http://bluebarcage.blogspot.com/2012/05/remembering-davey-boy-smith.html
Hard to believe it's been ten years. I don't think he ever truly got the appreciation he deserves.
I think he got a lot of appreciation, actually, given how terrible he became after the drugs and injuries took their toll on him. He was a great worker for a while, but I wouldn't call him underrated or anything.
http://youtu.be/xKB4NnNdTfM
ReplyDeleteRoids, ladies and gentlemen!
Seriously, though, I miss Davey Boy (and not because he's BIZARRE!) Take this for example:
http://youtu.be/wK_txQusqSQ?t=10m42s
While Owen was more deserving of a WWF/E title run, Davey Boy should have gotten one too. Not a long one mind you but a few months could have worked.
ReplyDeleteI swear Davey got a hundred World title shots back in 95 and 96.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was someone today who would do the super delayed suplex that Davey Boy used to do.
ReplyDeleteHe should have won the title at the December 95 PPV and dropped it back to Bret the next Raw or something.
ReplyDeleteAlways liked DBS in the ring, it is really too bad what happened with him. It just blows my mind that the guy was dead at 39 years old, although at the time I didn't really know how much of a mess he was (reading in Bret's book that he was up smoking crack with Jim Neidhart before his match at SummerSlam was sort of a shocker).
ReplyDeleteWhen did Davey get so huge, physically, anyway? I lost track of him between his first WWF run as a tag-team and his second one with the big singles push. It's funny because he was a big guy, but he looked human in 1986-1988. When he came back for his big singles push to the WWF in late 1990, the guy was inflatable, it was ridiculous how pumped up he was. Was he all roided out in the interim or did he get jacked up for his WWF run?
They were always kind of teasing a Mr. Perfect vs British Bulldog feud in between WrestleMania 7 and Summer Slam, so I always kind of assumed he was going to be the one to get the big push against Perfect and take the title until the steroid scandal broke during the Zahorian trial.
I remember when I started rewatching in 1999, during Survivor Series, all I kept wondering was "why the hell is Bulldog wrestling in jeans, and who the hell are these preppy losers he's teaming with?"
ReplyDeleteI was always surprised they didn't use Bulldog as a transistional champion between Diesel & Hart, especially considering how rare Face Vs Face match-ups were at the time.
ReplyDeleteMassive bulldog fan growing up, kind of hard to be a British wrestling fan and not be.
ReplyDeleteI think the saddest thing about how Davey Boy is remembered is that its somehow become accepted that he wasn't all that in the ring; that Dynamite was the talent in the Bulldogs, that Bret did the ultimate carry job at SummerSlam 92 etc.
Whilst there's some degree of truth to both those statements, DBS had more than enough talent to not be a passenger in a team or as a singles star. It's a real shame that he lived the lifestyle he did with the drugs and the roids as he could have been so much more (file him alongside Scott Hall as the shoulda-beens from that era)
Ten years already? Wow, that's come round quick. We must be getting into a time period where it'll be a decade since a lot of wrestlers have passed as I seem to remember a spate of them coming on the heels of this.
On a somewhat related note it'll be a year since Savage died on Sunday. Unless I'm forgetting anyone nobody has died from the misadventures associated with wrestling since. Without wishing to tempt fate that's good to be able to say
It helps that Scott hasn't gone on vacation lately as well.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that move always impressed me too.
ReplyDeleteI just recorded the Six Pack Challenge PPV when he came back to DVD the other day and was so happy he had his Union Jack tights and not the friggin jeans. He looked so stupid in those.
ReplyDeleteThe amazing thing is that all off these guys have died and yet somehow Dynamite is still alive,
ReplyDeleteHe's clearly too much of an asshole for even the Devil to deal with.
ReplyDeleteThat sunset flip blew my mind. I don't think I ever saw Davey move that fast before.
ReplyDelete... Why?
ReplyDeleteJust so he could have put "WWE champion" on his resume. It didn't even need to be a clean win (Cornette could have interferred) and Bret could have won the title back either the next Raw or in few weeks after.
ReplyDeleteI know it's a weird thing to complain about but I don't know what the point of putting him in jeans was. Was it to make him more "attitude era"? Seemed pointless. I don't know, he might've been a guy who just wasn't going to work in the Attitude Era, but it's not like they did a whole lot with him. They didn't play up the Hart drama for legal reasons and he ended up Rock Bottom'd into a pile of shit, and I can't remember much else.
ReplyDeleteOwen vs Bulldog, European Championship final in 1997.. one of the finest forgotten matches of all time. With the right work partner Davey could be a fantastic worker.
ReplyDeleteYeah I always assumed it was just a costume/wardrobe thing -- Bossman didn't go back to his bright blue shirts either, they put him in gray and black.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the Kid such a dick? He quit well before I started watching, so I don't really know anything about him.
