pt.1Fan Q & A with The British BulldogJanuary 30, 1998One on one with The Bulldog It may have taken longer than expected, but SLAM! Wrestling's Greg Oliver finally interviewed The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith over the phone from his Calgary home on January 30, 1998.
Most of the questions were submitted by SLAM! Wrestling readers. Unfortunately, some of the three-week old questions were a little out of date by the time the interview was conducted, as The Bulldog had returned to action on WCW Monday Nitro January 26, beating Steve Mongo McMichael.
Below is the transcript of the 45-minute interview. I've given credit to the readers who sent in questions. As always, we welcome your comments at goliver@canoemail.com.
Q: Did it feel good to get back in the ring Monday night?
A: It felt great. I wasn't really expecting to be in the ring so fast in WCW. But they wanted to put me out there. They wanted me to be out there in the last pay-per-view, the Starrcade one, because Diesel, what's his name, Kevin Nash was hurt. They wanted me to wrestle Scott Hall. But my knee wasn't fully recovered. But I got there on Monday and found out I was working with Steve McMichael. It was good to get back in the ring. But I was a little bit ring rusty. It's like riding a bike, you just never forget right. You just keep going.
Q: How is the knee? [Frank Livyns, Belgium]
A: It's really good, you know. I got four tears fixed in it, but my anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] is still torn in half. They said that if they fixed that, it would take five to six months to heal. I didn't want to take five to six months off. I'd already taken two and half, almost three months off. I'd rather just get back in the ring. It doesn't feel like it's torn but it is. My legs are so strong that it doesn't really bother me.
Q: Are you going to take any precautions, like wearing a knee brace?
A: Yeah, I've got the knee brace still. I'll take some precautions -- wrap my knees, and really warm up before I go into the ring. Stuff like that. Since he fixed the four tears in it, it's been really strong. It feels as strong as it ever felt.
Q: Got a question here wondering how long you're signed for, and whatever details of the contract you can give. [Mike LaValley]
A: I don't really want to disclose the money part of it. I got more money than the WWF and less days.
Q: So how many days of the year would you be working?
A: I would say 180. As opposed to the 280 or whatever it was in the WWF. They had me going every single night. Just mind-boggling how many nights I would wrestle. I would never get a day off.
Q: How long have you signed for?
A: I've signed for three years.
Q: Did you learn anything from having the longer contract before? Did you purposely sign for less?
A: No, the WCW contracts are basically three-year contracts where Vince's [McMahon] were five-year contracts. It's the same old situation where you sign a WWF contract and everything's for them, and nothing's for you. You're locked in, you can't get out. It's always stipulations. Everything's for them, and nothing's for you. You have all these masterminds in the WWF running it, running a sinking ship I should say. That's what I told Vince on the phone. They're wannabes. They thrive on bad taste, shock value, fancy angles, things like that. Vince told me in December before I had the knee surgery that he wanted to go a different route. He wanted to get away from the wrestling and more to entertainment. I don't want to be involved in this sexual stuff and racism. All I've done is be a wrestler. I'm not turning obscene gestures towards the camera, talking about sending your wife over to my house and I'll show her a good hard time. It got to a point where I can't even let my kids watch the show. I told Vince that. I can't let my kids watch the show. Vince came out on TV and said we've going a different route, it's going to go be an adult show. If you don't want your kids watching, then don't let them watch TV. He said that himself right on TV. Shawn [Michaels] comes out on TV and says Davey's hurt his knee or something. He went on TV and forfeited the belt. Supposedly a knee injury that was career ending. They did an MRI on his knee and couldn't find anything wrong with it. They did an MRI on mine and said your knee's shot. I've actually had surgery. I told Vince I didn't appreciate Shawn saying that Davey had supposed knee injury. We all know about supposed knee injuries, because that's what he did when he forfeited the belt. He forfeited the Intercontinental belt too. I've always been business with Vince. In my match in England, they screwed me. The same referee that did my match did Bret's match. [The referee was Earl Hebner.] He rang the bell and gave Shawn the European belt. I don't mind putting someone over. It's just not the way to lose a belt.
Q: Back to the reader questions. What are some of your best gym lifts? [JEFF]
A: On a good day, I can squat five-six hundred pounds. I don't do too much deadlifting because of my back. It's not as strong as it used to be. My whole back. I've got to watch my discs, and that. I've been known to bench-press 525 pounds. 550.
Q: How many hours a day would you work out?
A: I work out two hours a day. Every day.
Q: That's just with weights?
A: Yeah.
Q: What would you do cardio-wise?
A: I do half-an-hour on the stairmaster. I just finished completing my workout video. I've got my own workout video coming out on the market sometime next month.
Q: Well you should tell your company to get in touch with us when it's all prepared and get in touch with us.
A: It's actually prepared now. We're just waiting for them to bring it to my door. I okayed the video. It's called The British Bulldog's Basic Bodybuilding Workout. It's open-close on the Bulldog. It's my private life. It shows my holiday, return, my cars, my house. And Diana's in the video with me too. So it appeals to young kids and women who want to get in shape.
Q: Where's this going to be available?
A: It's going to be available in Canada. We're going to try to get it into Europe. I'm going to try to get it everywhere I can. The women who does the movie show, Kirstie Day, and her husband does the news, Larry Day, they want to enter it in the Houston Film Festival. She thinks it's going to be a really hot seller. I think its one of the first times a wrestler has ever done a workout video. I don't know anyone else who's ever done a workout video.
Q: I've got a question here. How did you meet your wife Diana? [Kes107]
A: I met her when I first came to Calgary in 1981. She saw my picture in the Stampede Wrestling Magazine and she asked who I was. I'd met Bruce [Hart] in 1977 in England when I was training to be a wrestler. Bruce said [to Diana] that I was Dynamite's cousin and was coming over to wrestle for Stampede wrestling. She took my picture out of the magazine and put it in her high school binder. I came over and I met her. She came over the Bret's house and was looking for someone to go to a movie with her and a friend. She was trying to call Owen, and I said I'll go with you. I don't mind. We went to the movie together, and we've been together even since.
Q: How many children do you have?
A: I've got two children. Harry and Georgia.