Davey Boy Smith Jr. To Induct His Father Into The WWE Hall Of Fame

It was announced today on "After The Bell" that "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith will be officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020.

Corey Graves spoke with Hart Family members Tyson Kidd, Natalya and Davey Boy Smith Jr. to celebrate the news. Smith Jr. revealed that he will be inducting his father into the WWE Hall of Fame.

"It's been long overdue, but I'm really excited and glad to induct my father into the Hall of Fame," Smith Jr. said "It's something great not only for my family but for the WWE Universe as well, and I'm so excited and jacked up about it."

Natalya talked about The British Bulldog's impact on pro wrestling. She said his impact is what makes him a Hall of Famer.

"It's like the timing has never been better. The fact that we look at how much WWE had grown since the heyday of the British Bulldog. You look at even just English wrestling, so many people, not just English wrestling, so many people in our industry say that it was the British Bulldog that inspired them to get into WWE, and they look back on that match Bret and Davey had in Wembley Stadium in 1992 and they say that was the match I watched. That was the match that inspired me to do this," Natalya said. "I feel like that's what truly makes a Hall of Famer is how much they inspire people. Davey's work and his legacy being the British Bulldog has stood the test of time, and he's still so relevant to the culture of WWE today."

Kidd said that he knew this would happen someday. He acknowledges that WWE cannot just put a mass amount of people into the Hall of Fame at once. He called it the perfect timing for The British Bulldog to be inducted.

"It's so awesome. I knew of course it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. I understand that the hall of fame is not really a race. It's not going anywhere. We need a certain number of people and stars each year," Kidd said. "You can't put everybody in that first year, so it was just a matter of which year was going to be the best year. Obviously, here we are in 2020. It's awesome, and a long time coming."

Graves asked Smith Jr. about any British Bulldog matches that stood out to him. He and Kidd talked about his European Championship match in Germany and how Smith Jr. watched the pre-recorded match with his father while he held the European Championship.

"The European Championship match he had in Germany in 1997. That certainly comes to mind," Smith said. "A lot of the great matches he had with Dynamite Kid against the Dream Team at WrestleMania 2, that was an amazing match.

"I think a cool thing Harry about that European title match was it was pre-recorded. It was recorded a couple of days earlier in Germany. He was at home right? First time it's airing, Harry is watching it with him which is a rare thing [because] RAW is live," Kidd said. "You can't watch the match with person that's in it as it's airing."

Another match that stood out was the ten-man tag team match that the Hart Dynasty had at In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede. Smith Jr. and Kidd talked about the atmosphere of the match in the Saddledome.

"And the Canadian Stampede match from 1997. That was one of my favorite moments in wrestling," Smith said. "When all those guys made their entrances, TJ you would've remembered, you could've just cut the electricity.

"Harry and I were sitting next to each other. You couldn't talk," Kidd said. "We couldn't hear each other through the whole match. Insane."

Smith Jr. has been out of WWE since 2011. Graves gave him the time to discuss what he has been doing since he left WWE where he has been working for MLW and his future opportunity to participate in the Champion Carnival, a tournament that his father and Dynamite Kid have participated in before.

"So I've been competing with Major League Wrestling. I've also been doing a lot of stuff prior to that with New Japan Pro Wrestling and won some championship golds over there, and coming up, I'll be competing in the 2020 All Japan Pro Wrestling Champion Carnival tournament. And I'm really excited about that because this same tournament, it's a single's tournament that my dad competed in in 1993 after he left WWE and before he went to WCW and one that Dynamite Kid competed in in 1991 as well. There's a lot of lineage. I'm really excited about that," Smith said. "I've been embracing the Japanese culture. I've been learning the language and cooking some of the food too. I've been having a blast over there, and it's been awesome. I've been keeping myself busy. I've won some grappling championships. Done a lot of MMA training trying to be better than the best period."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.