Davey Boy Smith

[7.0] "He was a great tag wrestler in the 80's who came back in the 90's and had a decent run doing singles. Was a good worker in the ring. Had the personality of a doorstop outside of the ring. Matilda, the Bulldogs mascot could've done better promos than the ones he did. They had to bring in his wife to try and give him a little bit of life He was about 240 or 250 when he wrestled as a tag guy in the 80's. He was twenty pounds heavier when he came back in 90. Really overdid it with the supplements. Overall he had a good run, wasn't the greatest but was a solid midcard guy who could wrestle higher up on the card."

[8.0] "Our family loved Davey Boy. We all think about Summerslam against Bret, but he had an incredible career that spanned tons of great matches. Also an impressive singles and tag career. The British Bulldogs were so fun to watch. Great worker and truly understood what to do with his power. Great, fun face to root for also. I wish his singles run was a bit more successful - probably aligning himself with one country hurt him, but we will always remember him."

[8.0] "The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, was a unique mix of power, agility, and charisma. At his peak, he looked like a star and moved like a cruiserweight, which made him stand out in both the tag and singles scenes. His strength-based offense paired with surprising speed made him a crowd favorite, especially in the UK where he was treated like royalty. The Intercontinental Title win over Bret Hart at Wembley Stadium is still one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history -- an all-time classic that showcased just how good he could be when everything clicked. As part of the British Bulldogs with Dynamite Kid, he helped redefine tag team wrestling in the 80s with high-impact, athletic performances. But as a singles wrestler, he was always a step behind true main event status. He had the look, he had moments of greatness, but he lacked the consistency and promo skills to carry the top of the card long term. There were also periods where his conditioning and motivation dipped, and some of his later WWF/WCW runs were uninspired or cut short due to backstage issues and injuries. Still, Bulldog made a real mark"

[8.0] "The definition of overlooked in my opinion. Hugely influential as one half of the Bulldogs and as a singles star seized the pop culture zeitgeist and became the most recognizable wrestler in the UK at the height of his popularity. Great wrestler who combined powerhouse moves with slick mat wrestling and athleticism 20 years beforevit became the norm. Athletically peaked in the 80's but for better or worse will always be remembered for his 90's run in the WWF where issues plagued his career from that point forward. One of the most significant and important wrestlers to come out of Europe. His career will always be linked the Dynamite and the Hart family but in his day truly a unique force."

[8.0] "Wheres's ma title shot? I hit my teenage years post Bulldogs' peak and would hate him in the Attitude Era because he was painfully uncool and the only British representation so I thought he made us look bad. Fortunately since then I have managed to go back and watch him at his peak and he was very good indeed. He has the added bonus of probably being the only wrestler to have his best ever match at the tail end of a quite legendary crack binge."

[5.0] "Going back to rewatch the WWF from 1991 and beyond, I have not been too impressed with The British Bulldog. He seems to have slower-paced matches, which are not my favorite. I can't think of something that has made him stick out yet besides his 1992 match against Bret Hart. I am currently in 1996 and will update this rating if anything changes on my opinion."

[8.0] "Legendary figure in American, Canadian, British, Japanese and ultimately global wrestling. A flurry of circumstance and poor timing kept him away from the WWF World Championship when he was at his hottest but he had a number of terrific matches for that title. Career highlight was defeating Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in front of 80, 000 (approx) but he would also enjoy multiple runs with the World Tag Team titles and WWE's tertiary titles (European and Hardcore). Retrospectively it seems clear that more could have been done by him and others to ensure his continued top level success, whether that be healthier living on his part, less lopsided booking against Shawn Michaels or WCW giving him a title run. He gave the business great matches and great teams/factions and he was gone too soon. His son continues to excel today in tag team wrestling, winning the WWE, IWGP, NWA, GHC, MLW and World of Sport tag titles."

[7.0] "Good 80s and 90s powerhouse. Started out as a great tag team wrestler with Dynamite Kid and then returned as a good singles wrestler with great matches throughout. WCW was bad for his career especially that trap door. Good in ring powerhouse and had good presence but was never the best promo guy."

