spanned a number of years, and all four had a mutual respect for one another, says Hamilton, that would eventually transcend the ring.

“They worked well together. There was no animosity between the two. They both worked very hard in the ring, and each one complemented the other.

“It’s very difficult to form a personal relationship with somebody when you’re in there competing against them every night. But over a period of time, you gain respect for them as a competitor, and I had tremendous respect for Griz while we were competing. And after his ring days were over, we worked together for Bill Watts down in Louisiana, and we actually became pretty good friends.”

The two teams competed with one another from 1963 until the ‘70s, and set a number of attendance records that remain unbroken. The teams also sold out arenas in six-man matches with The Bolos (Assassins) and The Missouri Mauler (Larry “Rocky” Hamilton) against The Kentuckians and Haystacks Calhoun. Attendance records were established in such venues as the old Charlotte Coliseum, Dorton Arena in Raleigh and Greenville Memorial Auditorium.

The only reason they didn’t break the record in Norfolk, says Hamilton, is because they moved to a bigger building.

Record crowds also were drawn at the old Greensboro Coliseum.

“They estimate they turned away as many as twice the number of people they had in the building,” says Hamilton, who adds that the return match was just as successful.

“It took 26 cops, locked arm in arm forming a V-wedge, to get us out of the ring that night,” Hamilton recalls. “They put four cops around our car out in the parking lot in case somebody had spotted it. The matches were over around 11 o’clock, but we didn’t bother leaving the building until about 12:30.”

Hamilton and Renesto were masters of ring psychology who knew how to get the optimum performance out of their opponents.

Hamilton, the younger brother of the late Larry Hamilton (The Missouri Mauler), had begun teaming with Renesto as The Masked Assassins in Atlanta in 1961 before moving to the Carolinas and Virginia where they were known as The Masked Bolos — Bolo (Hamilton) and Great Bolo (Renesto). Everywhere else they would be known as The Assassins, and the partnership would last an incredible 15 years on the road, and six or seven years after that as business associates.

The Kentuckians became a pet project of the two. Size wise, Smith and Brown were giants by the standards of that era, so their matches often included some unique stipulations.

“He (Smith) was a quarter inch short of seven foot, and that only because he had once short leg,” says Hamilton. “Big Boy was about 6-7. They were big, impressive guys.”

There were death matches, lumberjack matches, Texas tornado matches, and matches that went as long as an hour.

“We had the formula down pat, and we knew their capabilities and their limitations,” says Hamilton. We never pushed them beyond the limit.”

With the Carolinas and Virginia a hotbed for tag-team wrestling during the ‘60s, The Kentuckians never had to go looking very far for top-tier opponents. And that included the established duo of The Blond Bombers — Rip “The Profile” Hawk and Big Swede Hanson.

“They (The Kentuckians) were a very good team,” says Hawk, “and we did very good working with them.”

Hawk, more than a foot shorter than Smith, recalls once playing a rib on his larger opponent in the middle of a tag-team match.

“I had pulled the same rib on (Cowboy) Bob Ellis,” laughs Hawk. “I had one of those hand buzzers, and I told Swede to watch what I was going to do. I was going to let him (Smith) get me in a headlock. When he did, I hit him right in the keister with it. He took off and accidentally ran into his own partner. That buzzer really got him.”

While their matches were rough and rugged, says Hawk, there was never any animosity or jealousy among the four.

“I always liked them,” says Hawk, “They were both very nice guys. Griz never tried to be a big shot. He always treated me with respect because he knew I was an old-timer.”

The name of the game, says Hawk, was making money. The chemistry worked well in the ring.

“Everything worked. We always drew well with them, but just about everybody drew well with them. They had a good run with everybody around the Carolinas. Jim (Crockett Sr.) liked them, and if you could produce, he kept you busy.”

In addition to The Bolos/Assassins and Hawk and Hanson, The Kentuckians also waged main-event battles in the Mid-Atlantic area with the likes of Aldo Bogni and Bronko Lubich, Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard, Nelson Royal and The Viking, and The Mad Russians.

“No matter where they went, they sold out,” says former wrestling star Dutch Savage (Frank Stuart), a lifelong friend who considered Brown his brother. “They hit it at just the right time with that size and with the gimmick. That gimmick was perfect. And Tiny was a good partner for my brother.”