ReplyDeleteI like Bulldog, but I'd definitely say he was more overrated than underrated. The fact of the matter is he wasn't on the same level of guys like Bret, Owen, and Shawn who were extremely talented and could carry an average guy to a good TV or PPV match. Bulldog himself needed to be carried in his matches, often by those guys. He was a good performer, but I've never considered him a "legend" or anything outside of being the most successful British guy in the WWE.
ReplyDeleteWell, Bison Smith, but he's not very well known.
ReplyDelete"The fact of the matter is he wasn't on the same level of guys like Bret, Owen, and Shawn"
ReplyDeleteNeither were the thousands of other guys that were pro wrestlers.
The story his ex-wife tells about him putting an empty gun to her head and pulling the trigger just to amuse himself is sorta what led me to that idea.
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
ReplyDeleteConsidering Bret's horrid main events with the Undertaker @ The Rumble and Diesel @ IYH 6, I think they'd have been wise to give the Bulldog a 1-2 month title run and just keep playing that feud up as a placeholder for Bret. It's not like they started hyping Shawn-Bret until after IYH 6 anyway because Shawn's title shot was on the line in his match with Owen.
ReplyDeleteI think this criticism applies to his work in the early 1990's. However, his 1995-97 run was a different story. He got into better shape, seemed faster, more focused and really became an elite wrestler in the WWF. Sure, he wasn't in the Shawn/Bret/Owen level of skill, but I think he was just as reliable during that period as guys like the Undertaker and Foley - both of whom get treated as legends. Bulldog was one of those guys that generally wrestled to the level of his opponent, but during the latter run I don't think he was ever "carried" by the higher level workers.
ReplyDeleteNot only is he "not underrated", as Scott said, but he's actually overrated. He was completely carried to his one ***** match, was never a draw when he was put in the main event, and was the lesser partner in his tag team.
ReplyDeleteTo those that say he should've gotten a WWF title run between Hart and Diesel so it could be on his resume, I say this: There are SO many other guys from his era that deserve a world title reign more than Davey -- Piper, Perfect, DiBiase, Roberts.
Bottom line, he died young (which is very sad) and we romanticize his career as a result. He just wasn't all that great...
Bulldog imo is perfectly rated and was pushed just right. He was a good worker and solid upper mid carder. Main evented some b show ppvs and some wcw ppvs and was part of arguably the best wwe angle ever (hart foundation vs Austin). Also one half of, let's face it, the most bad ass tag team of the 80's.
ReplyDeleteI would compare davey boys career to that of Gary payton for any NBA fans on here. Great player, achieved quite a bit but not exactly a first ballot hall of famer (but absolutely a Hall of famer)
I always though it was because of his knee/leg braces.
ReplyDeleteSomeone, I think Lincoln Steen, at the local indy show in PEI busted it out tonight.
ReplyDeleteHey I'm also a huge dbs fan. Yeah dk was a better worker but davey was more charasmatic and wasnt a slouch by any means. He was kind of crappy baby face, but he was a very credible main event heel. He was awesome in camp cornette and let's not forgot how bad ass his tag team with Owen was. Definitely main event work and he had nice top programs with hbk and nash, plus his wcw main event run...which gave us daveys classic "he fell right on his fucking arse" shockmaster moment
ReplyDeleteYou can't say he's never drawn in the main event. It was him and Bret that sold out Wembley Stadium. That's some drawing power, albeit it one market. Vince just never found a way to get that lightening to strike twice.
ReplyDeleteI'm also somewhat dubious about the extent to which DBS was carried as we only have Bret's account and, much as I love the Hitman, he does love to massage his own legend. I don't believe you can get a ***** match out of a broomstick. Davey played his part in that match.
Which isn't to say he didn't squander what talent he had
Ah, knew I'd forgotten someone.
ReplyDeleteStill that's a much better hit rate than where we were a few years ago
I'm pretty sure Harry Smith did it. Lashley did one for a while, too. It wasn't as good as Davey's, but I still appreciate the gesture.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Bulldog had a few *****-ish matches in his day, usually with Bret or Owen. He needed a GOOD worker to hit the stratosphere, but with a good worker, he was easily a **** worker himself. By himself, he couldnt really call matches or have anything beyond average, but it's still better than your everyday wrestler. I'd call him 7/10 as a Worker, really.
ReplyDeleteBulldog seemed to be a "go-to" champ during the weak '95-'96 years, but that seemed more due to a weak roster than anything else- he never screamed "Main Event" to me, just a guy who could work in a pinch against a top-level guy as a good opponent. I never believed for a second he was going to win the WWF Title during any of that time.
check out his autobiography, Pure Dynamite.
ReplyDeleteyeah, neither is just about ANYONE else.
ReplyDeleteI liked Bulldog, but I always felt the world title shots he got at those IYH's in 95/96 should have gone to Owen.
ReplyDeleteOn the 1997 RAWs, Bulldog is one of the highlights of every show. He was never better.
ReplyDelete