Sam Houston has been involved with professional wrestling his entire life.
The son of Grizzly Smith, Houston’s family is ingrained in the fabric of the business. His older brother is WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and his younger sister is former WWE women’s champion Rockin’ Robin.
From setting up the ring and shuttling wrestlers across Louisiana as a teenager, to winning the Mid-Atlantic Championship and appearing in WrestleMania IV, Houston has seen it all.
Houston’s career is far from over. He still tours the independent circuit and is ready to share his wealth of experience with the younger generation.
Sam Houston was born in 1963 as Michael Smith. His father, Grizzly Smith, was one-half of the famed Kentuckians with Luke Brown who rose to prominence in the 1960s, wrestling in a variety of territories across North America.
Video: Interview with Sam Houston
In the mid-to-late 1970s, Houston assisted his father at shows — setting up the ring, playing the wrestlers’ entrance music (like “Another One Bites the Dust” for Junkyard Dog), and shuttling wrestlers across the Tri-State wrestling territory.
Houston knew he wanted to be a professional wrestler from a very young age. He began amateur wrestling when he was in the second grade, with a little assistance from the likes of the legendary Danny Hodge. Houston’s coach allowed him to wrestle with the local high school team, as long as Hodge would attend the practices. Houston’s amateur wrestling career came to an end in the 11th grade, when he had his first brush with death.
“I came up with tonsillitis, or whatever, and so they were gonna take my tonsils out,” Houston said. “Well, when they took my tonsils out during the surgery, the anesthesiologist nicked the back of my windpipe. Then they gave me the gas, and it inflated me. I was in the 11th grade, and I had my weight up to about 225. It inflated me like a tire, all the anesthesia, and I flatlined. I died on the table for a couple of minutes.”
Houston lost nearly 100 pounds during the ordeal, jeopardizing his dreams of becoming a professional wrestler. He spent the next few years working while he regained his weight. However, his father was opposed to Houston becoming a professional wrestler — fearing for his son’s safety.
Houston, though, was eager to follow in his father’s footsteps, and found help from an acquaintance of Grizzly Smith: “The American Dream,” Dusty Rhodes.
“My dad had given Dusty his big break in 1969. Dusty was getting ready to retire and go into business with his dad. And my dad worked with him in the Sportatorium and changed the match. Dusty won the match that night, and boom, that was Dusty’s big shot. Well, Dusty was the type to repay favors.”
Dusty Rhodes rechristened Grizzly’s son as Sam Houston, from Waco, Texas, and Houston began touring the Florida wrestling territory. The grueling schedule in Florida, wrestling six or seven times a week, helped temper Houston. After two years, he left Florida and began working full-time for Jim Crockett’s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling.
Houston was billed as the protege of “The American Dream,” working with stalwarts like Tully Blanchard and “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. At “Starrcade 1985,” Houston wrestled Krusher Khrushchev for the vacant Mid-Atlantic heavyweight championship in a losing effort. However, less than two months later, Houston defeated Khrushchev in a rematch — capturing the territory’s top regional title. During his reign as the Mid-Atlantic heavyweight champion, Houston began his legendary rivalry with Black Bart.
“I excelled because I was getting to wrestle the top guys a lot, and I was learning every time I got in there with them. So, I was blessed in that way to be able to work with them,” Houston said. “After Khrushchev, I got up with Black Bart. We worked against each other and had some of the best matches of my career. You know, Bart wasn’t a technical wrestler or anything like that, but we tore the joint down.”
Today, Black Bart is battling Stage IV colon cancer — a condition that requires continued chemotherapy treatments.
Now that Bart is physically unable to make appearances, Houston hopes that fans can help Bart in his time of need.
“[Bart] spent his lifetime entertaining millions of people around the world. Anybody that would make a donation for Black Bart, reach me, if you want an 8×10 picture will do $30, if you want a T-shirt will do $40 for that, bandanas are $10. I’ve even got a limited supply of cowbells, because Bart and I had bullrope matches, that are signed by myself and Black Bart. They come with an 8×10 picture of one of our bloodier battles and it comes in a potato sack, with Black Bart’s image on one side and my image on the other. Those are for $1,000 donors. So if you want to do something good, if you’re a serious collector, if you want to help Black Bart, hit me up.”
If you are interested in donating to Black Bart’s Gofundme and receiving one of these aforementioned items of memorabilia for Black Bart, you can reach Houston at his Sam Houston fanpage on Facebook.
All Houston asks is that you can provide proof of your donation to Bart’s Gofundme page.
Today, Houston continues to tour the independent wrestling circuit. His daughter, Samantha Starr (aka Miss Starr), is a fixture of Billy Corgan’s revived NWA, currently holding the NWA women’s world tag team championship, as one-half of the It Girls, with Ella Envy.
Starr’s mother is Houston’s ex-wife and famous wrestling valet Baby Doll.
Though he worries at times, he loves watching his daughter ply her trade and excel in the NWA.
Houston plans to continue making appearances where he can and hopes to help mentor the younger generation, using his wealth of experience.
Recap: #TeamAFP breaks down Sam Houston interview
Share
