Wrestler of the Day – November 16: British Bulldogs
Today we’re looking at one of the most popular tag teams of all time: the British Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs first hooked up in Japan in 1983 and we’ll pick things up in the WWF on April 22, 1985.
British Bulldogs vs. Johnny Rodz/Rene Goulet
The Bulldogs are new now so this is your basic squash/extended match that should be a squash. This is in MSG and Vince takes forever to intro the match. The old guys are clearly in over their heads here but Goulet gets in some token offense and brings in Rodz. The Bulldogs are like boys please and hit a pair of missile dropkicks and Dynamite nips up to snap suplex Rodz.
The heels take over with Dynamite getting beaten down. Rodz is very boring looking but he trained about half of ECW so take that for what it’s worth. Davey comes in with the delayed vertical and we need to get to the interesting part in a hurry. Everything breaks down and Davey throws Goulet in a fireman’s carry. Dynamite hops from the top rope, jumps onto Goulet’s back and hits the Swan Dive for the pin.
Rating: C+. Totally awesome stuff here for the Bulldogs as this is probably close to their debut. To give you an idea of how awesome they looked here, the MSG crowd gave them a standing ovation after the match. Upon further review this was their debut, at least in MSG. Great debut match and it worked well.
Against some better opponents on July 13, 1985.
British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation
That was their first match in MSG, and this is their second. Joined in progress with Dynamite and Bret getting us going. The Brits clean house until the power guys come in for a test of strength. Bret comes back in and the Harts take over with some nice double teaming stuff. Bret misses a charge and knees Anvil by mistake to bring in Dynamite.
House is cleaned and everything speeds up. There’s a falling headbutt to Bret as things finally get down to one on one. Missile dropkick puts Bret down and there’s the powerslam but Jim breaks up the cover. That allows Bret to take over and the Harts dominate. Dynamite hooks a sunset flip but the curfew comes on. That means it’s I think 10pm in New York and therefore the show has to end. Imagine that happening today.
Rating: C+. Good stuff here but there’s only so much they can do with so little time. These teams just couldn’t have a bad match in this time period if their lives depended on it. Dynamite was so great with his speed stuff and it’s easy to see how Benoit modeled himself after the Kid. Fun match, would have been great with a finish.
Here’s they are in MSG on October 21, 1985.
British Bulldog vs. Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff
This is in MSG and Gorilla says it’s October of 1985. The Bulldogs jump the evil ones during the singing and the fight is on. Volkoff and Smith start but Sheik is in very soon. Dynamite is RIPPED here so it’s hard to tell them apart. Johnny V and Monsoon do the match intros but Jesse does the commentary with Gorilla. Odd but not a problem at all. Davey plays face in peril for a bit but gets a sunset flip for two on the Russian.
Volkoff misses a charge and there’s the tag. I think Dynamite is more muscular than Smith here. Back off to Sheik again with the Humbler of Wrestlers everywhere suplexing him with ease. Dynamite reverses into one of his own but now the snap suplex. With Dynamite think of Benoit with a British accent. Sunset flip gets two for the Kid. With one arm Nikolai lifts Dynamite up with ease. That guy was freaky strong.
Piledriver gets two for Volkoff. We get some heel miscommunication and here comes the young Smith. He’s much faster here. There’s the powerslam but Volkoff saves it. Sheik hits what would become known as the German suplex and sets up the camel clutch. Jesse has never seen anyone get out of that. I guess he missed Hogan’s title win. The heels get a double slam to Bulldog but when Volkoff tries another, Dynamite dropkicks the back of his partner to push him down onto Nikolai for the pin.
Rating: C. Pretty basic match here with the Bulldogs just kind of going along with the team that evolved into the Bolsheviks. Just kind of a match to get to know the team a bit for the unfamiliar, although this did kind of a bad job at getting the fans to know the team. Still nothing too bad for a house show though.
The team was clearly good enough to be the best so they got a Tag Team Title shot at Wrestlemania II.
Tag Titles: Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs
The Dream Team is Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine and they’re defending. For absolutely no apparent reason, the Bulldogs have Ozzy freaking Osbourne in their corner. Smith and Valentine start things off with Davey pounding away in the corner. Off to a wristlock before Dynamite comes in to send Valentine into the buckle for two. There’s the snap suplex for no cover and it’s back to Davey for the delayed vertical.
