In the 1980s — often referred to as The Golden Era — WWE boasted some incredible tag teams, including The Hart Foundation, The Brain Busters, and The British Bulldogs. Composed of Thomas Billington, better known as The Dynamite Kid, and Davey Boy Smith, who’d famously enjoy a singles run as The British Bulldog, the Bulldogs were not only gifted in-ring performers, but also captured a few tag team titles during their time together.
However, the tag team lasted through most of the 1980s before the two men went their separate ways in 1990, so there are likely many modern fans who don’t know much about The British Bulldogs. Let’s look at their entire career and what fans need to know, from their origins and their successes all the way to the circumstances of their break-up.
10 Real-Life Cousins
While their aforementioned real names don’t suggest it, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were not only tag team partners but also real-life cousins, as Dynamite’s father and Smith’s mother were siblings. The two grew up around the corner from one another in Wigan, England, and when Thomas Billington began to pursue professional wrestling, Davey Boy Smith followed in his cousin's footsteps.
The two would become relatives twice over, as both men would marry into the Hart wrestling family, making them brothers-in-law to Hart Foundation rivals Bret Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.
9 Feuded Before Teaming Up
It was Bruce Hart who scouted Dynamite Kid and invited him to travel to Canada to take part in his father Stu Hart’s promotion, Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling. Dynamite debuted in Stampede in the late 1970s, with Davey Boy Smith following him to Canada in the early 1980s.
From there, a feud between the two ensued, with Dynamite Kid refusing to defend his World Mid-Heavyweight Championship against Smith, claiming that his cousin was a “test tube baby” and therefore not human. After several clashes in 1981, Davey Boy Smith finally beat Dynamite Kid to capture the belt in 1982.
8 Were Not Friendly In Real Life
Despite their familial relation and the number of years they tagged together, Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid weren’t exactly the best of friends in real life. According to brother-in-law Bret Hart, Dynamite’s infamous penchant for bullying (see below) extended to his childhood, and the two were not close even as they both entered the wrestling business, as Dynamite felt threatened by and jealous of his cousin’s abilities.
On top of that, Bret Hart viewed Dynamite Kid as a bad influence on Davey Boy Smith, who Hart viewed as a sweet, impressionable guy. As the cousins spent more time together on the road, that sweetness ended up dissipating.
7 Originally Teamed Up In Stampede
After their feud in Stampede Wrestling was settled, Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid finally formed their tag team. The British Bulldogs began in Stampede, with the cousins competing together under that name.
In 1984, they entered a tournament for the vacant International Tag Team Championship, defeating Bad News Allen (a.k.a. Bad News Brown) and The Cuban Assassin in the finals to win the belts. Their reign would last 145 days, and end with The Bulldogs vacating the championship when they moved over to WWE.
6 WWE World Tag Team Champions
When WWE bought Stampede Wrestling from Stu Hart in 1984, a number of Stampede wrestlers were moved over to the WWE roster, including The British Bulldogs.
The babyface dynamic of the high-flying Dynamite and the powerhouse Smith made for entertaining matches in WWE, and the two eventually entered a feud with Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake for the Tag Team Championship. The British Bulldogs would finally win the championship at WrestleMania 2, holding the belts for 294 days.
5 Rivalry With The Hart Foundation
When The British Bulldogs first arrived in WWE, their first rivalry would be with The Hart Foundation, whom the Bulldogs would challenge for the Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. In 1986, Dynamite Kid suffered a back injury that would ultimately derail his career and necessitated The British Bulldogs dropping the titles.
However, The Bulldogs refused to drop the belts to anyone but The Hart Foundation, so in January 1987 the match finally happened, with the still-recovering Dynamite Kid being taken out to keep him out of the ring, forcing Davey Boy Smith to lose the match in what was essentially a handicap match.
4 Notorious Pranksters
Behind the scenes, Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were infamous for what could charitably be described as practical jokes but were, in reality, closer to straight-up bullying. Not only would they regularly steal people’s stuff and destroy it, but also engage in such acts as drugging wrestlers with Halcion (a type of sleeping pill) and antagonizing Jake Roberts’ snake, so it would bite him later.
Nobody in the locker room was safe from Dynamite Kid — not even Davey Boy Smith himself. Reportedly Smith asked Dynamite to inject steroids into him, and Dynamite Kid decided to play a little joke and inject milk into his partner instead.
3 Incident With Jacques Rougeau
Eventually the British Bulldogs’ backstage antics had gotten so bad that it was legitimately killing the morale in the WWE locker room, and some wrestlers had enough of it.
In one instance, Jacques Rougeau — also known as The Mountie — was pranked one time too many, and an altercation ensued between Rougeau and Dynamite that resulted in Dynamite beating Rougeau up. But Rougeau bided his time, and ended up sucker punching Dynamite Kid with a roll of quarters, knocking out several of his teeth.
2 Continued To Tag Together Outside WWE
After wrestling their final match at Survivor Series, The British Bulldogs departed WWE in 1988, returning to their old stomping ground, Stampede Wrestling, which WWE no longer owned.
There, they scored a second run with the International Tag Team Championship, defeating Cuban Assassin and Gerry Morrow and holding the belts for 23 days before dropping them to Karachi Vice. They also ventured out to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where they competed in the 1989 Real World Tag Team Tournament.
1 Their Break-Up
In May 1989, the British Bulldogs entered a break-up angle in Stampede Wrestling thanks to a miscommunication during a match between Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith where Dynamite thought Davey Boy Smith attacked him from behind. However, the two continued to team in AJPW — that is, until Davey Boy Smith re-signed to WWE and took the British Bulldog name with him as a singles star.
This led to a massive falling out between the two men, with Dynamite forming a tag team with Johnny Smith called The British Bruisers until retiring as a full-time wrestler in 1991.