Goody Bag 72: The British Bulldog

 

Demolition v The British Bulldogs: From a WWF house show in Milan Italy on October 15 1988, with a giant Halls cough drops logo on the mat. This is right at the end of the WWF line for the Bulldogs as a team, and the WWF Tag Team title is not on the line. Ax and Davey Boy Smith start, and the champ pounds him down. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Smith dodges, and hammers Ax down. Tag to Smash, but Davey is ready with a bodyslam as he comes in, and he passes to Dynamite Kid. Kid drills Smash with a headbutt, and tries a headlock, but Smash wants to criss cross. Kid wins that with a clothesline for two, but gets clobbered by Ax, and Smash capitalizes with a series of axehandles. Tag to Ax for some double teaming, and they cut the ring in half on Kid. Kid gets some good hope spots in, but gets manhandled, until finally fighting Smash off long enough to make the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The champs manage to dump Dynamite over the top so they can double up on Davey, but Kid recovers, and dives with a flying bodypress for the pin at 8:01. I’m honestly shocked they put the Bulldogs over here, all things considered. **

Davey Boy Smith v Samson Fuyuki: From an SWS TV show in Fukui Japan on September 16 1991. Davey grounds him in an armbar to start, but Fuyuki fights to a vertical base, and counters to a full-nelson. Clearly, Fuyuki hadn’t been watching a lot of WWF TV in 1991. Bulldog quickly breaks free of the hold, but Fuyuki slugs him down, and then outsmarts Bulldog in the corner. Fuyuki with a seated senton for two, and I swear these commentators are discussing Ichiban for men right now. Smith works an armbar ahead of a hanging vertical suplex (emphasis on the ‘hanging’) for two, and he takes Fuyuki to school with a surfboard. Fuyuki escapes, so Davey dumps him to the outside, but Samson beats the count. He sweeps Davey to the outside to smash into the timekeeper’s table, and he sends him into the guardrail for good measure. Smith beats the count as well, and they do a test-of-strength, won by Bulldog with a monkeyflip. He adds a piledriver for two, but Fuyuki counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two. Spinkick follows, and a bodypress sends both men tumbling over the top. Fuyuki hustles back in to climb to the top for a flying bodypress on the floor, and he rolls Davey in, but Bulldog gets vertical and tries suplexing him back in. That triggers a reversal sequence that ends in Fuyuki victory cradling for two, but a flying bodypress gets caught in the running powerslam at 10:26. Kind of slow at points, but totally solid, and really picked up towards the end. * ¼ 

Davey Boy Smith and Ashura Hara v Haku and Yoshiaki Yatsu: From SWS TV on December 12 1991 in Tokyo Japan. Hara and Haku start, and Hara chops the absolute shit out of him for a bit, as Haku just takes shot after shot like it’s a party. Tag to Yatsu to DDT Hara for one, but he makes the mistake of throwing chops, and Hara responds in kind. They’re throwing some real bombs out there. Yatsu with a clothesline, but Hara blocks a bulldog, and Bulldog runs in to attack. That allows the tag to Smith, and Davey takes Yatsu to the mat for a chinlock. Back to Hara for a clothesline and a suplex for two, and Smith tags back in for a corner clothesline, but Yatsu German suplexes him back to center ring. That allows a tag to Haku for a spike piledriver, but Hara saves. Haku responds by chucking Bulldog out of the ring, and he follows to whip him into the guardrail out there. Inside, Haku delivers a shoulderbreaker for two, and he goes to a chinlock from there. The heels work Bulldog over, until Smith catches Haku with a bodypress for two during a criss cross, and makes the tag to Hara. Hara comes in with a vertical suplex on Haku for two, and Yatsu runs in - Roseanne Barr the door! The babyfaces dump Yatsu so they can gang up on Haku, and Bulldog hooks him in an inside cradle at 7:37. **

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Bret Hart v Davey Boy Smith: WWF TV taping dark match in Binghamton New York on June 30 1992. Some measuring to start, with Bulldog dominating. He puts the Hitman on the outside with a shoulderblock, but Hart regroups, and gets his challenger in a mat-based side-headlock upon returning. Smith forces to a vertical base, and tries a press-slam, but Hart blocks. Rollup, but Davey blocks, so Bret goes to an inside cradle for two instead. Back to the side-headlock, but Davey counters to a hammerlock this time, and he works the arm. Bret gets to a vertical base and reverses a wristlock, but Bulldog does some fancy footwork, reversing back, and grounding the champion in an armbar. Hart whips him into the ropes to escape, but Smith is ready with a crucifix for two, and he armdrags Bret back into the armbar. Hart escapes with a criss cross, and manages to throw a knee to put Davey down, and the Hitman puts the boots to him, taking a bit of a heelish edge now. Hart with an inverted atomic drop, and he pounds on him for a two count. Chinlock, but Davey fights to a vertical base, so Bret headbutts him. Smith tries a crucifix, but Hart is ready with a Samoan drop this time, and he plants him with a piledriver for two. Bret with a snap suplex for two, but Davey counters an uppercut into a backslide for two. Hart cuts him off with a pointed elbowdrop, however, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop for two. Sharpshooter looks to finish, but Bulldog is in the ropes before the Hitman can get it on. Bulldog fires off a leg-feed enzuigiri, and he wins a criss cross with a catapult into the corner. Davey adds a cross corner whip, and he clobbers Hart with a clothesline on the rebound for two. Smith with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and he goes for the running powerslam, but the champ counters to a sleeper! Davey fades, but manages to fight to a vertical base, and he drops into the corner to shake the Hitman off. That leads to a reversal sequence that ends in both guys taking a spill over the top, and Bulldog nearly picks up a countout victory, but Bret scraps to the apron in time. Davey responds by trying to suplex him back in, but Bret counters to a bridging German suplex at 13:52. These two were not capable of having bad matches with one another. While this wasn’t their best one, you could see a lot of what would become the SummerSlam match baked into this, which I found especially interesting. ** ¼ 

WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Jeff Jarrett v Davey Boy Smith: WWF TV taping dark match from Danbury Connecticut on May 16 1995. Roadie with a distraction to allow Jeff to gain control right away, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Bulldog counters with a hanging vertical suplex. Smith adds a clothesline, so Roadie trips him off, and Jarrett dumps his challenger to the outside. Jarrett follows, but gets reversed into the apron, so Roadie assists with another distraction, and Jeff turns it around. The camera crew decided to shoot this from the hard camera with no zooming, which is not the best look, but is unique, if nothing else. Inside, Jarrett ropechokes him, as Lex Luger shows up to chase Roadie away. That allows Smith to fight Jeff off, and he delivers a suplex. Clothesline knocks Jarrett over the top, and Bulldog retrieves the ladder. He climbs, but Jarrett tips it over, and hits him with a straddling ropechoke. Jeff nails him with the ladder from there, and he dumps Davey to the outside to give him a chance to climb. Jarrett goes for it, but Smith dropkicks the ladder over to save, and then whips Jeff into it to knock him loopy. Bulldog hits him with the ladder next, and he climbs, but Jarrett comes up the opposing side. They slug it out, ending in both men taking a spill to the canvas. Jarrett recovers first and leans the ladder in the corner to whip Smith into, but the challenger reverses. Press-slam follows, allowing Bulldog to make a climb, but now it’s Jeff’s turn to dropkick it over. Jarrett climbs, so Bulldog tips him over, but Jeff already has hold of the belt, and the momentum unhooks it to give him the win at 9:05. What an oddity this one is for a dark match on a random taping. * ¾ 

Davey Boy Smith v Dude Love: From Friday Night's Main Event on September 5 1997 (taped August 23) in Chicago Illinois, with Davey’s WWF European title not on the line. Bulldog attacks on the floor as Dude is having a chat with Jim Ross, and Davey unloads on him with weapons out there. Inside, Smith uses a cross corner whip to rattle the ring, and a second corner whip gives the posts an encore. Backdrop, but Dude blocks, and he hammers Smith into the corner, but hits a boot on a charge. That allows Smith a straddling ropechoke, but Dude finds a sleeper to buy time. Bulldog fights free, but hits an elbow on a charge, and Dude makes a lateral press for two. Another sleeper, but Bulldog dumps him to the outside to escape, and sends Love into the guardrail out there. Bulldog adds a whip into the steps out there, and a legdrop gets him two on the way back in. Chinlock, but Love fights free, and drops him with a jawbreaker. Dude with a series of turnbuckle smashes for two as he goes on the comeback trail, and a swinging neckbreaker leads to the double-arm DDT - only for Owen Hart to run in for the DQ at 7:08. Not the best showing, but it was a simple TV match, nothing crazy. ¾*

Davey Boy Smith and Harry Smith v Rob Stardom and Ryan Wood: From a TRCW event on May 10 2002 in Brandon Manitoba Canada, in Smith’s second to last match (and his first since leaving the WWF in 2000). Davey looks to be in pretty decent shape, though that might just be in comparison to these backyard wrestling goofs he’s out there with. Bulldog press-slams the heels at each other on the outside, and passes to Harry to dominate Rob on the mat. Stardom turns the tide and works a front-facelock, then passes to Wood… who promptly walks into an armdrag into an armbar. Over to Davey for a hanging vertical suplex, and a backdrop follows. Even in his diminished state, Davey still looks like a real wrestler doing real wrestling, compared to these kids. But those two moves are about it for him, and he passes back to Harry after that sprint. Harry powerbombs Wood for two, and Bulldog tags back in with a piledriver. and it’s back to Harry for a cross corner whip, but Wood rebounds with a spinheel kick. The heels take control on Harry, until Stardom misses a flying splash, and Bulldog gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Davey with a running powerslam on Stardom at 17:08. This was not good. Davey was not good, and the other three were backyard level guys doing super basic stuff in a match that dragged on way too long for their skill level. Davey wrestled one more match the next day in Winnipeg (a six-man tag), before passing away about a week later at only thirty nine years of age. ¼*