Greg gets in a few shots in the corner including a forearm to the back to take over and finally bring in Brutus. He cranks on the arm and is immediately gorilla pressed down by Smith. Dynamite comes in again and gets two off a small package. Beefcake makes a blind tag though and Valentine comes in off the top via another forearm to the back and the champions take over. Kid comes right back and pounds away before bringing Smith back in.
The Bulldogs hit a double headbutt for two for Kid but Brutus comes in sans tag to switch momentum right back. Valentine gets two off a kneeling piledriver but falls victim to the Arn Anderson self-crotching mistake. He continues the Horsemen theme by going up top and getting slammed down ala Flair as everything breaks down. Dynamite gets sent to the floor so Smith comes in with the powerslam (not yet the finisher) for two on Valentine.
Davey misses a charges into the post though and his shoulder is hurt in a hurry. Brutus comes in to work over the arm and hits a kind of hammerlock slam. Valentine hits a shoulderbreaker but pulls up before covering. In a VERY sudden ending, Dynamite gets on the top rope while still illegal and Davey rams Valentine’s head into that of Dynamite for the pin and the title.
Rating: B. It’s not a great or even a very good match but after nearly two hours of lame wrestling with nothing matches, this was a great breath of fresh air. The Bulldogs would be champions for the better part of a year while the Dream Team would survive for another year before splitting at the next Wrestlemania. Good stuff here though.
Time for a non-title match on April 22, 1986, fifteen days later.
British Bulldogs vs. King Kong Bundy vs. Big John Studd
Main event here and either heel weighs more than the champions combined. That’s rather cool for some reason. Smith vs. Studd to start but Dynamite cheats to take Studd down. No tag though so they hit a double dropkick instead for two. The fans are all over Heenan here. Off to Bundy now. How did he main event Mania but Smith never did?
More double teaming by the champions takes Bundy down but one on one it’s all Bundy. Ladd is talking about the stock market for some reason. All power by Bundy of course and Smith is in trouble. Back off to Studd who hammers away on Smith for two. We talk about Andre’s suspension which would lead to the Machines and ultimately his heel turn and Mania III. Bundy back in now and an elbow gets two. This is non-title for no apparent reason.
Studd comes in, misses a charge and tags back out. Neither of those guys were ever accused of being technical masters. They double team Smith a bit as we’re just waiting on the hot tag. Ah there it is and Dynamite comes in and tries a sleeper on Studd which goes nowhere at all. Everything breaks down and the referee is tossed for the DQ. Weak.
Rating: D. Uh yeah. This is more or less the match they hyped all show (work with me here) and we get a five minute match with a DQ ending? Nothing great here but considering the non-champions (why was this non-title again?) what did you really expect? Weak ending.
Here are some former champions’ rematch on Saturday Night’s Main Event #6.
Tag Titles: Nikolai Volkoff/Iron Sheik vs. British Bulldogs
First thing that pops into my head about this is that the fans aren’t going to be stupid enough to chant USA. Old school fans were just smarter, period. The singing of the anthem was just priceless every time. We get ANOTHER interview with the heels who say that they’ll win and everyone will be happy.
The fans start barking which at first I thought was booing. And inside of two minutes Davey taps to the camel clutch. GREAT JOB of making your champions look strong there Vince. That was Cena vs. Punk territory there. That’s just freaking stupid. Vince gets in a line saying that one more fall and the tag tiels leave the free world.
No one can ever accuse Vince of being low key. Sheik actually gets an abdominal stretch that has the toe hook so maybe Gorilla wouldn’t have complained. I doubt it though. The Bulldog (Dynamite hasn’t been in yet) is getting destroyed here as we have all kinds of 80s references.
Volkoff thinks the match is over and comes up fast and gets rolled up, prompting Vince to call him an idiot twice. Albano and Dynamite help Bulldog to his feet and when we come back for the third fall, it’s still Smith in there. Apparently Dynamite has a torn knee ligament. Dynamite FINALLY comes in.