“Luke was a good old country boy who’d give you the shirt off his back. But at the same time, if you got competitive with him, he’d try to beat you at whatever he was doing,” Smith once said of his partner.

Smith enjoyed success in a number of territories, holding the NWA Texas heavyweight state title by virtue of a win over The Spoiler (Don Jardine) in 1968, as well as the NWA American tag-team belts with partner Fritz Von Erich. He reunited with Brown to capture the NWA U.S. tag-team title from Waldo Von Erich and Karl Von Brauner in 1971.

Smith returned to the Carolinas in the late ‘60s, teaming with the masked Mr. Wrestling (Tim Woods), and making a run at the Southern tag-team belts held by Gene and Ole Anderson.

Brown left the business in 1976 after tearing up his shoulder. A victim of health problems for the remainder of his life, he went on dialysis after his kidneys failed. Brown was in the Veteran’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., after suffering a heart attack when he died of a stroke a day before he was to be released. Brown, who passed away on Nov. 12, 1997, was 62.

Smith said in an interview shortly after Brown’s death that what his longtime partner told him during their last conversation made his passing easier to endure.

“Luke, bless him, he used to call me Moses,” said Smith. “That was a nickname that stuck around a lot of areas. I was so happy when he visited me in Baltimore. He said, 'Well, Gabe, remember I used to laugh and call you Moses. Well, I’ve found a church, I’ve found peace and I’ve found the Lord.' That made me so happy. I’ve been happy with my relationship for God for many years, but I’ve been worried about him some. He was pretty much a loner, but pretty much a rounder, too. He lived, but he enjoyed his life.”

Smith retired from the ring in 1977, but spent the next two decades working behind the scenes in significant roles, not the least of which was serving as matchmaker in Cowboy Bill Watts’ Mid-South promotion. He also worked briefly in a backstage position with WWE and later as a road agent with WCW.

“Griz worked in my company for 18 years. But I met him my first year in pro wrestling. Griz always treated me extremely well,” says Watts.

Watts says Smith was a loyal lieutenant who served as a liaison with the Mid-South talent.

“Griz had many good qualities. He was very reliable. He started as a booker and then he handled the Louisiana end for a long time. He was also a big card here, without a doubt, but you always outlive that. So he had to do some things to supplement that, and he did. As time went on, and as we grew and I had more people we were delegating things to, Griz was one of the guys who would be a liaison with a lot of the talent.”

“He was an iron man of the road as far as traveling,” adds Watts. “He liked his coffee and he liked to talk. And he was nice to me from day one. We spent a lot of time together. It’s like all of us. We have our warts. But Griz was a quality guy and an important member of my team.”

Watts says he once had to fire Smith over a dispute, but ended up bringing him back.

“I think he learned his lesson,” says Watts, who worked with him in the ring six straight nights after rehiring Smith

“It was just a lesson. Lessons were tough back then,” says Watts. “You had to be hard. I was the one there and I was the one paying the bills. But there was nothing ever mentioned again about it. He was a loyal guy to the end.”

Watts, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, also praised Smith’s ability to draw crowds to the arenas during his in-ring heyday.

“Griz was a very good performer for his gimmick. He was a big, tall guy who could move. He was a credible gimmick, and he lived his gimmick and worked his gimmick. He and Luke Brown were a pretty doggone good team. They had a good thing going with Jody and Tom (The Assassins). Griz believed in that hardway (blood). But there was a time for that. That happened more down South than most places.

“I remember Wild Red Berry lived back in the day when it (hardway bleeding) was the thing. He and Danny McShain used to nearly beat each other to death. And then they finally figured out the blade. They figured out that there had to be a better way than splitting your head open and damaging an eye.”

Smith was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the 2008 NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, but was unable to attend due to declining health. Presenter Magnum T.A. (Terry Allen) praised Smith for having such a big influence on him when he was starting out in Watts’ Mid-South territory.

“He ended up being a mentor of mine in many ways as I started my career,” Magnum said of Smith.

