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WWE News: “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith Officially Announced for WWE Hall of Fame 2020

By John Canton • Published 12th March 2020
TJR Wrestling

The reports from last month are true because WWE confirmed today that the “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith is going to be inducted into the 2020 Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 2nd in Tampa. The announcement was made official this morning on WWE’s After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves. Davey Boy Smith passed away in 2002 at the age of 39.

During the Graves podcast, he had Davey Boy’s son Harry Smith (aka Davey Boy Smith Jr. or David Hart Smith in WWE), Davey’s niece Natalya and her husband Tyson Kidd. Here are some comments from Harry and Natalya. Thanks to WrestlingInc for the transcript:

Harry Smith on inducting his father into the WWE Hall of Fame:

“You know, it’s been long overdue, but I’m really excited and glad to be inducting my father into the 2020 Hall of Fame. I mean, it’s something that’s great not only for my family but for the WWE Universe as well. And I’m so excited and jacked up about it.”

Natalya on why it feels like the right time:

“It feels like the time has never been better. And the fact that you know, we look at how much WWE has grown since the heyday of the British Bulldog. You look at even just English wrestling. And so many people – not just English wrestlers, but so many people in our industry say that it was the British Bulldog that inspired them to want to get to WWE. And they look back on that match that Bret and Davey had at Wembley Stadium in 1992, and they say, ‘That was the match that I watched, that was the match that inspired me to do this.’ And I feel like that’s truly what makes a Hall of Famer, is how much they inspire people. And Davey’s just — his work and his legacy, and being the British Bulldog has just stood the test of time. And he’s still so relevant to the culture of WWE today.”

Tyson Kidd on how it was a long time coming:

“It’s so awesome. I knew of course it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. I understand that the hall of fame is not really a race. It’s not going anywhere. We need a certain number of people and stars each year. You can’t put everybody in that first year, so it was just a matter of which year was going to be the best year. Obviously, here we are in 2020. It’s awesome, and a long time coming.”

Natalya on the British Bulldog being so important to British wrestling:

“There was no bigger British wrestling star than Davey Boy Smith. And you think about again, going back to that match. That iconic match in 1992, Summerslam, Wembley Stadium. It was — I mean, Davey was a rock star. They sold out Wembley Stadium faster than the Michael Jackson concert. And it just, I get goosebumps talking about it, because Davey, with Lennox Lewis walking him out to the ring and my aunt Diana being involved, and this beautiful story with my uncle Bret. Davey was at the pinnacle of his career, but just really — I mean, I don’t know if British wrestling was ever hotter than when the British Bulldog was at his height at that time.”

Harry spoke about his father’s influence on British wrestlers:

“Yeah, you know, and the amount of influence that my father had on the current and past WWE superstars like myself, and Wade Barrett, and current ones like Finn Balor. I mean, he really influenced a lot of WWE superstars and like you said, he was a household name. You could mention the British Bulldog and not even be a wrestling fan. People have asked me just in passing, and I’ve told them who my father was. And they weren’t necessarily wrestling fans, but they knew the association and the name.”

Davey’s daughter Georgia also tweeted about the news.

I’m happy for Georgia and the family. I’ve met them several times and I know how much they wanted this as a way to honor Davey Boy Smith in the WWE Hall of Fame.

That means the WWE Hall of Fame class as of right now looks like:

* Batista (Confirmed)

* New World Order’s Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and X-Pac (Confirmed)

* The Bella Twins (Confirmed)

* “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith (Confirmed)

* Jushin “Thunder” Liger (Reported)

TJR Thoughts: It’s wonderful news. I’m happy for the late great Davey Boy Smith, his family, friends and fans all around the world. There are obvious questions about whether the ceremony takes place and if WrestleMania happens as planned. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there are definitely concerned about if things might be canceled. For now, we don’t know what might happen.