Interview with Harry Smith

Most wrestling fans have heard of Harry Smith, the son of “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith and Diana Hart, grandson of Stu and Helen Hart, nephew of Bret and Owen Hart, and an incredible wrestler in his own right. To his credit, he has been able to stay, for the most part, out of the media’s eye throughout his childhood and teenage years. Now, after the recent death of his father and the controversy surrounding his family, sixteen-year-old Harry Smith is ready to speak out on such topics as his father, the Montreal Survivor Series controversy, drugs in wrestling, and his future in the wrestling business.

Name: Harry “Bulldog” Smith
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth: Calgary, Alberta
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 209 pounds
Trademark Moves: Torture Rack in to a sit out pancake; Corkscrew DDT from the top rope.
Years Wrestling: 8

When did you decide that you wanted to become a wrestler?
As long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a wrestler.

How and when did you first get in to wrestling?
Stampede would have a show once a year in a small town, and one year me and my cousin, Matthew, decided that it would be cool if we wrestled. We would do sort of backyard wrestling, and we thought it would be cool if we had a match. We choreographed it or whatever. I was eight years old then. (It was) in front of a live audience.

Which former or present wrestlers have inspired you the most in your wrestling career?
Owen (Hart), and my father, a lot. Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, just to name a few. Kenji Muto, Eddie Gilbert. Just mostly Japanese wrestlers and my relatives.

What is your favourite wrestling match that you ever competed in?
My favourite wrestling match I ever competed in was probably with T.J. Wilson or Mark Starr.

What is your favourite match you have ever seen that you did not compete in?
Probably Dynamite Kid versus Davey Boy Smith from Japan.

Is there any match that you would like to see, including past or present performers?
They did have one, but I don’t have it on tape, with my father and Misawa, but that would probably be it.

What is your dream match for you to compete in?
My dream match before my father passed away was to wrestle my dad. Right now my dream match would probably be to wrestle Misawa or Kobashi, but I’ve heard Kobashi is retired now.

What is your opinion on performance-enhancing drugs and the role they play in professional wrestling?
They’ll always be around in wrestling. Its not really too big of a problem if you don’t abuse it. That’s about it.

What important things did you father teach you, both in and out of the ring?
He told me to always do what I’m told, always do what the promotor wants you to do. If he tells you to put over this guy don’t complain, it’s where you get your paycheck every week. Probably that, and don’t ever let anyone make your decisions for you, make your own decisions.

What is your best memory of your father?
I’m not sure. Probably tagging up with him for the countless matches we did.

What will you miss the most about your father?
That he won’t see what I’m going to do in the future, and I’m going to miss teaming up with him.

What has changed in your life since your father’s death?
Not much, really. I kind of look at life a bit differently and I’ve become a little bit smarter. Things like that.

It has been said that your father’s first problems with World Wrestling Entertainment arose after he gave Ultimate Warrior the name of a steroid distributor. Is this true?
I’m not sure. I don’t know.

You said you would like to speak about the Ultimate Warrior. What are your thoughts on him?
Its too bad he didn’t have the balls to say whatever was on his mind to Davey, but now he’s going to have to say it to me. He’s going to have to deal with me now. He’s kind of an idiot. It wasn’t the right time or place to be saying stuff like that, and he’s going to have to live up to what he says.

Being the son of Davey Boy Smith, you probably know Dynamite Kid well. What are your feelings about him both in and out of the ring?
I don’t really know him that well, and I’m kind of glad. Basically, he’s an asshole. I have no hard feelings about him. He never phoned after my dad died, which I wasn’t really expecting it, but he could’ve phoned and said, ‘Harry, I lost my dad, too. It’s tough. I’m sorry,’ but he didn’t. As a wrestler, I think he’s overrated big time. He had a couple good matches with Tiger Mask; everyone’s got to have good matches sometimes. He rode on my father’s coattails for a lot of years during the late eighties when his (Dynamite’s) career was at the lowest. He was also one of the worst bookers ever. He was one of the main reasons that Stampede went out of business in the late eighties. I don’t really like him.

What are your feelings about Hulk Hogan’s comeback?
I think its great. Its good to see that the old school can still come back. Hulk Hogan is a really nice guy.

Do you think this may open the door for some other formerly big stars to come back to the WWE?
It might, you know. Curt Hennig, but obviously that didn’t work out too well. I hope, but I don’t know who else could make such a big comeback like Hogan did.

This is probably a tiring subject, but what do you feel about the Montreal Survivor Series incident involving Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon?
Well, all I can really say is that it happened because Bret and Vince had their problems. It was, what, five or six years ago right now? It’s in the past; people shouldn’t go on about it still. Vince has definitely moved on, maybe Bret should.

Do you think your family’s history involving the WWE will have any bearing on the role you play if or when you are hired by them?
Maybe; I don’t know. I doubt it, though. I don’t think so. Bret and Vince had their problems before, but I won’t have any problems with Vince.

We know that Ted Hart is competing in Stampede Wrestling, and Nattie Neidhardt was involved in Matrats. Are any of the other third-generation Harts involved or looking to get involved in wrestling?
Big capital N-O.

What are your short-term and long-term goals for wrestling and life in general?
I’d like to go to Japan and wrestle at one point, cause it was something my dad did, and I’d like to do it, too. And to make a long career in the WWE. And I want to have matches that the fans will remember me for. Those are my long-term goals.

Do you have anything else that you would like to say to the fans?
Nothing, really. I hope that they can see me wrestle sometime. I think that Stampede could make a big comeback, its just that when there’s only one guy owning the promotion like Bruce, and he doesn’t have an endless amount of money or anything like that, its pretty hard to get anywhere with a promotion like that. But I think we have some of the best wrestlers in North America up here and they make Stampede Wrestling that much better. They should maybe even bring back some of the old stars to compete in Stampede. What I would like to see is Stampede turn into the old Stampede Wrestling that it was. Like the old Stampede Wrestling and Bill Watts’ UWF and have sort of the matches like they’re structured, like how All Japan has their matches with the really big kickouts, so the fans get in to the three count like “one…two…oh!” I think Stampede should bring back some old stars, and I think they could do it, I think Stampede could make a really big comeback. That’s all I have to say.

If you would like to learn more about Harry Smith and Stampede Wrestling, please visit http://www.stampedewrestling.com.

My next interview will be with Precious Lucy, an up-and-coming wrestler from Québec. If you would like to send Lucy you question(s) for my next interview, or if you have any questions or comments about this column, please e-mail me at jgrattan@hotmail.com