British Bulldogs Thread:

[Montague]

Excellent match between Davey & Hennig:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x272f9_british-bulldog-vs-mr-perfect-wwf-i_sport

[Montague]

I remember when this match took place.

Bulldog's return was a big deal in the wrestling biz because it was not long after Owen’s accident and Smith's lengthy stay in the hospital.

Bret kept taking digs at Davey in his Calgary Sun column, labeling him a traitor.
Stu actually stood up for Davey.
Vince supposedly signed Smith to a generous contract with some lucrative conditions.

But, we didn’t find out the really juicy stuff until years later through books & interviews.
If anyone still hasn’t picked up Bret’s autobio, I highly recommend it for that reason.

[Playboy]

I remember when this match took place.

Bulldog's return was a big deal in the wrestling biz because it was not long after Owen’s accident and Smith's lengthy stay in the hospital.

Bret kept taking digs at Davey in his Calgary Sun column, labeling him a traitor.
Stu actually stood up for Davey.
Vince supposedly signed Smith to a generous contract with some lucrative conditions.

But, we didn’t find out the really juicy stuff until years later through books & interviews.
If anyone still hasn’t picked up Bret’s autobio, I highly recommend it for that reason.

Probably because he was divorcing Bret's sister.

[Montague]

More of a bump than anything:

[Montague]

Okay, here's a much better one - sort of a truncated version of their 1997 Berlin match for the European title.
If you look, it's easy to see many of the same spots from the latter:

Still hard to imagine/believe that both of these guys are long gone.
Seems like only yesterday...

[Playboy]

Okay, here's a much better one - sort of a truncated version of their 1997 Berlin match for the European title.
If you look, it's easy to see many of the same spots from the latter:

Still hard to imagine/believe that both of these guys are long gone.
Seems like only yesterday...

I wa watching my Stone Cold dvd the other night and saw the match where he fought Owen Hart for the IC title back in 1997. That was the same night Owen accidently dropped Austin on his head in the reverse pile driver. It was a phenomenal match and it does seem like only yesterday he fell 7 stories from the Kemp Arena in St.Louis. Sad shit.

[Montague]

Back on page 4, I posted the video of Davey vs. Steamboat from The Wrestling Classic.
In the interest of fairness...

This next clip is a superb match with the added bonus of a wonderful shot of Liz's gorgeous tits as she climbs the steps at the 1:08 mark.
I can say that now because I would no longer have to fight Macho for it.
 

[Alex23]

LOL OMG.. I remember the day this thread popped up.. like years ago LOL!

[Montague]

Their infamous SS match always gets a lot of accolades, but this PPV match was a very solid outing for both men.

[Montague]

Raymond Rougeau's account of the 1987 backstage scrap between his brother & Dynamite:

[Montague]

[Hulkster]

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

check out the insane slam at around the 9 min. mark.

 

[leaky_frog]

Probably because he was divorcing Bret's sister.

  Bret actually buried his sister worse than Davey Boy IMO; talked about her pushing him to trademark the name British Bulldog, screwing Dynamite out of any chance to use it.  Bret's account of the Summer Slam match at Wembley didn't do Davey any favors, though.  Basically said he was high and blown up early, making Bret feed him one move at a time.  Still, I loved watching them work together- I'll never forget Davey Boy's second run in WWF; he looked like they'd hooked him up to an air pump when he came out, he was so swole.

[Montague]

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

check out the insane slam at around the 9 min. mark.

 

Davey was always regarded as one of the strongest guys in the locker room..
Even considering he was almost always "on," it's pretty impressive, given you had guys like Warlord, Dino Bravo, and Ken Patera around at the time.

Did you see Earthquke go for an Andre move by "walking" across Davey's chest at 8:44?
His foot slipped & slid into Davey's chin.
Smith's lucky he didn't get seriously hurt there.

[Montague]

  Bret actually buried his sister worse than Davey Boy IMO; talked about her pushing him to trademark the name British Bulldog, screwing Dynamite out of any chance to use it.  Bret's account of the Summer Slam match at Wembley didn't do Davey any favors, though.  Basically said he was high and blown up early, making Bret feed him one move at a time.  Still, I loved watching them work together- I'll never forget Davey Boy's second run in WWF; he looked like they'd hooked him up to an air pump when he came out, he was so swole.

Bret put together a great match for that card.
He & Davey had several excellent singles matches together.
I think the Wembley SS match gets all the attention because of the magnitude of the event: the attendance and Davey winning the I-C belt.

[leaky_frog]

I think my favorite "family" match on a major card was Owen and Bret at WMX, when Bret put Owen over.  That's one reason Bret is my favorite; the more he sold, the more over he got, and the more his opponent drew heat; not many guys could build themselves at the same time they built up someone else.

[The Showstoppa]

I think my favorite "family" match on a major card was Owen and Bret at WMX, when Bret put Owen over.  That's one reason Bret is my favorite; the more he sold, the more over he got, and the more his opponent drew heat; not many guys could build themselves at the same time they built up someone else.

