British Bulldog

[Guest jm29195]

A few Davey Boy Smith questions

 

 

Did the Bulldog have any decent matches post One Night Only in 97? I can only recall the 6 pack match at Unforgiven 99 being any good, with the No Mercy 99 vs Rock being ok.... did he have any watchable stuff in WCW or his later WWF run?

Also, I know a lot of the Bulldog's problems came from doing his back in on the Warrior's trapdoor in late 98 but was there a reason for his decline in match quality before this or was he just getting lazy?

Finall what were the Bulldog's last matches in WWF and WCW respectively?

cheers!

[bob_barron 0]

Bulldog's last WWE match was a no-contest v. Eddie Guerrero.

[Guest BrokenWings]

I know a lot of the Bulldog's problems came from doing his back in on the Warrior's trapdoor in late 98 but was there a reason for his decline in match quality before this or was he just getting lazy?

 

Drug abuse.

[Jericholic82 0]

Bulldog's last WWE match was a no-contest v. Eddie Guerrero.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

was that the one that was on heat? If so I have DBS's last WWF match on tape. didnt even realize it.

[Guest news_gimmick]

When did that match take place? I don't recall it at all, and why did it even occur?

[Placebo Effect 0]

Every single one of his WCW matches was shit. Being addicted to painkillers and working with the lazy Curt Hennig, Jim Neidhart, Public Enemy, and various nWo members will do that though.

[The Decemberists 0]

Did Bulldog ever have a good one on one match in the states with anyone who's last name was not Hart or Michaels?

 

Because I'm struggling to think of one...

[bob_barron 0]

When did that match take place? I don't recall it at all, and why did it even occur?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

May 2000. Eddie and Chyna were in the back playing Twister, and Davey didn't like that they were taking things so lightly, so he challenged Eddie to a match.

 

Davey also teamed with Angle once in 2000.

 

And yes, DBS had good matches with people other then HBK and Bret. He had a very good match with Regal at Halloween Havoc 93 and I enjoyed his series with Vader.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Bulldog's Last Days in WCW

 

WCW Fall Brawl 1998 was where Bulldog hurt himself in the horrid opener.

 

The Bulldog interfered on Jim Neidhart's behalf on the September 19, 1998 edition of WCW Saturday Night to held fight off the nWo b-Team.

 

I believe Bulldog & Neidhart worked WCW later on with a few spot appearences, but I'll hafta get back to you.

[BHK 0]

WWF @ Atlanta, GA - Georgia Dome - February 21, 2000 (27,464)

 

WWF European Champion Kurt Angle & Davey Boy Smith defeated WWF IC Champion Chris Jericho & Chyna at 2:47 when Angle pinned Jericho with the Olympic Slam after hitting him with the IC belt.

 

 

WWF @ Evansville, IN - Roberts Municipal Stadium - May 23, 2000

Sunday Night Heat:

WWF European Champion Eddie Guerrero (w/ Chyna) fought Davey Boy Smith to a double disqualification when both men shoved the referee

[Guest bort]

I just watched the Bulldog/Regal match from HH 93 and it really surprised me, Regal was working a bit faster then normal and they were just generally busting out the counters and shit. Very good match

 

Post 97 tho, Davey was shit pretty much. I would imagne the years of wrestling a hard style hurt his body along with his varouis injuries and habits. His body was never ment to hold so much muscle ethier would i would think helped slow him down as time went on

[haws bah gawd 0]

I what I think I remember being 1997, at the time, Davey Boy pulled off one of the most impressive feats of strength I had ever seen. He did his signature standing vertical suplex on Vader, and held him up for what seemed like at least 10-15 seconds. AT the time, I wasnt used to seeing guys like the Big Show getting F-U'ed and F-5'ed, so that was quite a shock.

[spman 0]

To me at least, prior to his death, The British Bulldog was more or less just a has been that never was. He was always a big name in the buisness, and was always popular but it was never really justified. He was never really a draw outside of England, and is only rememberd for one really good match, through which he was carried almost move for move. I think he almost gets unfairly credited as a star in his era when there were other guys who may not have been as popular or successful as him, but were far better workers.

[Guest jm29195]

To me at least, prior to his death, The British Bulldog was more or less just a has been that never was. He was always a big name in the buisness, and was always popular but it was never really justified. He was never really a draw outside of England, and is only rememberd for one really good match, through which he was carried almost move for move. I think he almost gets unfairly credited as a star in his era when there were other guys who may not have been as popular or successful as him, but were far better workers.

