April 3, 2024 media 0

Wrestling Headlines/LOP Hall of Fame 2024: British Bulldog

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British Bulldog

Inducted by Andrew Ardizzi
Follow @Andrew Ardizzi

Ask yourself what comes to mind when you think of a prototypical wrestler. Consider the physical attributes: speed, strength, agility, technical prowess.
Bundle that together and you have Davey Boy Smith, the British Bulldog.
Rising to prominence in the mid-1980s following his run in Stampede Wrestling, his initial run in the WWF alongside tag team partner and cousin the Dynamite Kid—and Matilda too—is what many fans’ earliest memories are of him. They ran alongside other top shelf ‘80s tag teams like the Hart Foundation, the Rougeaus, the Dream Team, Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, the Islanders (who dognapped Matilda leading up to WrestleMania 4) and Demolition.

During their run together in the WWF, the Bulldogs held the WWF Tag Team Championships for almost 9 months, displaying nearly unmatched power, speed, finesse and technical wrestling against the who’s who of ‘80s WWF tag teams. The tag team left the company in late 1988, and it was during a tumultuous period for Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy during their Stampede and All-Japan run that the duo split, paving the way for Smith to return to the WWF in late 1990 as a singles star primed for great things.

Now billed as “The British Bulldog,” Davey Boy Smith memorably feuded with the Warlord leading up to WrestleMania 7, entered first in the 1992 Royal Rumble and lasted 23 minutes before being eliminated by eventual winner Ric Flair.

This was just the beginning for Smith in 1992, as he and Bret Hart would headline SummerSlam ’92 in Wembley Stadium in front of 80,355 people. To this day the match is remembered as one of the greatest of all time in a back and forth battle that pitted brothers-in-law against each other for the Intercontinental Championship. After 25 minutes, Bulldog pinned Hart in what was his crowning moment: Smith captured the Intercontinental title in front of his home country. He would hold the title for a short time, dropping it in November of that year to Shawn Michaels before leaving the company once again.
He wasn’t gone for very long though, returning to the company after short runs in WCW and in local UK promotions in 1994 amidst another Hart family feud, this time siding with Bret against Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart.

Despite his IC title win in 1992, you could argue that his best run came here as from 1994 to 1997 he co-held the WWF tag team titles for 8 months with Owen Hart, became the inaugural and longest-reigning European champion (with a second reign coming in his fourth company run), and most notably was embroiled in WWF championship feuds in 1995 and 1996 with Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart that collectively are among their best matches regardless of opponents.

As his career winded down from 1997 to 2002 upon his death, he would secure his second European championship, win the WWF Hardcore title twice, and get one last crack at the WWF championship in late 1999. His latter career was painted with feuds with new stars like The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, D-Lo Brown and X-Pac.

The “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith is in the conversation as the greatest wrestler to have never held a world championship, and his argument is as good as any considering his talents up against many other deserving wrestlers who never got to hold a world title. As a wrestler he was known worldwide for his technical skillset blended along with his raw power; he could outwork wrestlers as easily as he could hold them upside down in his trademarked delayed vertical suplex. There was nothing Smith could not do with ease.

When we think of wrestler’s legacies and how they’ve left the industry once they’ve left behind the crowds, or in Smith’s case, passed before their time, we need to ask how they enhanced the companies they worked for, or how they blended elements of their craft in such a way that it breaks the mold of what a pro wrestler can be. Davey Boy Smith was a groundbreaking professional wrestler in both the tag team and singles spheres, and was so talented he could slide into either and be equally successful. He has the accolades to show for it.

When I think of him I think of the evolution of mixed martial arts fighters, how fighters came into the sport with one discipline they excelled at, applied that, succeeded with it, and then ultimately failed when they met someone whose craft exposed theirs. That is, until athletes came along who blended elements of multiple martial arts and excelled at all of them.

That’s Davey Boy Smith.

During his best runs across North America and Japan he wrestled in an era where the larger, more muscular wrestlers dominated. That era later bled into the speedier generation led by wrestlers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The constant across both was Smith’s evolution and ability to blend speed, strength and finesse with technical skills he learned from the Hart Dungeon to create a quick, explosive power-based style that was jaw-dropping and spectacular, and somehow managed to do so with a 5’11, 260-pound frame.

That’s what afforded him to go toe-to-toe with the Warlord and Vader as readily as he could Bret Hart, Owen Hart and Shawn Michaels. At a time when you were one or the other, he broke barriers for what we consider a wrestler and set the tone for years to come in terms of what people were capable of in a wrestling ring. You didn’t need to be just a power wrestler or speedy flier, rather you could take elements of both, blend them together and create something new. Something evolutionary.

The British Bulldog was truly ahead of his time. Although cut short, his career was impactful, his presence is felt to this day even if we don’t realize it, and his memory lives on in wrestling through his daughter Georgia and son Harry Smith who carries on the “British Bulldog” moniker proudly.

Perhaps, while nice, he never needed a world championship to his name. Because what he did in the ring is farther reaching than any title reign.