| Gregory Iron | |
|---|---|
Gregory Iron |
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| Ring name(s) | Gregory Iron[1] Greg Iron[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 166 lb (75 kg)[2] |
| Born | October 12, 1986 [1] Cleveland, Ohio[1] |
| Trained by | Josh Prohibition[3] Johnny Gargano J. T. Lightning[4] |
| Debut | July 9, 2006[5] |
Gregory Allen Smith[6] (born October 12, 1986),[1] better known by his ring name Gregory Iron, is an American professional wrestler, who performs regularly in Absolute Intense Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Ohio, AAW, and Chikara promotions.
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Gregory Smith was born in 1986 in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] Born one month too soon, and weighing but one pound at birth,[4] Smith has had throughout his life to battle against cerebral palsy, which has left his right arm withered and with extremely limited range of motion. Says Smith, "the only time it bothers me is little stuff like if I need to open a bag of pretzels. I can't do it."[6]
As a child he was subject to bullying, which Smith today attributes to other children not being unable to understand his condition.[3] He developed his own unique set of coping skills for dealing with bullying, centered on his being willing and able to tell his own story, and to do it in a self-effacing and sometimes humorous manner.[7]
At the same time, his family life left him with little support. While his father, Dwane, worked to support the family, Dwane's wife Gloria became addicted to drugs and would sell off family possessions, and use rent money, to purchase drugs.[4] The couple separated, and Greg, in Gloria's custody, was left to raise his two younger brothers, until Gloria went to jail and Dwane won custody of the boys.
Smith's grandmother, a great fan of Hulk Hogan, introduced him to professional wrestling. "She meant a lot to me, and everything I do in wrestling is in her honor."[3]
At first, Iron pursued professional wrestling in the weight room, inventing his own regimen since his right hand would not allow him to execute most lifts in the traditional way. In this way he added 30 pounds of muscle to his frame. In early training with J. T. Lightning, Iron took a great deal of punishment, asking for no pity, and modifying wrestling holds so they could be applied using his one good arm.[4]
Iron appeared on the very first episode of Pro Wrestling Ohio, televised on Sports Time Ohio, on November 20, 2007, defeating Johnny Gargano in what has often been called an upset. This defeat of Gargano launched Iron's first major feud, as Gargano denied that he could lose to a wrestler with Iron's condition.[8] A brutal attack by Gargano during a PWO taping in February, 2008, left Iron unable to compete for three months.[8] When Iron returned to action, In August, 2008, the feud was settled in a Last Man Standing match, won by Gargano.[8]
No stranger to in-ring injury, in a preshow battle royal, Iron was suplexed on his head several times, giving him a severe concussion, causing bleeding in the brain and putting him in intensive care for three days.[6] His coming back from such injury, combined with his overcoming cerebral palsy to compete, has recently caught the attention of several wrestling promotions,[9][10] and fans appreciating his ability to wrestle a good match despite his condition.[3]
Iron allows opponents to mock his condition and his right hand, as a means to put him over as a face and his opponent as a heel.[10] "That's what it is there for. You are the bad guy. A horrible person would make fun of my hand. That only gets the crowd more excited and on my side."[10]
Iron is also the longtime tag team partner of Hobo Joe, in the "Homeless Handicapped Connection," billed as mutually overcoming many obstacles to compete. They capped a feud with Sex Appeal (Bobby Beverly and Bobby Shields, accompanied by Nickie Valentino)[11] by enlisting the help of another handicapped wrestler, Zach Gowen.[12] With Gowen's assistance, Iron and Hobo defeated Sex Appeal for the PWO Tag Team Championship, Iron's first title.[11]
Iron is perhaps best known as a wrestler for his feud with Gargano, the tag-team defeat of Sex Appeal, and for a Chikara match with Lince Dorado in August, 2010, during the eighth Young Lions Cup - in which "a handicapped underdog [tried] to overcome the bully, and the crowd loved it!"[3]
On July 23, 2011, Iron's career jumped out of relative obscurity: after partnering in a tag match with Colt Cabana, Iron remained in the ring a few moments, and was surprised by Cabana's return to the ring with WWE Champion CM Punk.[9]
Punk had this to say about Iron:
You're awesome! You overcome more than I ever have just waking up every morning. The fact that you became a pro wrestler, I'm only assuming it's because it was something you wanted to do. You didn't let anybody tell you that you couldn't do it ... I saw something special watching you in this ring.[13]
During a live national interview on Fox and Friends, Iron talked about the challenges he's overcome, and issued a challenge of his own: either the WWE adds him to its 2012 Royal Rumble, or Vince McMahon meets Iron in the ring one-on-one.[14] The WWE has not yet responded to the challenge.
Iron is the centerpiece in the first of a proposed series of film documentaries entitled "Handicapped Heroes," by Tom Kwiat:
This is an in depth look into Extraordinary Athletes that suffer from sort of physical disability.[15]