Davey Boy Smith

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Gregor]

There's something to be said for wrestlers who can be carried. Bulldog might do well if the strawmen who just add up great matches vote in this. My favorite individual performance from Bulldog is in this match, a 1995 IC Title match in MSG against Shawn Michaels. His offense looks outstanding there, and he does some pretty nice bumping, too.

[Loss]

Davey Boy is an interesting candidate because his career has had so many distinct phases that I find it difficult to piece them all together. There's the Young David in Joint Promotions, the New Japan and All Japan junior, the power wrestler in the WWF tag team and the WWF/WCW headliner. I think it would be a mistake to dismiss him outright, even if my instinct tells me he has no chance.

[The Chief]

IMO Davey peaked in the team with Owen. Are there any examples out there of Davey carrying a lesser opponent to something good? I like the Warlord Mania match, can't think of any others off the top of my head.

[funkdoc]

i think the tuesday in texas match was easily better than the mania one, unless i'm getting them mixed up. neither was bad at all though!

 

davey & warlord just had unusual chemistry. a funny side effect of this is that warlord had more good matches than kerry von erich that year...

[C.S.]

I've never loved Davey, but I have a feeling if I rewatched a lot of his stuff, I'd end up considering him an underrated talent - sort of like I look at Lex Luger now in hindsight.

[Childs]

Davey was an elite talent who didn't have an elite career. My sense is he lacked the alpha personality. But physically, he could do anything. I'd rank him above Dynamite, though neither will make my 100.

[DR Ackermann]

I think it would be fair to say that Davey also lacked the brains (whether that be by nature, drugs or a combination of the two).

[GSR]

Davey Boy is an interesting candidate because his career has had so many distinct phases that I find it difficult to piece them all together. There's the Young David in Joint Promotions, the New Japan and All Japan junior, the power wrestler in the WWF tag team and the WWF/WCW headliner. I think it would be a mistake to dismiss him outright, even if my instinct tells me he has no chance.

 

If people are only thinking of the 90s powerhouse wrestler they certainly need to check out his stuff with Joint, especially the matches against Jim Breaks and Fit Finlay (I was also cataloguing discs last night and found a match with Tally Ho Kaye, that looks pretty entertaining from first glance). Admittedly, it's tough not to have an enjoyable match with Breaks and Finlay but he more than holds up his end. I'm going to have a soft spot for WOS guys in my list though think it would be a struggle for Davey to make the cut, still I certainly think he needs a look at and is more deserving than some who have been nominated (Marc Mero???).

 

[ohtani's jacket]

The Breaks trilogy is phenomenal and I forgot about the great Finlay bout. The rest of his Young David stuff is either incomplete or not as good and that includes bouts against some pretty good workers like Marty Jones, Pete Roberts and Clive Myers. The match where he comes back in '83 all roided up is completely surreal. I would take teenage Dynamite Kid over Young David on sheer talent. DK was excellent as a teen. His '83 bout with Jones smashes what Davey was capable of at the time. Davey had the longer career though with singles work in the big leagues. I remember being rather impressed by his first WCW run. The matches with Vader were good and the Regal bout was interesting.

[JerryvonKramer]

I remember really loving that Regal match.

[BigBadMick]

Again. on my recent 1996-97 binge, Davey Boy's stock went up. Not to the extent of Owen, but still a crucial cog in the wheel - kept match quality up until knee trouble in late '97.

[fakeplastictrees]

What did you think of that HBK KOTR match? The 1000 headlocks killed me.

[BigBadMick]

I really liked it years ago, perhaps slightly less this time round. Didn't mind the headlocks - plenty of action punctuating it, and the crowd stayed with it. Ending was atrocious though.

[Shining Wiz]

Davey was a guy who a smart wrestler could use to have a very good match with, but unless he's in there with someone really good, he has a low ceiling for quality. Certainly not horrible, but rarely beyond just good. When we're talking top 100 ever, that doesn't cut it.

[NotJayTabb]

Surprised Davey Boy hasn't been discussed in the 2026 chat yet, he's a pretty big name who got a few votes last time. Looking at my 2016 ballot, I had him at #30, which is way too high in hindsight. Think some bias for a childhood favourite did a lot of heavy lifting. There's still a lot of meat to his case though: the Bulldogs team, the surprisingly fun 93 WCW run, the Bret matches, the team with Owen, the good Warlord matches. Haven't watched any of his WOS stuff, so I'm looking forward to checking those out. I'll be surprised if the Bulldog didn't make my 2026 ballot, albeit nowhere near as high.

[SAMS]

His WOS stuff is more of a curiosity, jarring specifically because of how lean and gangly he was at this stage compared to what he would become. He doesn’t stand out to me as great, or even particularly good, at this point but he was capable enough to be guided (not carried) to a series of great matches against Jim Breaks. So I could see why some people would view this period as a plus for his GWE case on the strength of those. 

[ohtani's jacket]

He's a teenager in those bouts, so you have to compare him to other wrestlers his age. He's okay, but not exactly a protegee. Breaks had a knack for pulling those types of performances out of young workers and did it on more than one occasion. Davey also had a great match with Dave Finlay, but ultimately it's a case of another guy who left before it was clear how good he could be in a UK ring. The matches certainly don't hurt his case, though. He could have totally stunk but he holds up his end.