Same reason I think Flair is the greatest of all-time.

[Montague]

I’ve always liked Bret’s grading system regarding the three qualities that constitute a good wrestler:

1.) Physical look/presence: 1-10

2.) Ability to talk: 1-10

3.) Wrestling ability: 1-10

The best wrestlers score somewhere in the high 20’s.
I can only think of Flair and a few others with that type of score.

IMO, Hogan would only score about a 4 on wrestling ability with 9-10 on look and mic. work.
Fortunately for Hulkster, he peaked at a time in which technical ability was overlooked because the main emphasis was on talking & appearance.
He had & excelled at what he needed.

That’s what made him extremely marketable, and I believe it is also why he began to lose some steam towards the end of his first WWF run.
The Hulkamania act was getting a little stale, but also, fans were demanding a little more substance for their money.

[The Showstoppa]

I’ve always liked Bret’s grading system regarding the three qualities that constitute a good wrestler:

1.) Physical look/presence: 1-10

2.) Ability to talk: 1-10

3.) Wrestling ability: 1-10

The best wrestlers score somewhere in the high 20’s.
I can only think of Flair and a few others with that type of score.

IMO, Hogan would only score about a 4 on wrestling ability with 9-10 on look and mic. work.
Fortunately for Hulkster, he peaked at a time in which technical ability was overlooked because the main emphasis was on talking & appearance.
He had & excelled at what he needed.

That’s what made him extremely marketable, and I believe it is also why he began to lose some steam towards the end of his first WWF run.
The Hulkamania act was getting a little stale, but also, fans were demanding a little more substance for their money.

I agree.  Its the same thing that put a damper on Steamboat returing to WCW.  His time period of "family guy" was not what the public was looking for as this was the time of Miami Vice, etc... where the bad guys didn't always lose at the end.  Simply put, it was the beginning of it being "cool" to like heels on a large scale.  Hogans time in the WWF was the same way, UW kinda picked up as Hogan was fading, but people grew tired of him as well.    And I think it's why the next go-around for Hogan in the WCW, he was smart enough to hitch his wagon to Hall/Nash/nWo as soon as the opportunity was ripe.  Hogan might not be able to technically wrestle, but he is probably the smartest business guy in the history of the sport.

[Montague]

And, I think that’s one of the biggest reasons that Hulkster was always so marketable.
He adapted and did the most with what he had.

As far as UW…had he come up the same time Hogan did in the early 80’s, he may have had greater success, but IMO, he wouldn’t have had the same longevity as Hogan because Hellwig was a little too one-dimensional.

Whereas Hulk Hogan was charismatic, “Jim” seemed more of a novelty.

[The Showstoppa]

And, I think that’s one of the biggest reasons that Hulkster was always so marketable.
He adapted and did the most with what he had.

As far as UW…had he come up the same time Hogan did in the early 80’s, he may have had greater success, but IMO, he wouldn’t have had the same longevity as Hogan because Hellwig was a little too one-dimensional.

Whereas Hulk Hogan was charismatic, “Jim” seemed more of a novelty.

Agree.  UW was a great entrance and about 3 minutes of action before the finish.  anything other than that and he looked lost in the ring....somebody posted a vid of one of his matches and thought it was good, but i just thought he looked like he wasn't sure what to do.

[Montague]

Yeah.
On the "Bret Scale," I'd give him

Look: 10
Mic: 7 (I'm fussing a bit with this one because some of his promos were decent, while others...)
Wrestling Ability: 2 (1 being able make it to the ring apron)

Total: roughly 19

[leaky_frog]

Agree.  UW was a great entrance and about 3 minutes of action before the finish.  anything other than that and he looked lost in the ring....somebody posted a vid of one of his matches and thought it was good, but i just thought he looked like he wasn't sure what to do.

  I thought where UW fell apart was when he got the World title and aped Hogan's ring routine.  He'd get the tar knocked out of him the whole match, then "hulk up" at the end becoming invincible.  Also, he dumped the press slam as his finisher and replaced it with the flying shoulder tackle, which was awesome, but not as cool as the slam.  He rose to the top being an unstoppable monster, but looked totally human as champ. 
  The other thing with UW was he was only as good as his opponent.  Rick Rude sold Warrior's moves like a condom salesman in a whorehouse.  Without that, his weaknesses were pretty blatant.  And I say that as a guy who was a fan as a kid.

[Montague]

The other thing with UW was he was only as good as his opponent.

Unfortunately, Warrior never understood this, and thus, he never respected the other talent who enabled him to pass his matches.
I know Hogan gets ragged on a lot, but UW could never have worked a program with someone like Zeus/Lister the way Hogan did.
 
If Hellwig was as good and valuable as he thought he was in his O.W.N. mind, then Vince would have given him the Hogan/Austin/Rock type contract.

[Hulkster]

Warrior and Davey Boy side by side in 1988 just after Warrior won the IC title at SS 88.

classic: