Bret Hart Discusses The Dynamite Kid Being a Corrupting Influence on Davey Boy Smith

During his Confessions of The Hitman show, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart reflected on The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) and their dynamic together. According to Hart, The Dynamite Kid was a corrupting influence on the more naive and innocent Davey Boy. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com).

Bret Hart on The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid): “Well, Dynamite and Davey were actually cousins. 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 on Dynamite being jealous of Davey: “Dynamite ended up learning a style [of wrestling] and Davey ended up following in Dynamite’s footsteps, going through the same training school, 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.”

Hart on what happened after Davey Boy Smith arrives in Calgary: “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. 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.”

Hart on Smith being a top worker in Stampede Wrestling: “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. [Smith] had much less maneuverability, but he liked being the strongman, and he was really strong.”

On the British Bulldogs: “[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. They were like that all the time.”

His thoughts on Dynamite Kid being a corrupted influence on Davey Boy Smith: “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. 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 on Dynamite being the boss of the duo: “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.”