Davey Boy Smith

**David Boy ("Davey Boy") Smith** (November 28, 1962 – May 18, 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Warrington (now in the Borough of Wigan), Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States of America with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name and under the ring name **The British Bulldog**.

Smith's middle name, Boy, was the result of one of his parents mistaking the name field on Smith's birth certificate for the gender field.

Smith was trained by Ted Betley in Winwick, England before relocating to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to further his training under Stu Hart. While training with Hart, Smith met Stu and Helen Hart's youngest daughter Diana, whom he later married in 1984. They had two children, Harry (born on August 2 1985) and Georgia (born on September 26 1987). He and Diana were divorced in 2000.

## Professional wrestling career

Davey Boy Smith started competing on ITV's World of Sport when he was only 16, wrestling under the name **Young David** with his slightly older cousin Tom Billington (Dynamite Kid). He was then spotted by Bruce Hart scouting talent in the UK and travelled to Canada to wrestle for Stu Hart with his cousin. Stu Hart and Roy Wood trained Davey Boy further in his notorious "Dungeon" and Smith became a key wrestler in Hart's promotion, Stampede Wrestling.

During his time in Stampede, Smith began a feud with the Dynamite Kid, and on July 9, 1982, Smith won his first title when he defeated the Dynamite Kid for the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title. In 1983, Smith debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling where he became involved in a three-way feud with Dynamite Kid and The Cobra (George Takano) over the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title. On February 7, 1984, a three-way, one-night tournament was held, and Kid won the tournament by defeating Smith via count-out, and the Cobra by pinfall.

After the tournament, Smith and Kid formed a tag team in both New Japan and in Stampede Wrestling as the British Bulldogs. In 1984, the Bulldogs made a shocking move by jumping to New Japan's rival, All Japan Pro Wrestling just before the start of All Japan's annual Tag Team tournament. The Bulldogs made an impressive showing in the tournament, which drew the interest of the World Wrestling Federation.

The Bulldogs, along with Smith's brother-in-law Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart were brought in to WWF after Vince McMahon bought out Stampede Wrestling. At first, the Bulldogs were able to tour both WWF and All-Japan, but eventually McMahon got exclusive rights to the Bulldogs. While in the WWF, the Bulldogs began a long running feud with Bret Hart and Neidhart, who were now known as The Hart Foundation.

The Bulldogs also feuded with the Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake). At WrestleMania 2, with "Captain" Lou Albano in their corner, the Bulldogs defeated the Dream Team for the WWF World Tag Team Championship. The Bulldogs held the titles for nearly nine months, feuding with the Dream Team and Nikolai Volkoff & the Iron Sheik. In January 1987, the Bulldogs lost the titles to the Hart Foundation due to a severe back injury to the Dynamite Kid.

After losing the titles, the Bulldogs gained a mascot, an actual bulldog who went by the name Matilda, and feuded with the likes of The Islanders (who dog-napped Matilda according to storyline), Demolition, and the Rougeau Brothers. The Bulldog later had another mascot, Winston, who died of a heart attack in November 1991.

Later in 1988, The Bulldogs left the WWF, in part due to backstage problems, specifically between Dynamite Kid and the Rougeau Brothers. The Bulldogs had allegedly pulled a number of ribs (pranks) on the Rougeaus. Curt Hennig also pranked the duo, who, assuming that the Bulldogs were behind that prank as well, retaliated: Jacques Rougeau knocked out four of Dynamite's teeth with a fist filled with a roll of quarters. Though there are various accounts of this situation, many suggest Billington drew first blood by bullying Rougeau (among many others including The Honky Tonk Man, whom Dynamite brought to tears) in Miami. No disciplinary action was taken against Jacques. Billington shortly afterwards quit the WWF over a dispute with WWF management over the issuance of complimentary plane tickets, over which he resigned from the company, and Smith followed suit.

After leaving the World Wrestling Federation, the Bulldogs returned to their old stomping grounds in Stampede Wrestling, and also returned to All Japan. Stampede officials were hopeful that the return of the Bulldogs would revive a struggling promotion, but they were unsuccessful. Eventually, the decision was made to split up the Bulldogs, which caused some problems with All Japan owner Shohei Baba, who was still promoting the Bulldogs as a tag team. On July 4, 1989, Smith, along with fellow wrestlers Chris Benoit, Ross Hart, and Jason the Terrible, was involved in a serious automobile accident. Smith, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, needed 100 stiches after smashing head first into the windshield. Smith recovered, and the Bulldogs continued teaming in All-Japan against teams such as Joe Malenko & Dean Malenko, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, and The Nasty Boys. Personal problems began to surface between Smith and Dynamite, and Smith later left All Japan to return to the WWF.

