Bio | Davey Boy Smith
by Diana Hart
I’m Diana Hart, and my life has been shaped by my family, resilience, and the extraordinary life I shared with my late husband, Davey Boy Smith — The British Bulldog. To me, Davey was already a star before he ever came to Calgary in 1981. He had a brilliant spark, a great sense of humour, a captivating presence, and a natural ability in athletics, particularly in wrestling that you simply couldn’t teach. He was phenomenal from the very beginning, and as he became an international wrestling superstar, the world eventually saw and appreciated what I had seen in him all along.
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Davey wasn’t just a wrestling superstar in name — he earned that status through decades of hard work, discipline, and hard-fought world-class performances across the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United States, and so many other countries. Before he ever stepped into a WWE ring, he had already become one of the most decorated wrestlers in Stampede Wrestling, winning the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship twice, the North American Heavyweight Championship, the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship, and the International Tag Team Championship with both Bruce Hart and the Dynamite Kid. Stampede was one of the toughest and most respected territories in the world, and Davey excelled in every division — heavyweight, mid-heavyweight, and tag team.
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In Japan, he made his mark in both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, competing at the highest levels and earning the respect of some of the toughest athletes in the sport. His rivalry and matches in the junior heavyweight division, and his tag team work with his first cousin Dynamite Kid, helped cement his reputation internationally long before he considered WWE home.
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In WWE, Davey won every major title available during his tenure except the World Heavyweight Championship. He became the first-ever European Champion — and its longest-reigning — captured the Intercontinental Championship in one of the most celebrated matches in WWE history, held the Tag Team Championships twice, first with Dynamite Kid, then later with brother-in-law Owen Hart and also won the Hardcore Championship. His versatility, strength, and longevity made him a true, legitimate wrestling superstar.
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Despite the regrettable experiences, and even tragic events we faced in the late 1990s, Davey and I reconciled in spring 2002, and our family was finding its way back together. Just ten days before he passed, Davey teamed with our son Harry in Winnipeg — a moment that meant everything to us. Harry, only 16 at the time, booked two tag-team matches for him with his dad. Just over a year away from graduating high school, Harry was already attracting interest from WWE, and I truly believe Davey would have become his manager and mentor. I still feel in my heart that the best was still ahead for us as a gratefully reunited family.
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Today, Davey’s legacy lives on through our children. With great integrity, dedication and diligence, Georgia continuously manages Davey’s social media and much of his merchandise and works closely with WWE to preserve his extensive history. She was instrumental in his induction into the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame, an event that meant so much to our family and to British Bulldog fans everywhere. Harry, at 6'5" and 260 pounds, carries on the family tradition, just as his grandfather Stu Hart did as a devastating catch/submission wrestler, and to a good extent, like his dad Davey did. Harry has wrestled extensively in Japan and won WWE Tag Team gold with his best friend Tyson Kidd, proudly honouring the lineage of his father, his grandfather, and uncles Dynamite and Owen.
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I continue to share Davey’s story--not just about his championships and iconic matches, but about his huge heart, his great resilience, and about the amazing legacy of Davey Boy Smith, and that also carries on with his family. I miss him dearly, and Harry, Georgia and I are honoured to keep his memory alive.