Norman Smiley

Smiley was born in Northampton, England. In the early 1970s, his parents divorced and Smiley and his mother emigrated to Miami, Florida.[1] Smiley attended Miami Beach Senior High School, where he took part in amateur wrestling and powerlifting. He graduated in 1984. Early career (1985–1991) Norman Smiley trained under Boris Malenko and Dean Malenko before making his debut in 1985 on the Floridian independent circuit.[3] He was originally known as "Black Magic", then as the hated "Lord Henry Norman". Smiley wrestled in Japanese shoot-style group the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1988 and 1989. In 1990 Smiley competed at the World Championship Wrestling 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 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. 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 3 Count, competing against the trio in a handicap match at SuperBrawl 2000, which Smiley lost. At Uncensored, Smiley teamed with The Demon to defeat XS (Lane and Rave) in a tag team match. On the April 10 episode of Nitro, all the WCW titles were declared vacant and the promotion was re-booted in storyline. At Spring Stampede, Smiley faced Terry Funk in a hardcore match for the vacant Hardcore Championship, which Funk won. Smiley would continue to feud with Funk over the title and recruited Chris Jericho's former associate Ralphus to be his manager. With the assistance of Ralphus, he stole a backyard wrestling 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 Carl Ouellet to win his second Hardcore Championship. He successfully defended the title against KroniK in a handicap match on the August 21 episode of Nitro and MI Smooth in an "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 angle in WCW took place in early 2001, where he was placed with the returning Glacier in comedic skits where he was supposed to aid Smiley in his matches but took his time coming to the ring in order to interact with fans. He then entered the ring after the fact to pose for the fans before pushing Smiley out of the way to perform his old kata routine. This would lead to Smiley lose his matches. Smiley remained in WCW until the company was sold to the 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 NWA Total Nonstop Action in 2002 and then had several tryout matches with WWE in 2003 and 2004. In February 2006, he was backstage during the TNA pay-per-view Against All Odds 2006, and he wrestled in an eight-man opening match on an episode of TNA Impact! shortly thereafter, doing the Big Wiggle on Jeff Jarrett. At TNA Destination X 2006, Smiley and Shark Boy lost to David Young and Elix Skipper. on the March 18 episode of Impact, Smiley and Shark Boy defeated The Latin American Xchange (Homicide and Machete). on the April 8 episode of Impact, Smiley and Shark Boy competed against Elix Skipper and David Young with the match ending in a no contest when Jeff Jarrett's Army (Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner, and America's Most Wanted) attacked all four men and Smiley was inactive for several weeks following an attack at the hands of Scott Steiner, but returned on the June 29 episode of Impact!, losing to Monty Brown. on the July 13 episode of Impact, Smiley lost to Abyss. on the September 7 episode of Impact, Smil