Jeff Smith (December 14, 1948 – December 28, 2019), better known as Izzy Slapawitz, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator, best known for his time with International Championship Wrestling.
From 1978 to 1982, Smith led the Slapowitz Syndicate in the NWA's Mid-South and Knoxville territories as well as many "outlaw" promotions in the Southern United States. He also had brief stints in Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, Maple Leaf Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. At various times his stable included Barry O, Bob Orton, Jr., Boris Malenko, Crusher Broomfield, James "Sugar Bear" Harris, The Mongolian Stomper, Randy Savage, Ray Candy, Rip Rogers and The Devil's Duo (Doug Vines and Jeff Sword).
Early life Smith was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He became a wrestling fan in the late 1950s. A childhood friend claimed that they were the first wrestling fans to bring signs to local World Wide Wrestling Federation house shows. Around 1971, Smith also co-founded an unofficial fan club for Freddie Blassie with members wearing homemade "Blassie's Army" T-shirts. In his early 20s Smith had an altercation with Kevin Sullivan while attending a live event at Sunnyside Gardens. Sullivan had been hit with an unknown object at the end of his bout against Davey O'Hannon. Smith, who often cheered for the "heel" wrestlers, had been heckling Sullivan (then a "babyface") throughout the night causing the wrestler to believe that Smith was responsible. The young wrestling fan was brought to the dressing room by building security after the match where he was confronted by Sullivan, Gorilla Monsoon and Arnold Skaaland. Smith denied any wrongdoing and was allowed to leave. Smith continued watching wrestling after moving to Knoxville, Tennessee in the mid-1970s. He eventually met Norvell Austin at a Southeastern Championship Wrestling. Austin later introduced Smith to Rick Conner who agreed to train him.
Professional wrestling career
Early career Smith made his pro debut in 1976. He spent the next two years wrestling for "outlaw" promotions as "Pretty Smitty from New York City" in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. One of his earliest matches was a battle royal in which all the participants wore masks. Smith had never been in such an event and, after being thrown over the top rope, broke his leg in three places. He was pelted with Coke cans and other items by unruly fans while paramedics loaded him into the ambulance. The crowd's reaction convinced him to perform as a "heel" for the majority of his career. On September 16, 1978, Smith (substituting for Tamaya Soto) wrestled Burr Head Jones for an NWA Mid-America television taping at the Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He later felt the match was "garbage". Smith attributed his poor performance to nervousness as he was used to wrestling in front of much smaller crowds. After the match, Smith was berated by promoter Nick Gulas in front of the entire locker room. Although Gulas' booker Tom Renesto reassured Smith that he was welcome to return, Smith felt Gulas had acted unprofessionally and refused to work for him again.
American Wrestling Association Not long after, Smith was brought into George and Gil Culkin's American Wrestling Association-affiliated promotion in Mississippi: AWA International Championship Wrestling. Smith's old trainer Rick Conner recommended him to then booker Frankie Caine praising his interview skills. Caine decided to use Smith as a manager believing he had potential as an on-screen character. Smith credited Caine for creating the Izzy Slapawitz character and working with him to further develop the gimmick. Slapawitz was initially presented as a shady New York City businessman who owned a chain of pawn shops throughout the city. In first television appearance, however, Southern audiences mistook "pawn shop" for "porn shop" due Smith's thick New York accent. His introduction elicited some mild controversy at the time and that aspect of the character was quickly dropped. In spite of this rough start, Smith was well liked by Caine and the Culkins. He formed the first version of the Slapawitz Syndicate with Rip Rogers and The Japanese Wrecking Crew (Oki Shikina and Mr. Fuji). One of the first targets of the Slapawitz Syndicate was Joey Rossi who was harassed by the group, and Smith in particular, for several weeks while the Culkins were running shows in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Smith was unexpectedly forced into a bout with Rossi which led to the manager wrestling his first-ever match in the territory. Unlike the typical "cowardly" wrestling manager, Smith aggressively brawled with Rossi and was disqualified in their best two of three falls match. The bout was covered by the Vicksburg's daily newspaper with a front-page story entitled "Tougher Then They Thought".
Shikina and Fugi quickly captured the promotion's Mississippi and U.S. Heavyweight Championships under Slapawitz's leadership. Smith's stable soon became involved in a "heel vs. heel" feud against Percy Pringle and AWA Tag Team Champions The Mongolians (Tio and Tapu). Slapawitz and Pringle faced each other in six-man tag team matches as well as in a variety of specialty matches throughout Mississippi in 1978. One of their most infamous matches was a bloody Texas Bull Rope match at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi that ended in a double-countout when the brawl spilled outside of the ring and into the backstage area. The feud concluded the following week at the Mississippi Coliseum with Slapawitz and The Japanese Wrecking Crew defeating Pringle and The Mongolians in a "Loser Leaves Town" Steel Cage match; due to the pre-match stipulations, the Slapawitz Syndicate won all four titles in addition to $5,000. Slapawitz remained with the promotion until the Culkins rejoined Bill Watts at the end of 1979. Smith praised the Culkins for their honesty calling them "two of the finest promoters, in my experience, that ever promoted wrestling matches in the United States". Although Smith had never worked for Mid-South Wrestling, Watts compared "Izzy Slapawitz" to Paul E. Dangerously when the two first met in World Championship Wrestling.