In an ending that has my mouth hanging open, Sheik puts Dynamite in the clutch and Davey comes in for the save, then rolls up Sheik for the pin. Note: Smith is wearing LIGHT BLUE and Dynamite is wearing DARK RED. Seriously, this is just freaking stupid and sounds like something out of ECW.
Rating: D-. I have NO IDEA what the point of this was. The champions look like jobbers, the referee looks like an idiot, and the should be jobbers tag team looks completely dominant. I don’t get this at all and it was boring and sloppy on top of that. This was just bad all around.
Here they are against an oddball team on July 12, 1986.
Tag Titles: British Bulldogs vs. Moondogs
MSG again. Rex and Spot for you Moondog aficionados here. Davey vs. Spot to start us off. Off to Dynamite who runs him over with ease so it’s time for Rex (the original Smash in Demolition if you care). The Moondogs were uh…out there. Wristlock by the Kid but Rex overpowers him for a bit. Off to Davey now who gets caught in the wrong corner and it’s off to Spot.
Slam gets two for Davey but some double teaming shifts momentum again. Rex gets a splash for two and the same off a neckbreaker. Gorilla and Hayes wonder why Smith isn’t tagging, thinking Dynamite could be hurt. Could it be THE FREAKING MOONDOGS KICKING HIS HEAD IN? Dynamite isn’t paying attention so Spot drills him, cracking the commentators up for no apparent reason.
Rex keeps a front facelock on and we get the tag that the referee doesn’t see. I love that bit. Spot comes in (sans tag which is the icing on the cake of that spot) and the Moondogs are dominating. Rex goes up but lands on knees. Both guys go for tags but only Spot comes in. Davey gets a cross body for two and that ends this offensive streak for him. He reverses a suplex and there’s the tag finally.
Gorilla and Al are surprised that Dynamite is fine. Gee who would have guessed that a guy in a match was perfectly fine? Fist drop from the middle rope gets two and it all breaks down. Dynamite and Spot are legal here. A top rope cross body by the Kid gets the pin to retain in a quick finish.
Rating: C+. Basic formula match here with a surprisingly decent match out of the Moondogs who were only good once in awhile. Not a bad little match and for a house show tag title defense this was just fine. It’s amazing how deep the division was at this point as we have heel jobber tag teams. Think about that in modern wrestling.
Wrestlemania II rematch at Saturday Night’s Main Event VII.
Tag Titles: Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs
To the shock of no one this is 2/3 falls. We start with Dynamite and Valentine. Oh yeah it’s Valentine and Beefcake making up the Dream Team. Somehow this is a higher profile match for Beefcake than the main event of Starrcade 94. The Bulldogs are hard to tell apart but Davey is bigger if nothing else.
Not by much though. You can definitely see Dynamite in Benoit. Valentine can’t decide if he wants to work on the arm or the knee. Your finishing move is the figure four. Use your blonde head buddy. Dynamite gives up in the figure four, making it two straight matches on SNME where the Bulldogs have tapped out.
We cut to the locker room where Gene says that Adonis might have a separated shoulder and we go to a replay showing how it likely happened.
After a commercial we have fall 2. This is more or less heel dominance even though they have as much of a chance of winning here as X and I do. Davey gets the hot tag and dominates. I love that vertical suplex. The powerslam puts Valentine down and then Brutus comes in for the save.
He gets caught in a fireman’s carry and after a tag, Dynamite jumps on top of his back and hits a super diving headbutt for the pin to tie us up. After a commercial we have Dynamite and Valentine. Dynamite’s knee was hurt for the better part of a year as steroid abuse just went crazy. Adonis has a shattered elbow apparently. The heels are completely dominating here until we get a brawl as Davey makes the save after a high knee. With Dynamite on Valentine, Davey gets a fisherman’s suplex for the pin.
Rating: B. Solid stuff here with the psychology of the knee working through the entire match and the great balance here. It was another win for the champions which is never bad. This worked pretty well though and it was four good workers so there we are. Yes I just listed Beefcake as a good worker. I need stroner medication.
The Bulldogs would get screwed out of the titles in early 1987 so here they are in a one night tournament for a title shot on March 15, 1987.
