The Passing of Charlie Smith

  From Larry Goodman: Charlie Smith passed away today at the age of 92.   God bless you, Charlie. I'll remember you with that eternal tw...

 

From Larry Goodman:

Charlie Smith passed away today at the age of 92.  

God bless you, Charlie. I'll remember you with that eternal twinkle in your eye. 

Smith was the last of his generation (and the subsequent generation) to be active on the Georgia scene. 

I'd see him at indy shows selling his merch after the age of 90. One of my last conversations with Charlie was at the gimmick table in Barnesville.  He was excited about scoring a shipment of lucha maks from Mexico at a ridiculously low price. 

Charlie  always promoted the Cauliflower Alley Club, for whom their referee award was named. Smith refereed in Georgia from the late 50s to the mid 80s. 

From GWH founder Rich Tate's interview with Charlie:

My brother used to take me to the wrestling matches. And I got a job at the Atlanta City Auditorium as an usher for the wrestling matches. So I didn’t have to pay — I got in free. I would work in the balcony seating people. One time a guy asked me if I wanted a job selling Coca-Cola’s with him. So I was getting paid to watch the wrestling matches. (Laughs) Well, a buddy of mine one time told me they were having matches at the Lakewood Boys Club. He said, “why don’t you come out, Charlie?”. He told me it was every Saturday night. So I went out there, and I actually started wrestling. I didn’t really know anything. It was dog eat dog. Well, I started bugging the wrestling office in Atlanta about refereeing. And you had to be in the clique to get in the door. So I started refereeing for some independent shows.

The Atlanta office recognized Smith's drive and hired him. The rest is history.

Smith was married to his wife Louis for 67 years and had three children.