Robert Smedley (born June 25, 1963 in

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, better known by his ring name Bobby Blaze. He gained the majority of his in-ring success performing for

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, w ...

(SMW) from 1993 to 1995, where he held the

SMW Heavyweight Championship The SMW Heavyweight Championship was the top heavyweight championship in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. It existed from 1992 until 1995 when SMW folded. "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony and Brad Armstrong were tied at the most reigns at three. The Unit ...

once, the

SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship The SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship was a singles title in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. It existed from 1992 until the promotion's close in 1995. There were three officially recognized champions and eight title reigns, with Bobby B ...

a record four times and the

SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship The SMW "Beat the Champ" Television Championship was the secondary singles championship for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) professional wrestling promotion. The title was created in 1992 and was active until SMW closed on November 26, 1995. Th ...

twice. He also performed on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

(WWF) and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW).

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1988–1993)

Robert "Bob" Smedley made his professional wrestling debut on September 11, 1988, after training under Boris and

Dean Malenko Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time with Extreme ...

. In 1991 and 1992, he would wrestle as

enhancement talent In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

for the

(WWF).

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1993–1995)

In 1993, Smedley began working for the newly formed

(SMW) under the ring name Bobby Blaze. On June 7, 1993, he won the

by defeating The Dirty White Boy in a tournament final. Twenty-one days later, Blaze faced an unknown, masked wrestler known as "The Mighty Yankee," which turned out to be the Dirty White Boy pulling a trick on Blaze to win the championship from him. Blaze was one of eight wrestlers competing in SMW's "King of Kentucky" tournament, defeating Killer Kyle in the first round before losing to Brian Lee in the semi-finals. In September, he won a tournament to become the inaugural SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Champion, a title he held for 21 days before

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with promotions such as World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro-W ...

won it from him. The title change led to a series of matches between the two, including trading the title back and forth between them. The two also faced off in a series of matches where the loser would be

tarred and feathered Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a t ...

after the match as part of SMW's Thanksgiving Thunder series. On February 26, 1995, in the main event of SMW's Sunday, Bloody Sunday II, show Blaze defeated

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...

to win the

. He lost the title to

Buddy Landel William Fritz Ensor (August 14, 1961 – June 22, 2015) was an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel. He was best known for his work in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories. Early lif ...

on April 8. Blaze held the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship one last time before the promotion closed. He also had a couple shots at the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

against

Dan Severn Daniel DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958), nicknamed "The Beast", is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of mixed mart ...

on May 20 in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and on August 4 in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

Post-SMW career (1995–1997)

After SMW closed, Blaze wrestled on the independent circuit throughout the

American East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

, as well as touring Japan for

Michinoku Pro Wrestling (originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...

(MPW).

World Championship Wrestling (1997–1999)

In September 1997, Blaze joined

(WCW). He appeared in the 60-man battle royal in the main event of the World War 3 in 1997 and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Blaze remained with the company, largely performing as a jobber in undercard matches, until 1999.

Post-WCW career (1999–2004)

After leaving WCW, Blaze returned to the American independent scene where he would remain active for five years before retiring in 2004. Since June 2018, Bobby has hosted a podcast called Bell to Bell with Bobby Blaze.

Books

* ''Pin Me, Pay Me!: Have Boots, Will Travel'' * ''I Kicked Out on Two: The Education of a Wrestler''

Championships and accomplishments

*Cleveland All Pro Wrestling **CAPW North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *

Heartland Wrestling Association The Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) was a Midwestern independent professional wrestling promotion based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A former developmental territory for World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation during the 19 ...

HWA Heavyweight Championship The HWA Heavyweight Championship was the heavyweight title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualific ...

( 1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **PWI ranked him #109 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1995. *

( 3 times, final champion) **

( 1 time) **

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

, final champion) *

Southern States Wrestling Southern States Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Kingsport, Tennessee. Founded by wrestler Beau James in early 1991, SSW (along with NWA Bluegrass) succeeded Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the top promo ...

** SSW Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *Unleashed Wrestling Alliance **UWA Hall of Fame (2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaze, Bobby 1963 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Kentucky Sportspeople from Ashland, Kentucky 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers SMW Beat the Champ Television Champions SMW Heavyweight Champions SMW United States Junior Heavyweight Champions