 Smith'sPro Wrestling Noah publicity photo. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Thomas Smith[3] September 24, 1970[4] Arcadia, California, U.S.[3] |
| Died | November 22, 2011(2011-11-22) (aged 41)[5] |
| Cause of death | Heart complications |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bison Smith Bison Buffalo Bison Mark Smith Super Destroyer 2000 |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 280 lb (127 kg)[1][2] |
| Billed from | Denver, Colorado |
| Trained by | Donovan Morgan[1] Michael Modest[1] |
| Debut | April 12, 1998[2] |
Mark Thomas Smith[3] (September 24, 1970 – November 22, 2011) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Bison Smith. He was best known for his appearances withPro Wrestling Noah inJapan; andWorld Wrestling Council andInternational Wrestling Association inPuerto Rico.[6] In January 2009, he joined the AmericanpromotionRing of Honor.[2]
After being trained byDonovan Morgan andMichael Modest, Smith began wrestling on theindependent circuit. He began competing for theInternational Wrestling Association in Puerto Rico in 2003, and held theIWA World Heavyweight Championship on two occasions, theIWA World Tag Team Championship once, theIWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship once, and theIWA Hardcore Championship one time. He also wrestled for Pro Wrestling Noah, and on May 23, 2008, he won theGHC Tag Team Championship withAkitoshi Saito and again on April 14, 2010, withKeith Walker. He also won the Global Tag League tournament with Saito in 2008. In January 2009, he debuted for Ring of Honor, where he waspushed as "unstoppable", before he joinedPrince Nana'sEmbassy faction.
Smith was born inArcadia, California and moved toFresno, California when he was one year old, where he was raised. He beganweightlifting at the age of 13.[1] He playedAmerican football at theUniversity of Colorado, where he was anoffensive lineman.[3] After his final year at college, Smith worked as a furniture mover.[1] He later moved toColorado.[1]
While in California Smith trained at theAll Pro Wrestlingpromotion underDonovan Morgan andMike Modest.[1] He debuted in 1998.[1] He also wrestled under a mask in 2000 as "Super Destroyer 2000" managed by Buddy Sotello Esq. as part of the "Sotello Syndicate", along with tag team partner Vinnie "the Innovator" Massaro.
Smith toured in Japan first in July 2001.[1] On June 7, 2003, Smith won the Pro Wrestling IRON Heavyweight Championship, by defeating Bart Blaxson, and held the title for nearly two years before hedropped it on April 28, 2005, to California wrestler Malachi.[7] He competed for theInternational Wrestling Association (IWA) inPuerto Rico, where, on November 1, 2003, he defeatedGlamour Boy Shane to win theIWA World Heavyweight Championship, which he held for over a month, before losing it back to Glamour Boy Shane.[7] On July 16, 2004, he defeatedSlash Venom to win the vacantIWA Hardcore Championship.[7] He lost it later that month to Chet Jablonski.[7] On September 25, 2004, Smith won the New Breed Wrestling Association's top championship, the NBWA Championship, when he and Morgan defeatedB. J. Whitmer andODB in a tag team match, where the person who won thepin, won the Championship.[3] He competed sporadically for the next few months, and won theIWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship from Glamour Boy Shane on November 20, 2005.[7] He held the Championship for over a year, before losing it to Slash Venom on December 12, 2005, in asteel cage match.[7]
He began competing for theJapanese promotion,Pro Wrestling Noah, in 2005, where he competed mainly in tag team matches.[3] He made his Pro Wrestling Noah debut on May 29, 2005, where he,Akitoshi Saito, andTakashi Sugiura defeatedAkira Taue,Takuma Sano, andJun Izumida.[8] In his next appearance two days later, Smith andLow Ki were defeated byKENTA andKenta Kobashi.[9] He teamed with fellow Americans, and his trainers,Michael Modest andDonovan Morgan in June to defeatTakeshi Rikio,Muhammad Yone, andYoshinobu Kanemaru, which was followed by a defeat for his team, also including Akitoshi Saito andMasao Inoue, toMitsuharu Misawa, Akira Taue, and Jun Izumida.[10][11] Smith didn't appear again in Pro Wrestling Noah until he went on a tour with them in November 2005, where he usually teamed up with fellow "gaijins", or foreigners, most commonly Low Ki.[12][13][14] He also teamed withNigel McGuinness,Doug Williams andScorpio on various occasions throughout November and December 2005.[15][16][17]
At the start of 2006, Smith returned to theUnited States, where he began competing for New Wrestling Superstars.[3] In August 2006, Smith began regularly wrestling for Fusion Pro Wrestling.[3] He also wrestled for theAmerican Wrestling Federation (AWF), and on November 11, 2006, he won theAWF Heavyweight Championship by defeating Steve Gatorwolf.[3] In July 2007, he returned to the IWA in Puerto Rico, where he won the IWA World Heavyweight title for the second time by defeatingChicano on July 15.[7] He later lost the Championship toBlitz on September 30, 2007.[7] In October 2007, while touring Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah, he suffered abroken breastbone.[3] In 2008, he returned to Pro Wrestling Noah, and, with Akitoshi Saito, won theGHC Tag Team Championship on May 23, by defeatingNaomichi Marufuji andTakashi Sugiura.[7] Smith and Saito also won the Global Tag League 2008.[7] On April 14, 2010, Smith teamed up withKeith Walker to win the GHC Tag Team Championship fromTakeshi Rikioh and Muhammad Yone.[18] On August 31, however, Walker's father died. Walker later chose not to immediately return to Japan, and on September 10 both Smith and Walker were stripped of the GHC Tag Team Championship. On January 15, 2011, Smith unsuccessfully challenged Takashi Sugiura for theGHC Heavyweight Championship.
Smith made hisRing of Honor (ROH) debut atFull Circle on January 16, 2009, inManassas, Virginia, by interrupting a match betweenRhett Titus and Sean Denny, and attacking both men.[19] The next night atInjustice II, Smith interrupted a match between Grizzly Redwood and Chris Escobar, and attacked both men.[20] At theCaged Collision pay-per-view, which was taped on January 31, Smith attackedBryan Danielson, during a number one contender's match,powerbombing him on the floor and giving him aconcussion. Smith made his in-ring debut on February 6, atProving Ground 2009 Night One. Hequickly defeatedSal Rinauro gaining the victory with the Skull Vise Slam.[21] The next night atProving Ground Night Two, Smith gained his second victory, defeating John Kermon.[22] On the March 4 edition of theROH Video Wire, it was revealed thatPrince Nana, amanager who had just recently returned to ROH, was controlling Smith.[23] Smith had his first loss in ROH on March 13 atStylin' and Profilin', when he lost to Danielson bycountout.[24] Smith made his debut in theHammerstein Ballroom inNew York City in a losing effort teaming with the returningJimmy Rave against Danielson and the returningColt Cabana on March 21.[25] Smith, with Rave and Ernie Osiris, then joined the newly reformedEmbassy faction, led by Prince Nana.
Smith died on November 22, 2011, inPuerto Rico due to heart complications.[5] Men in Smith's family had a history of early deaths linked to heart disease, Smith's maternal grandfather died at the age of 43 due to heart disease, and several of his maternal great-uncles also died from heart-related issues. Heart disease was a recurring condition in Smith's family.[26] Smith was in Puerto Rico because he was due to fightEddie Colon the same week duringWorld Wrestling Council'sCrossfire show. The event started with a tribute to Smith by Willie Urbina with the WWC roster in the arena.
