Tracy Smothers Passes Away At Age 58
Pro wrestling veteran Tracy Smothers has passed away at the age of 58.
Smothers announced in November 2019 that he was battling lymphoma. The Eat Sleep Wrestling website noted on Monday that they talked to Smothers via phone call and it looked like his first bout with cancer was going to be "a squash match" compared to this second round. The update from Monday also noted that Smothers suffered heart damage from the heavy chemotherapy in his first battle with cancer, which led to Smothers being hospitalized a few times. Smothers underwent surgery for a hernia just 11 days ago.
"Tracy's ready to fight this cancer as hard as he did last fall, but the heart problems have delayed the cancer treatments and the hernia issue has delayed doctors from treating the heart issues. He's in a real battle. Tracy is in it to win it, and he sends his love to all his friends and his wrestling family, and he is asking for prayers," ESW wrote on Monday.
A GoFundMe had been launched at this link to help with Smothers' medical expenses, and an indie event was planned for this weekend in Bartonville, IL to help raise more money. Smothers also asked ESW to plug his book, which you can find here.
Smothers began his pro wrestling career back in 1982 and wrestled for numerous promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW, SMW, and TNA, among others. He held the ECW World Tag Team Titles once with Little Guido, and held the WCW United States Tag Team Titles once with Steve Armstrong.
There's no word yet on what happened between Tracy's call with ESW on Monday, and Smothers' passing, but we will keep you updated.
Keith Goessl contributed to this article.