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There were plenty of British wrestling legends before him, but "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith was probably the first major singles wrestling star to hit it really big internationally. After splitting up his incredibly successful tag team with Dynamite Kid - unsurprisingly named The British Bulldogs - Smith turned to a singles career in the WWF in 1990.
The highlight of that initial singles run was a victory against his brother-in-law, Bret "Hitman" Hart, at SummerSlam 1992, held at Wembley Stadium in London, where he won the Intercontinental Championship.
His career would see him bounce around between WWF, WCW, and numerous other promotions. But, his best-known work happened as a WWF performer
#5 His middle name was not "Boy"
Yeah, I know. Out of context, this sounds really weird. Like, "of course it wasn't, why would anybody think that?"
However, the story goes that when Smith was born, his mother accidentally wrote "Boy" in the 'Middle Name' section of the birth certificate, thinking it was the gender line. Thus, "Boy" became David Smith's legal middle name. This story has been going around wrestling fandom for decades now, and for good reason - it's a great story.
It's also not true. At all.
For starters, the parents don't fill out birth certificates in U.K. hospitals - it's done by the hospital staff. Secondly, there isn't a line to write in the sex of the child - there's a check box to mark next to either Male or Female. The middle name, if the parent choses to give their child one, is entered on the same line as the first name.
In the 1960s, when Smith was born (1962, to be exacty), if your name was 'David", then 'Davey Boy' was a common nickname in England. As far as a wrestling name went, Davey Boy Smith rolls off the tongue quite easily.
So, yes, it's a great story. But, no, it's not a true story.
#4 He won WWE championship gold in three separate decades
While he may have never won the big prize in either WWE or WCW, Davey Boy Smith certainly wasn't lacking for championships over the course of his career. In fact, he's won titles in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
In 1987, Smith and Dynamite Kid won the WWF World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 2, defeating Brutus Beefcake and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine - aka 'The Dream Team" - as The British Bulldogs. It wouldn't be the only time Smith would take home tag team gold. But, we'll get to that.
Just 5 years later, in 1992, Bulldog won his first WWF singles title, in the previously mentioned SummerSlam main event against Bret Hart. In 1997, Davey Boy was crowned the very first European Champion, which is pretty appropriate, when you think about it. The previous year, he won his second tag team championship, this time partnering with Owen Hart.
The Hardcore Championship came into existence in 1998 when it was awarded to Mankind by Mr. McMahon as a facetious gift. Smith would win the title in 1999 and then again in 2000. It would be his final championship in WWE
#3 He was fired from WCW while in the hospital, nearly paralyzed
Following the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, Smith left the WWF along with Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. It was Smith's second run with the company, and one that wasn't anywhere near as successful as the first, and that's saying something. After all, Davey Boy was front and center for this:
During Fall Brawl 1998, Smith and Neidhart were teaming against Disco Inferno and Alex Wright. At two different points in the match, Smith took a back bump in the middle of the ring... and right onto a trap door. Why, you may ask, was there a trap door in the middle of a wrestling ring? Well, the Ultimate Warrior (at that point simply going by The Warrior) wanted to do a segment where he magically appeared in the ring to do magic Warrior stuff!
Well, both of those bumps led to Bulldog suffering from a spinal infection - and not a minor one, at that. Smith was nearly paralyzed from the injury, and spent 6 months in the hospital trying to fix the problem.
It was also at this point that WCW decided to serve Smith his walking papers. Much like they had done to Steve Austin a few years prior, they sent him his termination notice - via FedEx. To really rub it in, the pink slip was delivered while he was in the hospital.
Another unwanted gift he received at the hospital was an addiction to morphine and other painkillers. Unfortunately, that addiction was a major factor in his death later on.
#2 His final WWE match was against Eddie Guerrero
During a May 2000 episode of Sunday Night Heat, Smith would storm into the locker room of Chyna and then-European Champion Eddie Guerrero. Accusing Guerrero of not respecting the championship he held, Bulldog would challenge Latino Heat for the belt that very night. The match ended in a double disqualification.
Both Smith and Guerrero would pass away within a few years of each other.
Smith's career, while one worthy of a Hall of Fame induction, always seemed to never quite live up to the expectations placed on it. Whether it be from lack of motivation, struggles with substance abuse, backstage politics, or simply bad luck, Davey Boy never reached that world championship status that many of us really thought he would eventually attain.
Guererro, on the other hand, had many of the same hurdles throughout his own career, but eventually overcame them and won that world championship that had eluded the Bulldog his whole career. It's almost as if, in a strange way, Davey Boy was telling Eddie in this match "do better than I did."
Or maybe not. Anyway, the point is, Davey Boy wrestled Eddie in his last WWE match and you probably didn't know that. So there you go.
#1 He wrestled in three tag team matches with his son before passing
Davey Boy Smith was married to Diana Hart Smith (Bret Hart's sister) from 1984 to 2000. During their marriage, they had two children - Harry and Georgia.
Harry is currently wrestling for Major League Wrestling under the name Davey Boy Smith, Jr., but he's hardly a rookie. In fact, along with Tyson Kidd, while using the moniker David Hart Smith, he's a former WWE Unified Tag Team Champion. This was (more or less) the same title his father won with Dynamite Kid at WrestleMania 2 just 24 years earlier.
So, it's kind of appropriate that the late British Bulldog's final matches were tag matches in which he teamed with his son.
In May 2002, literally the weekend before he died, Smith and his son competed in three tag matches together in Manitoba, Canada. At the time, Davey Boy had been training to make a comeback to the wrestling world. At that point he hadn't wrestled in a match for two years. Not only was he getting ready to make his way back into wrestling but, according to his girlfriend at the time Andrea Redding, he was about to get married again, too.
Before we wrap things up, here's a cool video clip of Smith appearing on Stampede Wrestling TV to do an interview with a young Mauro Ranallo along with his teenage son as the time. Enjoy.
What are some of your favorite British Bulldog memories? Let us know in the comments section.