[7.0] "One of the best power wrestlers of all time. He was still good in the early 90's but the years of steroids and drugs were taking a toll on him and by 1995 he was losing the definition and started to look bloated. Things got worse for Davey at War Games 98 when he landed on that stupid trap door, and we all heard the story about WCW firing him while on injury leave. From that point forward we start introducing pain killers on top of a steroid and crack cocaine habit and it ends as well as you can expect it."

[8.0] "The master of the motherfucking Chinlocks and someone who had the potential to be on of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time with a one of a kind style of devastating power moves mixed with technical class, if it weren't for the fact that Davey Boy was his own worst enemy. His substance abuse problems are well documented in the business, to the point where the guy couldn't even show up sober and trained for the greatest match of his career with Bret at Wembley. If Davey Boy had managed to keep his demons down or under control at the very least, the man could've been a multiple time world champion. Alas, Davey's career shall remain one of the many "What if's? " of pro wrestling."

[8.0] "Amazing, but his demons got in the way. That back injury destroyed him sadly. Deserved way more. At least Summerslam 1992 exists"

[8.0] "Davey Boy was a very great professional wrestler and gave it his all in any circumstance. Always was better in tags as he isn't the greatest on promos, but he had a great career for himself. RIP."

[9.0] "The better half of The British Bulldogs! Davey was one of the better overall workers for many years and remained consistent while also improving in a multitude of ways. His return as a singles star was an absolute success. Not many wrestlers had it better in the very early 90's than Davey! At house shows he was usually a/the show stealer. His first WCW tenure was a wealth of fun and he had notable chemistry with Big Van Vader. I marked n dorked accordingly to his pairing with Sting. Speaking of pairings, he was a tremendous tag team partner - I really loved the tag team with Owen Hart. An ability to usually get something solid from almost anyone until... until that weird back injury he got in WCW post Montreal Screwjob. After that his career fell apart entirely and damn that was depressing. Aside from the fall from grace (*sigh* huge loss...) his legacy speaks for itself; the ring work has aged very well and he's a perfect babyface. The heel work is carried by his peers as he didn't really have the ability to "heel it up" on his own and we actually commend him for that! The wrestling world was a better place with a baby face Davey Boy Smith giving us warm fuzzy happy feelings time and time again. 9.25 rounded down."

[7.0] "DBS was, at times, fantastic (great athlete) but often because of who he was in the ring with. He tagged with Dynamite KId who, while a POS personally, is one of the greatest in-ring workers of all time. His match with Bret at Summerslam '92 was an all-time classic and probably the apex of Davey's career but he was famously carried through the match by Bret. He had more excellent matches with Bret, some great ones with Shawn, but was always in the shadow of many others. His WCW runs are pretty much entirely forgettable. British Bulldogs in AJPW and WWF were fantastic. A very good career but not a game-changer."

[7.0] "Now this one is tricky, because I loved him as a kid, but looking back at many of his matches and promos, man, he fluctuated! British Bulldogs was a great team, Davey was incredibly athletic, he would be a 9 back than just based on that. He could still do certain things even in the mid 90s, but gosh, so many times he is totally out of shape, slurring, cannot talk to save his life, he is always hard to understand to begin with. His performances can be 10 against your Bret Harts and Shawns, and can be 3 against other guys, where he cannot even lift his opponent for a running powerslam, no matter how much his opponent tries to jump up. As a WCW fan, I was so excited to see him come in 98, but his WWF 97 and early 1998 in WCW is like two totally different people. When he was in shape, he looked super strong, carried himself like a champ, other times he was bloated, pudgy, out of shape, out of breath and he looked 20 years older than he was. I don? t think I know any other wrestler, that could be really good and really-really-really bad just a few months removed. Very inconsistent. It would not be fair to call him a 10 and it would not be fair to call him a 4, but he could be both, depending how fit his body - and his mind was."

[6.0] "If he was up against the right wrestler he could be a very solid worker in his own right, but throughout his career he did seem to need to lean on other people for performances and charisma."