First Round: Demolition vs. British Bulldogs
Valiant is at ringside for this. I think Demolition has been around about a month at this point and Smash isn’t the one that he would eventually be. The Bulldogs had just lost the tag belts to the Harts in a screwjob so they have a reason to go after Hart and to win the tournament here. At this point it’s next to impossible to tell Demolition apart as Smash really does look like Axe at this point.
It’s been all Demolition so far but to be fair it’s only been a few minutes. Dynamite is the one getting beaten down. I’m stunned too. Davey gets a hot tag and the fans are INTO it. Valiant trips Smith up so like idiots, Dynamite throws a chair in and Davey hits Axe with it RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE. Seriously, that was idiotic. Gorilla says he can’t blame them. Uh, I can.
Rating: D+. This was short but it was intense for what it was. Demolition was fast on the rise at this point so the result doesn’t surprise me at all. This really could have been good if it had gone a few minutes longer. Dynamite being out there helped quite a bit as it kept us from having four power guys in there at the same time.
Here’s a chance for revenge but not the titles at Wrestlemania III.
Hart Foundation/Danny Davis vs. British Bulldogs/Tito Santana
Davis is a crooked referee that cost both the Bulldogs and Santana their titles. Apparently this is Davis’ debut as a wrestler. Mary Hart (no relation) is on commentary along with Uecker here as well. Tito beats up Danny before the match before we get going with Bret and Santana. Jesse steals the Bulldogs’ mascot Matilda as he leaves. Off to Davey vs. Anvil and Smith pulls him by the beard. That’s a bit rough even for Neidhart.
Tito comes back in to work on the arm but gets sent to the heel corner for some high quality choking. That goes nowhere so here’s Smith vs. Neidhart again. Jim takes him down with a suplex but Bret misses a middle rope elbow. Dynamite comes in for the chest to buckle bump from Bret but Hart comes back with some punches. Tito tries to break up some interference but only allows even more cheating by Neidhart.
Jim hooks a modified camel clutch on Dynamite before it’s back to Bret. I don’t think we’ve seen Davis in yet but before I can finish that sentence he’s in for a few stomps. That’s the extent of his offense as it’s already back to Bret for some actual skill. The sun is starting to go down so the arena looks dark now. Back to Danny for one kick before it’s time for the Hitman again.
The Harts slingshot Davis right onto Dynamite’s knees and it’s off to Santana for the beating on Davis that the fans have been waiting for. Tito destroys Danny and hits the forearm but Neidhart breaks up the Figure Four. Off to Smith who rams Davis’ head into Dynamite’s. A jumping tombstone (not yet named) kills Davis even more but Smith doesn’t want the cover. There’s the delayed vertical followed by the powerslam but everything breaks down. Davis pops up and hits Smith with the megaphone for the pin in the melee.
Rating: C-. As fun as the beating Davis took was, the ending is really stupid as he popped up like nothing and was able to knock out a power guy with a single shot? The guy was a referee a few months ago but he’s able to do that with one shot? Bad ending aside, this was fun stuff and the fans were WAY into it.
Another shot at the gold on Saturday Night’s Main Event #11.
Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. British Bulldogs
This is 2/3 falls. Before the match Hart gets bitten by Matilda which looks cool for obvious reason. Davey and Bret start us off. It’s interesting that Anvil is by far and away the worst wrestler in there and he’s hardly terrible. He’s not particularly good but he’s certainly watchable. The Harts are champions here and this is the official rematch for when Davis cheated to give them the titles.
The heels dominate early as they’re not doing much of note here. It’s fine though, mainly based on just pure raw talent. Dynamite and Bret crank things up a bit. The crowd is way into this too so they have that going for them. The champions get to double team Dynamite and the champions get disqualified eventually, making it 1-0 Bulldogs.
This really isn’t all that great of a match but it’s not terrible. Davey chases like five people around the ring as it looks like a weird comedy skit. I need some Benny Hill music in there somewhere. Bret goes for a cross body on the ropes and winds up getting crotched. Hot tag to Smith and it’s on all over again. He gets the delayed vertical on Neidhart which is rather impressive.