 

 

Bulldog's had a ton of good matches- he was an exceptional worker for someone his size during his prime years... Summerslam 92 may be his most remembered match and for good reasone, but he has had a good few other matches on top of that as well, just off the top of my head with singles matches, not counting the phenomenonal British Bulldogs team which is beyond fault:-

 

Bulldog/Bret- Summerslam 92

Bulldog/HBK- SME 92

Bulldog/Vader- COTC 24

Bulldog/Regal- Haloween Havoc 93

Bulldog/Bret- IYH 5

Bulldog/HBK- IYH Beware of Dog

Bulldog/HBK- KOTR 96

 

Those are just high profile PPV matches- there's also:-

 

Bulldog/Owen- RAW in the finals of the European Title tournament

Bulldog/Owen- RAW in the rematch that led to the Hart Foundation angle

 

I'm sure he had more decent stuff around this point on TV and I know his team with Owen Hart had a load of decent matches vs Furnas/Kroffat including one on RAW and one at IYH 13....

[cabbageboy 0]

Bulldog was the man. And frankly I am sick of hearing this crap about how Bret carried him move for move at SS 92. This is just Bret talking trying to badmouth Davey Boy, and obviously it's not like DBS can give a counter argument.

 

Hell, I found his series against the Warlord better than most people...it at least had some psychology building to Warlord's full nelson. Plus it's always fun to see Davey Boy bounce around these big lugs that are 300+ lbs.

 

The thing is, aside from those guys mentioned, how many really high profile matches did Bulldog have? I mean when put in against a 7 foot guy he was expected to do the bleh power match, but when in against a smaller guy like Bret, Owen, or Shawn he could more than keep up.

[Black Lushus 0]

Bulldog was misused, plain and simple and was really underrated as a worker because his talents weren't exploited as much as they should have been...had he been in WCW in 95/96/96 battling Benoit, Guerrero, Jericho, etc. we may have really seen how talented the guy was...

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

I think he's a prime example of a guy who got over simply on that 'x factor' alone, his charisma won crowds over without him having to do anything special. He was strong and mobile for his size, but post 97 he was done.

[cabbageboy 0]

Well sure, but frankly post 97 Bret was done too in my book. In his whole WCW stint he never seemed like he gave a shit, unless he was facing Benoit in something like the Owen match. Bret mainly stopped caring....Bulldog tore up his knee trying to break up the whole Bret/Vince melee in Montreal (didn't Shane jump on Davey's back?), then he lost a lot of muscle while on the shelf, then got truly fucked up via the idiotic trap door at Fall Brawl 98, as if there aren't enough reasons to hate that show.

 

Last night I was watching an old Prime Time episode from 86 on the WWE 24/7. Main event was Davy Boy vs. Greg Valentine. Would you believe Davey Boy busted out a sharpshooter? In 1986! A good 5 years before Bret used it, and a solid 3 of so before Sting used the Scorpion Deathlock. Oddly enough, Valentine no sold it since it wasn't an established finisher, neither was the running powerslam. The Hammer ended up winning with a lame axe handle off the top rope.

[cabbageboy 0]

By the way, does anyone have the Bulldog/Owen European title match on tape? I missed that match initially when we got flooded out in 97 and only saw some of it on the Shotgun Sat. morning show. If so just PM me and we'll work out a trade.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

Bulldog was the man.  And frankly I am sick of hearing this crap about how Bret carried him move for move at SS 92.  This is just Bret talking trying to badmouth Davey Boy, and obviously it's not like DBS can give a counter argument.

 

I'm sorry but this isn't a good match to use to defend Smith. Smith looks terrible in this match and it's amazing that Bret held it together. That's not to say Smith is a terrible worker during this timeframe, he's actually looked much better in lesser matches before and after Summerslam. I'm not sure if he was nervous, sick, or if the drug rumors were true but either way he is not having a good night.

 

Most of the match is all Bret, Smith gets to work in his top rope headbutt, his German bump, and the cartwheel wristlock reversal and that's about it. Everything else is Bret controlling or leading Smith through his trademark spots. At the very end, Bret let's Smith briefly run through his trademark offense.

 

That's already grounds for calling it a carry but than you have Smith being out of character for most of the opening minutes, often staring off into space instead of playing the crowd or adding anything worthwhile to the match. I've seen Lugar and even Demolition Smash look better in passenger roles, they might not have been calling anything but they were at least able add to the match by bringing some personality and emotion.

 

The momentum get's killed on numerous occasions as Bret has to randomly grab chinlocks so he can regroup and sadly call verbal audibles to Smith on camera, who is either blown up or fucking things up. Than you have Bret having to salvage complete fuck ups like Smith being out of place for the Pescado and botching the Press Slam.