Smith was pushed as a singles star under the name "**The British Bulldog**". Over the next two years, Smith was a mid-carder, feuding with the likes of The Warlord and Mr. Perfect. A fairly popular wrestler in the U.S., he was a huge attraction to fans in the UK, in part due to the WWF becoming a ratings hit on the Sky Network in the U.K as well as the promotion touring the country holding supercards such as UK Rampage which saw Smith defeat then rival Warlord at the London Arena in March 1991 and the **Battle Royal at the Albert Hall** in which Smith won a 20-man battle royal eliminating Typhoon on October 13, 1991. Although entering as the first man in the 1992 Royal Rumble, he eliminated "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Jerry Sags, and Haku before being eliminated by Ric Flair.

Smith again headlined the WWF's European tours at European Rampage Again winning a 15-man battle royal eliminating The Mountie in München, Germany on April 14, 1992 and defeated Irwin R. Schyster in Sheffield, England on April 19, 1992.

    In 1992, due to this newfound popularity, the WWF decided to hold its annual SummerSlam pay-per-view in Wembley Stadium in London. The show was main-evented by Smith (led to the ring by the British, Commonwealth and European Heavyweight Boxing champion Lennox Lewis) and Bret Hart in a match for Hart's Intercontinental Championship. On August 29, at SummerSlam, in front of 80,355 of his countrymen, Smith won the Intercontinental title in a match which is regarded by many wrestling experts as the finest in his career. Shortly thereafter, Smith dropped the title to Shawn Michaels on the final *Saturday Night's Main Event*  (until 2006) and was later released by the WWF.

Smith had an eventful run in WCW in 1993, engaging in feuds with Sid Vicious and Big Van Vader, who he challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Slamboree 1993, and formed a mildly successful alliance with Sting. He was known simply as **Davey Boy Smith**, as the WWF had trademarked the "British Bulldog" moniker. In 1993, he was reportedly involved in an altercation with a man at a bar who was making advances towards his wife. As a result of the altercation (and the ensuing legal issues that followed), WCW released him from his contract.

According to his son he had merchandising issues which led to his departure. He worked for some independents in Great Britain before returning to the WWF at SummerSlam 1994, where he immediately became involved in an ongoing family feud between Bret Hart and his brother, Owen Hart. Davey Boy teamed up with Bret against Owen and Jim Neidhart in a series of tag matches.

At the Royal Rumble, after believing he had won the Rumble, Smith was the last man eliminated, when he was knocked over the top rope by Shawn Michaels as he stood inside the ring on the second turnbuckle. Soon after, Smith began teaming with Lex Luger as the Allied Powers. The team wasn't much of a success, and Luger soon left for WCW. After Luger's departure, Smith turned heel, and joined forces with Camp Cornette, a stable led by Jim Cornette.

    In 1996, after Shawn Michaels became World Champion, Smith was put in a program with the new champion. The feud was supposedly based on Smith's wife, Diana, accusing Michaels of hitting on her, which made Smith mad with jealousy and determined to take away the WWF Title from Michaels. The two main-evented the infamous In Your House 8: Beware of Dog pay-per-view, and their match ended in a draw, leading to a rematch at the King of the Ring 1996 pay-per-view. Michaels ended up successfully defending the title.

Afterwards, Smith formed a tag team with his brother-in-law, Owen Hart, and the two soon won the World Tag Team Titles from The Smoking Gunns. The team defended their titles against teams such as Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon, Vader & Mankind, and The Legion of Doom.

In 1997, the WWF created the WWF European Championship, and Smith became the first ever European Champion, winning a tournament which culminated in defeating his own tag team partner, Owen, in the finals. He is considered the most successful European Champion having held the title for seven months before losing the title to Shawn Michaels at One Night Only on September 20, 1997.

Owen and Smith later joined forces with Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Brian Pillman to form a new rendition of the Hart Foundation, a heel faction which feuded with Steve Austin and other American wrestlers. This created an interesting rift between American fans, where the Hart Foundation was vilified, and Canadian fans, who revered the Hart Foundation. Smith and Owen dropped the World Tag Team Titles to Austin and Michaels, and lost the final match in a tournament for the vacant Tag Team Titles (because of a backstage altercation between Bret Hart and Michaels which resulted in Michaels taking a leave of absence from the WWF) to Austin and Dude Love (which was Mankind under a new gimmick).