“American Dream” Dusty Rhodes also credits Smith, whom he affectionately referred to as “Pops,” with giving his career a jump-start during one of his early bouts in Texas. What was booked as a squash match in favor of the veteran Smith turned out to be a surprise win for rookie Rhodes. Upon seeing the crowd’s reaction to Rhodes, Smith changed plans in midstream, telling a stunned Rhodes that he was going to go over in their match.

Smith followed through, let Rhodes pin him, and “Dream” was well on his way to carving his path in the business.

As successful as Smith was in the wrestling business, though, his family life was a different matter.

Smith, who was involved in a number of troubled relationships, admittedly raised a dysfunctional family with an iron fist, and the disciplinarian was the target of a variety of claims in later years by eldest son Jake Roberts (Aurelian Smith Jr.), whose battles with substance abuse have been well documented.

Some of those accusations were aired in a very public manner in the 1999 documentary “Behind the Mat.” Roberts has blamed his father for many of his own shortcomings in life, which includes leaving his family and his battles with crack cocaine and alcohol.

Watts was one who dismissed some of Roberts’ claims.

“I like to think of the good memories of Griz ... clear back to the time he and Marsha (Michael and Robin Smith’s mother) were happy and the kids were little and the whole thing. You know how tough the wrestling business was on families. Every family paid the price ... my own paid the price. It was just a horrible, horrible business for families. There were a lot of fatalities out there. Different kids turned out different ways because they all wanted to live that crazy lifestyle.

“Jake was a drug addict and an alcoholic. Did Jake have a great (wrestling) mind. Yes. But the great minds don’t necessarily make you a great person. If somebody’s going to believe Jake, there’s nothing I can do to change their mind. Why would I even try?”

Roberts also has claimed that he got into the wrestling profession to spite his father who, he says, didn’t think he’d ever make it in the business and even started him out as a referee in the Oklahoma territory.

“I never ever heard Griz say anything negative about Jake,” says Watts. “And we started everybody as referees. Jim Ross had to put up the ring, put down the ring, he had to referee. That’s how you started. I used to tease Ric Flair. I’d say, ‘Champ, you remember carrying my suitcase when you were getting into the business?’ He’d say, “Sure I do. I did carry your suitcase.’ That’s just how it was back then. You did whatever you had to do to get in.”

Watts says regardless of whether Roberts’ claims were true, he’s had plenty of time and chances to change the course in his own life.

“The biggest problem I think with Jake — and all addicts — is step No. 1. They don’t want to assume any personal responsibility for their actions. It’s always somebody else’s fault. They’re always the victim. You can rewrite your own book. Because somebody put something in your book that says this is how you are and this happened to you ... you have the choice of rewriting that book. Nobody said you had to live that book. You have the right to overcome that. It’s called personal responsibility.”

Smith had been in failing health in recent years. He left his final position in the wrestling business, an agent’s job with WCW in the ‘90s, when an ailment seriously damaged his stomach.

Smith later found employment working in maintenance at a cemetery, which was operated by the Firemen’s Charitable and Benevolent Association, near the French Quarter in New Orleans.

A home he shared with son Michael was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he suffered a leg injury at work the day before the storm. Unable to get treatment due to the interruption of medical services, Smith developed a staph infection as a result of wallowing around in the nasty floodwaters for several days. His furniture and possessions were destroyed, and his vehicle was washed away.

Smith was finally able to receive medical care in Texas and was able to save the leg.

Smith, however, later was stricken with Alzheimer’s, and spent his final days at a nursing home in Amarillo. The once 350-pound man reportedly was down to 165 pounds at the time of his death.

But that’s not how the wrestling world will remember Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith.

Wrestling fans who saw that giant of a man in his prime are unlikely to ever forget a pair of Kentucky hillbillies they loved to cheer for.

It was a different world then, made up of true believers, but a world that still brings smiles to the faces of those who will always remember.

-- Old School Championship Wrestling is holding a show June 27 at Omar Shrine Auditorium, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant. Former WWE star Al Snow will make his third OSCW appearance when he teams with Jon Malus to go against Brandon Paradise and Hexxon.

Bell time is at 6 p.m. Doors open at 5. Adult admission (cash at door) is $10; kids 12 and under $5.

For more information, visit www.oscwonline.com or call 743-4800.

Reach Mike Mooneyham at (843) 937-5517 or mooneyham@postandcourier.com.