Bret Hart Explains How Davey Boy Smith Was "A Little Bit Corrupted" By The Dynamite Kid
On episode 28 of Confessions Of The Hitman, two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Bret 'Hitman' Hart weighed in on The British Bulldogs, The Dynamite Kid, and Davey Boy Smith. Specifically, Hart talked about The Bulldogs' upbringing and training in England. Hart shared his thoughts on the relationship between the real life cousins. Hart discussed Dynamite Kid threatening to leave the Stampede Wrestling territory if Davey Boy was brought over. Also, Hart claimed that Dynamite Kid's poor attitude rubbed off on Davey Boy.
Hart began his talk on The British Bulldogs by saying the two were cousins but not close because Dynamite was always a bully from his so-called Napoleon Complex.
"Well, Dynamite and Davey were actually cousins," Hart said. "They lived about a block away from each other in two different counties or two different townships. Davey was from a place called Golborne [Lancashire, England], I think, and Dynamite was from [Wigan, Manchester, England]. Anyway, they were not that close of friends growing up. Dynamite, I think, was always a bit of a bully and a bit of a hard kid. He was always hard, tough. I think he was one of those guys who had a chip on his shoulder, had a bit of a small man complex, but he was an amazing wrestler."
Hart claimed that Smith ended up training at the same places as Dynamite Kid because the more "naïve" Davey Boy looked up to his older cousin. 'The Hitman' divulged that Dynamite Kid was always jealous of Smith.
"Dynamite ended up learning a style [of wrestling] and Davey ended up following in Dynamite's footsteps, going through the same training school." Hart continued, "And Dynamite, in my opinion, was always a little jealous of Davey. Davey was very innocent and a naïve kind of kid. Yeah, I think he really looked up to Dynamite and wanted to emulate Dynamite. He thought Dynamite was like a big brother to him, and Dynamite often was a big brother to him."
Apparently, during Dynamite Kid's first stint with Stampede Wrestling, the grappler was not happy that Smith was coming over, and he even threatened to leave the territory.
"I just remember that when Davey came to Calgary, Dynamite was already in Calgary, and he was pretty much my dad's top guy at that point. It would be fair to say Dynamite was my dad's top guy." Hart said, "I remember when I told Dynamite, though, the day they saw pictures of Davey and that he was coming in. I thought he'd be happy to know it, a new guy from England, but he was very upset, and he told me, 'If you got him coming in, you don't need me', and he was going to go home. Eventually Davey did come, and I think [Dynamite Kid] realized that we're short of guys, and we need some guys, and let's give him a try and see how it works, and he opened up to Davey. He was not very happy that [Davey Boy] was there."
In Hart's expert opinion, Smith was at his best in Stampede Wrestling. 'The Excellence Of Execution' opined that 'The British Bulldog' got too immobile and bulky in WWE.
"I think Davey, when he wrestled in Stampede Wrestling, looked his best and was wrestling his best. When he went to WWF, I felt he got too big. He was a really fast, skilled wrestler, and he went on to become a cement-truck-parking kind of thing." Hart recalled, "[Smith] had much less maneuverability, but he liked being the strongman, and he was really strong."
Hart reminisced about The British Bulldogs being so strong and intoxicated that they would flip cars over as they left the bar.
"[Smith] and Dynamite were both very strong. I can remember going to clubs and stuff, and when they would leave the bar, they would turn cars over upside-down in the parking lot. You always go out to the car and go 'the Bulldogs had been here' because there'd be a car flipped completely upside-down." Hart remembered, "They were like that all the time."
Hart suggested that Smith was naïve and ended up being "corrupted" by Dynamite Kid.
"I think, unfortunately, Davey was kind of a naïve, innocent kind of guy. He did become a little bit corrupted by Dynamite. It was a very hard edge, kind of; he was a guy who always had a chip on his shoulder." Hart added, "Davey was very impressionable, and Dynamite made a really bad impression. A really good one, but a bad one on who Davey would become. I mean, Davey was always a good guy. He was like having a big, friendly Doberman Pinscher that you let him play with another dog for a while and now he's not very friendly anymore. Davey kind of turned into that, where he was sort of more aggressive and he had a different attitude."
Hart compared the relationship between the members of The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs, and explained that Dynamite Kid called the shots for the English tag team, similar to how Hart would direct what he and the late great Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart would do in the ring on behalf of The Hart Foundation. 'The Best There Is, Was, And Ever Will Be' stated that Smith did himself a disservice by taking a backseat to Dynamite, as it stunted the development of his wrestling skills.
"Davey, much like me and Jim Neidhart, I was the boss of the wrestling. I could remember telling Jim, 'You're in charge of the interviews. That's your market and I'll follow you on that, but the wrestling, I'll be the one to tell us, nah, we're not doing that', or 'we'll do that.” Like, because you're always faced with options in [pro] wrestling, like, 'we could do this or we could do that.' And Jim was always like, 'you figure that out.' I was the guy that figured out what we were going to do all the time. And then Jim would do this, and I'd tell Jim what he's doing, like, that kind of thing. So, Jim had no problem letting me be in charge, and Davey was the same with Dynamite. Davey didn't put much thought into anything. It's a shame because back in Calgary, earlier before this, he was forced to do things and think on his own. He was building his style up and becoming a really good wrestler. A great wrestler, in fact."
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