Vince gets MAD at Jesse, telling him to shut up. Now that’s your Mania match right there. Tito pops Davis for a huge pop and then Kid is picked up and thrown at Bret for a cross body to win in two straight falls to blow the freaking roof off the place. Jesse laughs because the first fall was a DQ so no title switch. They would switch that in 89 so the Brainbusters could win the belts. Holy Dusty Finish Batman.
Rating: B-. Fun match but the ending hurts it a lot. These teams always worked quite well and this was definitely no exception. The ending was a nice way to get the fans going and also to continue the feud since now it’s clear that the Bulldogs can beat them. Strike Force would jump in soon and win the belts, taking the Can-Am Connection’s spot after Zenk went insane.
Off to Philadelphia on December 5, 1987.
Bolsheviks vs. British Bulldogs
In a match with Soviets vs. Brits, the fans chant USA. Maybe they’re cheering for Slick? Matilda chases the Russians around a bit before the match. The referee does the old school checking for foreign objects. Wouldn’t the Bolsheviks themselves or anything they bring with them (assuming they’re made in the Soviet Union) be foreign objects? Davey vs. Boris to start us off after some stalling.
We hit the heel double teaming early but Davey arm drags his way out of that. Off to Dynamite for the snap suplex and the arm work that Davey started continues. We get something kind of cool as we see an inset of Slick during the match. You don’t often get to see what managers say unless the camera is on them which takes away from the match. Nice idea there.
The Russians start cheating with Nikolai coming in illegally. The referee gets in his face about it and counts him, then lets him in anyway. Where’s Fonzie to call it right down the middle (daddy) when you need him? Sunset flip by Dynamite is missed by the referee as Boris distracts the referee. Clothesline gets two for Nikolai and it’s off to a bear hug. Nikolai offers a nice twist on it and squats down so that Dynamite’s back is arched over his knees while the bear hug is still on. That’s rather awesome.
Off to Boris again who doesn’t have the twist in his bear hug but he doesn’t really resemble Chubby Checker anyway. Tag off to Davey but since it’s the 80s the referee didn’t see it. Double shoulder block and both guys are down now. Stereo tags bring in Boris and Smith. Delayed vertical by Davey gets two. Small package gets two. Everything breaks down and the Russians send the Bulldogs into each other…..and it actually works??? When do you ever see that? Boris tries to suplex Davey back in but Kid pulls the leg and Davey falls on top for the surprise pin. Abrupt ending.
Rating: C. Just a standard 80s tag match here which means it’s far better than anything we’ve seen in the tag title division recently. The Bulldogs were going to steadily start their decline after this and Davey would become a far bigger star than his arguably more talented partner. Either way, not bad here but nothing great.
Same idea at Wrestlemania IV but with a different cast.
Islanders/Bobby Heenan vs. British Bulldogs/Koko B. Ware
There’s actually a story here. Heenan comes to the ring in a dog handlers’ outfit (remember the package from earlier?) because Matilda, the dog mascot of the Bulldogs, is back from being dognapped, presumably by the Islanders. Koko is there because when you need a filler, you call Koko B. Ware. We start with Dynamite vs. Tama but it’s quickly off to Haku vs. Davey Boy for a nice power match.
Davey slams him down a few times and it’s off to a quickly broken chinlock. Back to Tama who is gorilla pressed up and down and it’s back to Haku. Jesse: “Heenan seems to be saving himself.” Gorilla: “Yeah for the senior prom.” Did Gorilla just make a sex joke? I can feel my childhood crumbling as I type this. Koko comes in for some quick shots but it’s back to Dynamite for the clothesline that Benoit copied from him.
The Kid charges into a kick in the corner and here’s Heenan for the first time. He stomps on Dynamite, gets hit once in his padded suit, and runs away. That’s about what I expected. Tama tries a Vader Bomb but hits knees, allowing for another tag to Koko. He pounds on both Islanders but Haku takes him right back down. Tama comes in with a top rope chop and Heenan gets his second tag. Heenan chokes a bit but misses a charge into the post. Everything breaks down and the Islanders drop Heenan onto Koko for the pin.