 

Anyways, I once saw a Smith/DK match from All Japan(sorry the date escapes me) where he looked o.k.. Nothing special but DK was totally gone by this point and the only real exciting stuff came from Smith. I recall DK working a boring aimless control segment when Smith breaks away and puts together a fantastic series of roll ups and nearfalls. That's a good example of Smith not needing to be carried to be at least a fun worker.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'll have to assume that DK v Smith match was when Kid was doing the occasional appearance with M_Pro. He was really painful to watch at that point and I wished the guy would retire as you could tell he'd completely broken down.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Re: Bret v DBS at Summerslam.

 

Bret, in numerous interviews before and after DSB died, as stated that Davey froze in the first minute of the match and forgot everything they'd set up, resulting in Bret having to call the whole match in the ring. DBS never once refuted those claims, and neither has anyone else. Bret has also pointed out how you can see him calling the match at various points, which he wasn't happy about, as he considered it being unprofessional if you could be seen or heard calling the matches.

 

For me, Davey Boy was a solid enough worker, but he needed someone else to be the glue to hold together a match that could be great.

[cabbageboy 0]

My thoughts on SS 92 are thus: The Bulldog/Bret match won all sorts of MOTY awards for 1992 and is considered a ***** classic by most everyone. Did Davey Boy get a bit nervous? Maybe so. I remember reading an interview (not sure if it was a work or not) where he said wrestling at WM 3 didn't bother him, but wrestling in his homeland in front of 80,000 really scared him.

 

I'm of the opinion someone can be carried to a watchable or decent match, but not a ***** match. Yeah there were some times when they took it to the mat and did headlocks and such, but it seemed like Bulldog pulled it together a few mins. in.

 

You guys REALLY overanalyze shit. Can't Bret/Bulldog just be one of my favorite matches of all time and leave it at that?

 

Anyone got the Bulldog/Owen match on tape? I've never seen it all the way through.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

but it seemed like Bulldog pulled it together a few mins. in.

 

Actually he got progressively worse but you know....

 

You guys REALLY overanalyze shit. Can't Bret/Bulldog just be one of my favorite matches of all time and leave it at that?

 

It's one of my favorite WWF matches of all time. Now I ask you, why can't you just say that instead of making "out there" statements?

[cabbageboy 0]

I dunno, I don't think anything I've said is as out there as "Yeah Bulldog sucked in that match, he got progressively worse throughout...but it's one of my favorite matches ever."

 

This is one match that I will remain a total mark while discussing. I still remember being the first person to rent SS 92 at the local Blockbuster, even got the free WWF frisbee that came with it.

 

And does anyone have the Bulldog/Owen match? I'll trade for it.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

I dunno, I don't think anything I've said is as out there as "Yeah Bulldog sucked in that match, he got progressively worse throughout...but it's one of my favorite matches ever."

 

Because on camera spot calling aside, it's probably Bret Hart's greatest performance.

[Black Lushus 0]

my favorite Bret Hart match was against Steve Austin at WM13...I'm not big on matches that are brawling and garbage-ish, but that was one great match, both guys brought their A+ games to that one...Bulldog/Bret was awesome, yes, but not as good as the WM13 match, IMO...

[cabbageboy 0]

The two matches aren't really comparable in either style or tone. The SS 92 match was a scientific match between two guys who really liked each other, whereas the WM 13 match was a bitter feud between two guys who wanted to kill each other.

 

I'd have to put the SS 92 match ahead of WM 13 for a couple of reasons. 1. It just meant more to me personally and signified the end of the old style WWF (SS 92 in general was the last sweeping epic type PPV before WM 17). 2. The match is a feel good story, the hometown boy Bulldog wins the IC title, makes up with Bret, Diana gets in the ring and celebrates....hell I get misty eyed thinking about it. 3. To my way of thinking a classic scientific match will always be better than a classic garbage brawl....garbage wrestling is at the end of the day still garbage wrestling and really beneath someone of Bret's talent. 4. The Bret/Austin match has a dramatic visual as a finish, but the finish in the end is still a cheap way of not having anyone say I Quit. At the time it amazed me that Austin kept going with his "Toughest SOB in the WWF" gimmick...I thought "Dude if you were that tough you would have WON the match. Bret beat your ass, thus to me he's tougher."

[Guest MikeSC]

my favorite Bret Hart match was against Steve Austin at WM13...I'm not big on matches that are brawling and garbage-ish, but that was one great match, both guys brought their A+ games to that one...Bulldog/Bret was awesome, yes, but not as good as the WM13 match, IMO...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know, thanks to your avatar and sig picture, I now picture you as a Huggybear level pimp.

[Dandy 0]

Speaking of Bulldog, does anyone have a picture of when he was the most muscular/bloated with steroids? I think someone had a picture in a sig here, and I'm pretty sure it was around Rumble 95 or not long after. He is even larger than this pic, and was looking like his heart would explode any moment.