Smith then started a feud with Ken Shamrock for the European Title, and eventually lost the European Title to Shawn Michaels at the British Pay-per-view event One Night Only. Smith was booked in the main event to defend the belt against Shawn Michaels. Michaels persuaded McMahon that he should win, as it would create build-up not only for his impending rematch with Bret Hart, but also for a rematch against Smith at the next British PPV.

Smith reluctantly agreed, and fans at the event, who gave Smith an ovation, voiced their displeasure by booing Michaels out of the arena and littering the ring with rubbish. This marks the only time Smith lost on a WWE card in the United Kingdom. After the events at Survivor Series 97, Smith, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, left WWF for WCW.

Smith joined WCW and immediately began a feud with Steve McMichael, who was complaining about all the wrestlers coming from "Up North." Smith and Neidhart later formed a tag team, but were only featured sparingly on *WCW Thunder*. They challenged for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on several occasions, but failed to win the titles.

Smith suffered a knee injury in April 1998 that sidelined him for a month. He suffered another injury on September 13, 1998 at Fall Brawl 1998 during his match with Neidhart against the Dancing Fools, Disco Inferno and Alex Wright. While taking a bump, Smith landed awkwardly on a trapdoor that had been set in the ring to enable The Warrior to make a dramatic entrance in the night's main event. The result was a spinal infection that nearly paralyzed Smith, hospitalizing him for six months. While recuperating, Smith received a FedEx informing him that his WCW contract had been terminated.

    Smith returned to the WWF in September 1999 following the death of Owen Hart in an in-ring accident. In keeping with the company's new "Attitude" era, Smith began wrestling in jeans instead of his usual Union Flag-adorned tights and his theme music was changed from Rule, Britannia! to rock music (complete with the sounds of a dog barking as the song began). On the September 7 1999 episode of *SmackDown!* in Albany, New York, Smith defeated the Big Boss Man for the WWF Hardcore Championship. He forfeited the title later that evening, giving the belt back to Al Snow, because Boss Man had previously kidnapped Snow's dog Pepper to win the title from Snow. Smith then began pursuing the WWF Championship, eventually turning heel and beginning a feud with The Rock. Smith headlined *Unforgiven 1999* show as part of a six-man WWF Championship Match that was won by Triple H. After losing to The Rock at *No Mercy 1999*, Smith was moved down the card.

Smith defeated D'Lo Brown for the WWF European Championship on WWE SmackDown! on October 26, 1999. He lost the title to Val Venis in a triple threat match at *Armageddon 1999* on December 12, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

On May 6, 2000 in London, Smith defeated Crash Holly for the WWF Hardcore Championship. In one of Smith's last televised appearances, Holly regained the title from him in New Haven, Connecticut on the May 11, 2000 episode of *SmackDown!*. His last televised match with the WWF was on Sunday Night Heat some weeks later, when he burst into Eddie Guerrero and Chynas locker room, accusing Guerrero (who was the European Champion at the time) of not treating the belt with the respect it deserved. This led to a title match on Heat, which Bulldog lost due to Chynas interference, but had the storyline continued Bulldog would have eventually won the title from Guerrero.

In early 2000, Smith's wife Diana divorced him, with Smith being given shared custody of their children. At the same time, Smith entered a drug rehabilitation clinic at the behest and expense of Vince McMahon due to his problems with prescription painkillers though they were not the only drug he was using. He was released from the WWF shortly thereafter.

## Death

Smith died on May 18, 2002, after suffering a heart attack while on vacation in Invermere, British Columbia with his girlfriend, Bruce Hart's estranged wife Andrea Redding.

An autopsy revealed that past anabolic steroid use may have played a part in his death, however no certain reason was found. It is apparent that stress, serious injuries, and the use of drugs took its toll on the wrestler. Bruce Hart claimed "Davey paid the price with steroid cocktails and human-growth hormones."

Before his death, Smith had been training with the intent of resuming his wrestling career, and had wrestled in three tag team matches with his son Harry the previous weekend, including a match for Winnipeg-based independent promotion Top Rope Championship Wrestling.

He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in the class of 2020.