Rating: C. I told you Koko was worthless in this. The stuff with the tag teams was pretty solid but the rest of it was as dull as you would expect. These six man tags with the Bulldogs in there don’t go that well for them but this was their last try at it. This was basically a comedy match and it was only kind of funny.
Here’s a match from a big house show later called Wrestlefest 1988.
Tag Titles: Demolition vs. British Bulldogs
The Bulldogs are more or less done at this point as they would be gone very soon. Yeah their last appearance as a team was at Survivor Series, about four months after this. They had one televised match in between: a draw at Summerslam. Demolition is getting more and more popular at this point, having won the titles at Mania. They would hold them for over a year, setting the record that still stands for longest tag title reign.
If nothing else the music here is great. Davey vs. Smash starts us off which is probably the best combination given how broken down Billington was at this point. Dynamite comes in and gets the tar beaten out of him which makes something close to sense I guess. Graham suggests Hayes manages the Bulldogs. Thankfully that never happened. He says they should be more malicious.
Graham needs to shut up now. When Mooney is your most competent announcer you can tell this isn’t going to go well. Dynamite comes back in maybe 30 seconds after getting beaten down for far too long. The snap suplex hits Axe and they do the launch headbutt. Dynamite busts out the Octopus Hold but Axe gets a cane shot for the pin.
Rating: C-. Nothing really great here but this was just to give us a tag title match against a competent team so that certainly worked. The Bulldogs were done at this point but they were still good for stuff like this. It’s no classic or anything but it’ll do just fine for what it’s supposed to be here.
Since I’ve done the Survivor Series 1988 match a dozen times or so, we’ll wrap it up with the opener of the first Summerslam in 1988.
Fabulous Rougeaus vs. British Bulldogs
These two teams could not stand each other behind the scenes, eventually reaching the point where the Bulldogs left the company as a result. Davey jumps Jacques to start and rams him into turnbuckle after turnbuckle to put him down. Smith throws Jacques over to Raymond for a tag in a nice display of bravado. Off to Dynamite for a quick headbutt and a slam to keep Raymond in trouble.
Off to an armbar by Dynamite Kid before Davey comes back in for one of his own. Dynamite comes back in with a wicked clothesline to take Raymond’s head off. Chris Benoit idolized Dynamite and you can see so many of Benoit’s moves when you watch Dynamite’s matches. Davey comes in and trades some snappy rollups before it’s back to Dynamite to continue cranking on the arm.
Davey comes in again but Jacques trips him up to shift control to the Canadians. It’s off to some leg work now as Jacques kicks away at Davey’s hamstring. The Rougeaus start tagging in and out with Ray coming in to drop some knees on the hamstring before Jacques comes back in to pull on the leg. Ray comes back in sans tag to pull on the leg before Jacques puts on a spinning toehold. Davey finally gets back up and monkey flips Ray down, allowing for the tag to Dynamite.
The Kid speeds things way up and sends Ray out to the floor, triggering a brawl between Davey and Raymond. Back inside and Davey hits the powerslam but Jacques breaks it up before a one count. Dynamite comes back in for the headbutt but Jacques drills him with a belly to back suplex for two. Off to an abdominal stretch by Jacques followed by a camel clutch from both Rougeaus. Kid fights up and rams Ray into the buckle to escape but it’s right back to the abdominal stretch by Jacques.
Dynamite finally fights up again and headbutts Jacques down to bring in Davey. Jacques immediately grabs the rope to avoid a dropkick but gets caught in a gorilla press onto the top rope. Everything breaks down and Davey picks up Dynamite to launch him into a headbutt on Jacques, but the time limit expires before there can be a cover.
Rating: C+. This was a solid opener as the fans were staying hot throughout the extended rest holds. The parts with both teams brawling and getting to move around made for a much better match, but you can’t do that for twenty minutes when you’re going for the draw. Draws were much more commonplace back in the 80s so this was nothing that odd to see.
As I’ve said many times, there’s something about a power/speed combination and the fact that these two had such excellent chemistry makes things so much better. They weren’t together all that long but they’re one of the best remembered and awesome teams of the golden era of WWF tag team wrestling. It’s kind of a shame they weren’t together longer but they were about to explode when they left.
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