[0.0] "Okay if this ones an issue please remove it but I've only seen 1993-2000 Bulldog so my opinion on him is extremely low. I've heard a lot of people talk about how good he was until the accident but even before the accident I thought he was shit."

[6.0] "Maybe I didn't catch his career at its peak, but from what I saw he was ok. Nothing special, but ok. He was a solid midcarder who could main event in a pinch, but couldn't credibly challenge for the title. Solid, but unremarkable."

[7.0] "Decent powerhouse wrestler and had a good run with the WWF in the 90s, but had two years in the WCW that just fell flat. Looked pretty awful at the end of his career, and it's sad his life ended how it did."

[8.0] "Was sort of lucky because when WWF first started to become popular here (the UK) in 1990-91. He stood out because he was the only British Wrestler and he was someone we would get behind and Vince caught on to this and marketed him as the British Hulk Hogan and had sell out tour after sell out tour, culminating in Summerslam 92 at Wembley Stadium where he captured the intercontinental championship but then he fell out with the WWF and was not quite the same draw ever again. Was a good junior Heavyweight in NJPW in his early days and tag team with Dynamite was good. Not as good in the ring in the years mentioned earlier due to having too much muscle. Didnt really do much in WCW. Came back in 94 to the WWF leaner and better. When he turned heel in 95 was when he was at his best for me having good matches with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Decent part of the Hart Foundation but left after the Montreal screw job. After injuring himself in WCW was not capable of doing bumps but carried on regardless. Despite his shortcomings and early death he will be remembered as one of the all time greatest British Wrestlers."

[6.0] "I am completely shocked at the very high marks for British Bulldog, cause in real time, he did not at all get that kind of love. He was liked more than Jim Neidhart, but that's about it. Anyway, just to actually be objective, he was a decent power based wrestler that as far as I know innovated the Running Powerslam, and looked like a million bucks. Was an ok talker, nothing standout, but he got his point across even with the very strong accent. Has a couple classics under his belt, but was most often a complementary to a better person. I enjoyed his Attitude era stint when he came back to win the Hardcore title, but he was clearly out of his prime, yet was still interesting."

[8.0] "I remember him being mauled by a very angry-looking Adrian Street: absolutely tremendous babyface performance by Smith who managed to alternate perfectly between being a hairbreath away from throwing the towel in and being willing to fight on until his last breath. The fact his no-talent son still lives on the Davey Boy Smith name tells you just how great this man was. However he just missed that final 1% to be an all time great: he was never the best promo man and his personal problems made him difficult to work just when he was becoming a worldwide name."

[8.0] "Davey Boy was one of the most iconic British wrestlers of all time, and you can really see why: a incredible look, solid single and tag work at multiple different levels, and a slick, powerhouse style that was surprising to see out of someone who was relatively "small" by wrestling standards. I would say that two main factors held him back from the top spot, or at least a contender position, namely that he wasn't very good at all on the mic, and could, at best, cut bland babyface promos. He had none of the natural charisma that guys like Shawn, Bret, Razor, etc shared, and at some points it was painfully clear that he was reading from a script. The second was a bit more serious: his drug abuse, both in terms of steroids and other recreational substances, ultimately killed him, as well as cut his wrestling quality way down. If he wasn't being carried by someone else (namely, someone like Bret) then he couldn't really have a great match. If you can't even have a good showing against a prime Shawn Michaels, there's a clear problem."

[10.0] "Great performer. Too bad he is not in the WWE Hall of Fame. He was great at taking downs his opponents. The matches he had with Bret Hart, Sting, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and Owen Hart were phenomenal."

[9.0] "Davey Boy Smith will always be held in the very highest regard by British wrestling fans. The iconic victory over Bret at Summerslam at Wembley is still by far the greatest moment in British wrestling history. That no other Brit has come close to being booked to that level shows just how brilliant he was."

[9.0] "Part of me believes that he should have seen more time as a main event player, especially in 1995 when the roster was kind of slim on top tier talent. One of his only top runs against Shawn didn't work for multiple reasons though, so I do understand them keeping him as just a midcarder while he was a solo act. Great in the team with Dynamite & even better as a member of the Hart Foundation. A shame he left WWE when he did, because he flopped pretty hard in WCW. Although I certainly understand why he would want to leave WWE when he did."

