Davey Boy Smith Jr. Pays Tribute To His Father On His 60th Birthday

Davey Boy Smith Jr. took to Instagram on Sunday, November 27, to offer a birthday tribute to his iconic father.

"BIG Happy Birthday to my father Davey Boy Smith "The British Bullldog" who would have turned 60 today!" he wrote on his Instagram page. "Davey also shares the same birthday with legends Bruce Lee and original "Tiger Mask" Satoru Sayama. Who also helped coach and mentor me at Super Tiger dojo when I'd travel to Japan."

Smith Jr. shared a childhood photograph of his father admiring a toy version of a professional wrestling ring.

"This is a really cool pic with us, and I actually had built this ring with some canvas from Jim Neidhart's APW ring," he said. "With wood and carpet pads. Quite an imagination for an 8 year old."

Smith began his wrestling career as a teenager in his native England in the late 1970s, competing with his cousin Tom Billington, also known as the Dynamite Kid. The pair came to Canada under the guidance of the Hart family and appeared in Calgary's Stampede Wrestling. They joined WWF in 1984 as the British Bulldogs, and after the pair split Smith retained the "British Bulldog" moniker during his subsequent stints with WWE, WCW, and other promotions.

Smith died on May 18, 2002, after suffering a heart attack -– he was 39 at the time of his death. His son, whose birth name is Harry Francis Smith, was 16 at the time of his father's passing. Smith was part of the 2020 class for the WWE Hall of Fame, but the induction was postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Hopefully smiling down from the stars somewhere Davey...always remembered dearly," said Smith Jr. on Instagram.