NWA Tri-State After leaving Mississippi, Smith followed Frankie Caine to the NWA's Oklahoma territory where he managed Oki Shikina and James "Sugar Bear" Harris. Then NWA Tri-State promoter Leroy McGuirk felt that the "Izzy Slapawitz" name might offend the large Jewish American population in Tulsa and changed it to Ilya Zinervitch. When Caine left the promotion after a falling out with McGuirk, Skandor Akbar replaced him as booker. Akbar believed that the territory could only support one "heel" manager, however, he offered to put Smith under a hood so he could wrestle as a masked wrestler. Smith turned him down as had been on the road for a considerable length of time and wanted to return to Knoxville so he could spend more time with his family. Smith and Harris left the territory after losing a "loser leaves town" match to Jimmy Garvin in Little Rock, Arkansas.
All-Star Championship Wrestling Smith joined a local "outlaw" promotion called All-Star Championship Wrestling soon after returning to Knoxville. The organization was formed by Ronnie Garvin, Bob Roop, Bob Orton, Jr. and Boris Malenko after leaving Southeastern Championship Wrestling and was running in opposition to NWA promoter Robert Fuller. Yasu Fuji, one of his former charges, encouraged Smith to contact then booker Ronnie Garvin. Although the territory was struggling in its promotional war against Fuller, Garvin agreed to hire him. In January 1980, Smith made his first television appearance scouting for new talent. Initially managing Bob Orton, Jr. and Barry O, this new version of the Slapawitz Syndicate included Boris Malenko, Randy Savage, Rip Rogers, and Tony Peters. Peters quickly won the ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship under his management.
Smith led his stable against Ronnie Garvin, Bob Roop and other fan favorites. One of the highlights during this period was when Smith faked a heart attack during a match with Roop to avoid wrestling him. On January 19, 1980, Smith was in the corner of Bob Orton, Jr. in a "loser gets painted yellow" match against Ronnie Garvin at WNOX Auditorium. If Garvin won, Smith would have been forced to spend 2 minutes in the ring with him. On March 15, Smith teamed with The Destroyer in a handicap match against Garvin. Two weeks later, Garvin was lured into a "loser leaves town" match in exchange for a title shot against Tony Peters. Smith, however, was barred from ringside during the bout. A brawl between members of the Slapawitz Syndicate and Ronnie Garvin at the WNOX Auditorium resulted in Smith throwing a fireball for the first time in the territory. Smith's actions caused a riot with fans tearing the seats out of the floor and throwing them at the wrestlers. Smith and his men were able to escape the building unharmed. A fan pulled a knife on Smith outside, but he was disarmed by Tony Peters. The incident caused All Star Wrestling to lose access to the venue. On April Fools' Day, he led the Orton brothers to the Southern Tag Team Championship when they defeated Terry Gibbs and Bob Roop. Barry O was replaced by Tony Peters after leaving the territory. On May 24, 1980, Smith led his Southern Tag Team Champions against Garvin and Terry Gibbs at Evans-Collins Field.
International Championship Wrestling All Star Wrestling was closely associated with another "outlaw" promotion, International Championship Wrestling, based in Lexington, Kentucky. When All Star merged with ICW, Smith was among the wrestlers who opted to join the sister promotion in Lexington, Kentucky. Smith and other All Star Wrestling stars were regulars on ICW's weekly television show prior to and following the merger. Slapawitz Syndicate members Barry Orton and Tony Peters did not make the move to Kentucky The ICW version of the Slapawitz Syndicate consisted of Bob Orton Jr., Crusher Broomfield, Rip Rogers, and the Devil's Duo (Doug Vines and Jeff Sword). Randy Savage and his manager Steve Cooper were also members for a time, most notably during their feud with midget wrestler Wee Willie. Smith's look varied depending on the territory he worked. In Knoxville, he dressed in a black robe and sported long bushy hair and beard. In real-life, Smith would sometime have trouble getting a hotel room because of his appearance. He also carried a whistle which he used to annoy fans at ringside.
Smith and his stable continued their feud against the fan favorites of the territory. In August 1980, Smith and Bob Orton, Jr. were involved in a controversial angle when they interfered in a match between Barry O and Ronnie Garvin. As Orton distracted the referee, Smith injected Garvin with an unknown substance that made the wrestler "foam at the mouth". ICW officials immediately disqualified Barry O and suspended Bob Orton, Jr. from a championship tournament to crown the first ICW Television Champion. Orton was able to sneak into the tournament as the masked wrestler The Best but was eliminated by Bob Roop in the quarter-finals.