A.C. Smith

Early
A.C. Smith was born and raised in a poor section of New York City. It was a tough neighborhood, but Smith persevered, earning his high school diploma while wrestling in the 275-pound division on his school's team and taking third place at the city championships his senior year. He then chose to become a police officer to give back to his community.

A painful period of time followed. Smith worked hard at the NYPD, but the job was far from glamorous. From 1999-2003, he accumulated around 2,000 stitches all around his body while tracking down gang leaders and drug kingpins. He rose through the ranks, earning nearly every honor possible in his department before quitting the force in 2003 to raise a family with his new wife, who he'd been dating for two and a half years.

Tragedy followed. A relative of a drug dealer Smith had put in the slammer years before followed them home one night, and he was armed with a gun.

Three bullets were found in the lifeless body of Tracy Smith the next day. She was killed instantly. A.C. was merely grazed twice before he wrestled the gun away from the assailant, but the damage had been done.

Smith stayed home for the next few months and tried to deal with the loss of the only woman he'd ever loved. He attempted to find ways to express his rage, but nothing really worked until he found a rerun of a WWE broadcast on his TV set.

BYB & MPW
Remembering his old high school wrestling days, Smith got into shape, and got his foot in the door of the Back Yard Brawl, a promotion out of Virginia. The rest, as they say, is history.

Smith immediately stated that his goal was to "kick ass and take names," and that he did. He went on a tear, capturing the BYB World Championship five times while eventually assuming partial control of the federation. When it folded in August of 2004, he moved on to More Power Wrestling, where he captured the MPW Tag Championship with federation great Memory. After that closed in November of 2004, though, he was out of work.

AWA
After a year-long hiatus from the sport, Smith returned to glory at the beginning of 2006, entering the AWA with a bang in the year's first "Love it or Leave It" battle royal. He not only won the match, but he eliminated former AWA Heavyweight Champion Whisper and 350-pound behemoth Dustin Dread, catching the eye of Low, who rewarded him with a shot at Quade deSade's No Limits Championship at Hell on Earth. Making his pay-per-view debut, bad shoulder and all, he defeated Quade deSade after powering out of the Crucifer, taking his title in the process. He held it for a month before losing it to Jai Williams in an 8-man match where every eliminated participant ganged up on him, costing him the match and the belt. Along the way, he joined forces with Jeff Christianson and the Paramedics to form Hellfire, which disbanded shortly after its inception.

The months following A.C. losing the No Limits title are what he considers the "lost months." He came up short in numerous rematches and, despite running amok in undercard, multi-way matches, he never quite got close to the level he was at in January. However, at the beginning of August, A.C. vowed to return to the top level of competition. This was followed by a victory over Orlando Ortega and former ally Jeff Christianson the next week. He proved it was no flue the very next week, teaming with Brian Stevens to defeat Ortega and Low, as well as a draw against then-U.S. champ Logan Alexander.

Smith went on to more success later that year, teaming with Andreas Lasiewicz for a few months before beating him in a one-on-one encounter. He feuded with Brian Stevens before losing to him in a brutal match at Wrestlefest in his final match of 2006. As the calendar turned into 2007, Smith continued to advance, earning a US title shot on January 14th. He made good on it, forcing Terry James to tap out to his Torture Rack, winning the title in the process.

The Big Apple Asskicker continued to soar through Hell on Earth and Vortex, finishing second to Gabriel in the inaugural Hell Bowl Lottery and hurling AWA legend Jeff Christianson through a pair of tables in a Last Man Standing match in February. He lost the US title to Tony Rios in March, but rolled through Javex Valerius and Quade deSade at Springs and Breaks (an event that marked the debut of his new talk show, The Precinct) to earn another shot at it, winning it back a short time later. This led to an 86-day title reign, good for third all-time.

Leading up to No More Drama, Smith entered a heated feud with Damage Inc., started when Smith requested a World title shot. A month of verbal and physical onslaughts followed before the two stepped into the ring. While A.C. could not win the coveted strap, he gained the respect of many for his never-say-die attitude.

After a semifinal exit at the hands of Logan Alexander at King of The Kage, Smith went on to feud with No Limits champ The Jester. This culminated in two matches. The first, at Classic, ended in a draw after Smith hit a flying bodypress through a table on his rival and neither man could continue. One week later, Smith succeeded in taking the title from him, and reigned until the AWA went on hiatus.