[9.0] "The term "ahead of their time" gets thrown around a bit too much for my taste but this is one of those cases where it definitely applies. Davey Boy Smith could have probably gotten over through sheer talent alone in just about any era. Just amazing."

[9.0] "He was a great wrestler, a guy who can destroy anyone anytime, to bad his back gave up on him later on his career, to bad wwe hasnt got him into hall of fame, to bad wwe hasnt made a DVD of his career yet wheb he gave em so much..."

[7.0] "Davey Boy Smith was a really good powerhouse wrestler, and while he could be part of some great matches, he had to be carried every step of the way."

[10.0] "While most might remember the stocky powerhouse that was a upper midcard and main event fixture for the better part of the 90s, the Davey Boy Smith that was part of the British Bulldogs was the truly great one. Similiar to his cousin and long-time tag partner, the Dynamite Kid, Smith had an excellent style that blended exciting power moves, smooth acrobatics and slick European catch-as-catch-can wrestling skills also train by stu hart in the dungeon style mat base then add in aggressive Japanese style too even though more grounded then dynamite kid that didn't mean he didn't have aerial ability because he did have some aerial ability and moves he had very very good speed now when he even got more jack up now this took away from his skills and abilities speed agility, now with his larger more muscle up look got him a bigger push and a bigger spot light Davey Boy Smith is perhaps the most well-known and successful British wrestler to ever compete in the US. He enjoyed success as both a top flight worker in the 80s and capable babyface and heel in the 90s. also fantastic tag team worker too 1st as a trendsetting British Bulldogs and then later with Owen Hart"

[10.0] "One of the most underrated performers of all-time. He was a top draw for many years and his run as a heel from 1995-97 was very underrated as well. At the time, I didn't want to boo him but he was a fantastic heel. One of the best ever and deserves the accolades as such."

[8.0] "British Bulldog is a man with many classics, great feuds and popularity to his name. A true legend who has been a big draw, especially in the uk and is someone I recommend people watch."

[9.0] "Loved davy boy before the steriods got out of control. His first decade in the business was as good as any of the current high flyers."

[10.0] "The British Bulldog was a very admirable man, in fact the one thing i don't like bout him is how he and the dynamite kid never got back together... In his early days wrestling up in Canada with Stu Hart and his Dynasty, he was built for success along with Owen, Bret, Jim he was a machine in wrestling and defined what being a powerhouse was all about... He debuted in the original WWF in 1985 alongside his other Bulldog, The Dynamite Kid and they would go on to capture The Tag Titles two or three times... They even won one at a Wrestlemania. But after a big fight with Dynamite Kid, the British Bulldog took the teams disbanded name and made it his own. To this day even after Daveys death Dynamite Kid still has no forgiveness for his former brother at heart BB. At the time he started taking Steroids which would lead to his ultimate demise in 2002. Even so BB was a powerhouse and captured another World Tag Team Championship... He won the IC championship and won the European championship in 1997. Even when his closest friend Bret left for WCW he kept with the company a little while longer until tragedy at the Kemper Arena struck in 1998. Immediately afterwards in a state of mourning he left for WCW/NWO. 2 years later he returned to the WWE a new man sporting blue jeans and no British flag whatsoever he won the Hardcore Championship 1 or 2 times and won with an absolute ambush of Crash Holly.. . In 2002 The British Bulldog aka Davey Boy Smith died of a heart failure... The wwe mourned the loss of a true patriot of wrestling... He was the Hulk Hogan of Great Britain.. He was Very respectful of others and hated it when somebody didnt like him... Although he was a big steroid user, his heart was the biggest muscle in his body... He gave his life for this sport and we repayed him by cheering him on and eventually inducting him into the Hall OF Fame... R. I. P Davey Boy Smith his bite was always bigger than his British bark. ;)"

[8.0] "Great wrestler. Dispite his death he is amazing. To bad his brother was a better wrestler, so Davey looked better by commparison."