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Diamond Dallas Page announced the passing of former WCW star Ice Train today via his social media, writing:
It was so Sad to hear, that one of my closest brothers is gone. Harold Houge aka H aka Ice Train aka Smooth was a warrior and one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. Our 30 year relationship was filled with laughter & brotherhood. We were always there for each other. Our families are one family. One of my fondest memories was the Christmas the two of us headed into the inner city to help many of the less fortunate families have a better Christmas. As you can see we got on our favorite Christmas outfits and headed out to spread some cheer. I’ve also included one my favorite pictures of H & my mom Sylvia at Payge’s & my wedding. I will put up a tribute video up later next week. I just don’t have the strength to do it yet.
RIP my brother!
You will be missed but never forgotten!
Much Love & Respect
DDP
Ice Train, real name Harold Hogue, was 56 years old.
An Atlanta native with a football background, he was broken into the business by Paul Orndorff and Buddy Lee Parker and almost immediately was used in WCW in 1993.
As Ice Train, he was presented as a powerhouse style talent who was given handicap wins on television and presented as an up and coming babyface. At the time, he was limited but had a great look. He was given an undefeated streak early on, teaming with the company babyfaces until being defeated by Ron Simmons.
Ice Train was one of several babyfaces at the time who got a lot of TV time under booker Dusty Rhodes as he tried to find new talents to develop. Since he was local, he always received a big reaction at the WCW TV Tapings at Center Stage, where he was placed against more experiences heels like Michael Hayes and Dick Slater so he could learn. He and Lightning (the future NWO Sting, Jeff Farmer) had a short series of matches with Harlem Heat as well.
WCW fans may most remember Ice Train and Scott Norton for their tag team, "Fire and Ice", working with The Steiner Brothers regularly, including a 1996 Great American Bash PPV bout. Norton later turned heel on Ice Team, leading to a singles bout between the two, splitting wins at the 1996 Hog Wild and Fall Brawl PPVs. After that short feud, Ice Train was used as an underneath babyface, sometimes managed by Teddy Long, usually working secondary WCW programming like WCW Worldwide and WCW Thunder.
In 2000, Ice Train was given a new character and ring name, M.I. Smooth, where he appeared as on-screen WCW Commissioner Ernest Miller's muscle and driver. This led to a short program with the late Chris Kanyon. When WCW was acquired by WWE, he was not one of the talents brought in by the company and quietly left the business.
In between WCW stints, he worked for Otto Wanz's Catch Wrestling promotion in Germany and Austria, usually as a babyface against names like Drew McDonald, Cannonball Grizzly and John Hawk, the future JBL. He last wrestled in December 2019 when he made a special appearance in Germany for independent promotion EWP.
PWInsider.com sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and fans of Ice Train.
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