Georgia Smith Talks Owen Hart Not Being In The WWE Hall Of Fame
Davey Boy Smith is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month in the week leading up to WrestleMania 37. Ahead of the big weekend, the British Bulldog's daughter, Georgia Smith, reminisced about her father's legendary career and the historic Smith family legacy.
Speaking with Wrasslinews, Georgia Smith discussed the atmosphere in her household growing up. While a great number of the Smiths and Harts turned to the squared circle for a career, Georgia says pro wrestling was never encouraged to her.
"Yeah it wasn't," Georgia said. "I had the barbies and Harry [Smith] (fka David Hart Smith) had his wrestling figures and Harry made homemade rings at home, like with his first action figures. I was the girly girl – ballet, dance, tea parties with the teddy bears, and making my dad endure that. Like you said, it was a very male dominated sport. My dad, you know I'm sure if my mom, if I were to say to her like I think I want to do it, she would support me but my dad, it was kind of like, 'No.' He just kind of let that be known. He just wanted the best for me and not saying that he didn't get the best in wrestling but he went through a lot and he, he wanted me to do just do what I wanted to do deep down, which wasn't wrestling and you know, have the best for me."
Beyond her family being overprotective of her career choices, Georgia noted that the Smiths played a big part in her dating life as well.
"It's not even so much like, it's just my family like my cousins, like my girl cousins that I'm close to – they are very overprotective and so they are like, 'What is this guy?'" Georgia said. "Because you know, my dad's not around anymore, but my brother, he doesn't really care, but if he doesn't like somebody, he'll make it clear. He won't be rude to them but he'll just like, make a comment to me but that's as far as that will go.
"My cousin, Lindsey for instance, she's very protective of me and it's just like, 'I got my eye on you'" (laughs). And also my family is different, so inviting a new person, an outsider into it and them experiencing it all – sometimes they're like, 'This is great!' and then sometimes they're like, 'I'm gonna go that way, so bye!'"
In 2001, Georgia Smith's mother released a controversial book motivated by the tragic death of her younger brother Owen Hart, titled "Under the Mat." Georgia mentioned that she has read her mother's book, and noted that she was able to pick up on certain instances of whether it was her mom's writing or Kirstie McLellan, the woman who helped develop it.
"Well, there were some parts, some chapters, where I saw my mom, like where I was like that's my mom," Georgia said. "And then most of it I was like, it was the person who was helping her with it. I think she had a different idea and she wanted it to go in a different way and she had done this with previous books before. You know my mom had trusted her, and also this woman and her husband, they were friends with my mom and my dad, and this woman and her husband had a production company and they filmed my mom's and my dad's workout DVD. You know, there was trust there, and you know, when it came time to, 'Oh this would be...'
"Originally they wanted to write a book for my dad, and then my dad and my mom, you know they went separate ways, and they ended up with my mom! I just felt like everything was just like rushed with it and like my mom would be like, 'We need to change this and we need to do this,' and they would be like, 'Ah! At this rate it's never going to come out, we have a deadline.' And my mom's like, 'Okay! Well this is not going to like, go down well if I write this or if I write that,' and she was like, 'Well you told me this and you have to remember that when you said this to me.' And my mom's like 'But that's not what I meant!'
"[And they would say], 'Well Diana, you're just complicating things!' and its like, 'Okay well I cant say that we drove a Lincoln because my family never did!' My y dad had Cadillacs like it was just little things and they were just constantly like butting heads and, you know my grandmother got sick and she died, and then like the week she died, my mom's book came out and my mom was just like, 'Oh God!' But my mom was like, 'You know what? It's out, you know, I've done what I could and I'm just going to try to make the most of it' You know, whatever, just trying to make it positive and she talked to my dad about it and you know, he was like, 'I don't really care what you say about me,' and he made clear what he had issues with and you know, she was like 'Alright!,' and he was like, 'I understand.' He was, you know, supportive about it. That's the type of person my dad was.
"So yeah! That had happened and I know my mom has a lot of regrets with it but at the same time, there were, you know, the chapter about my cousin Matt – I can tell that's my mom and it's a very heartfelt chapter."
Despite being one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the business, Owen Hart has infamously never been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Martha Hart, Owen's widow, ultimately made the decision for her late husband to not go into the Hall of Fame, which Georgia says she supports.
"I think Martha can do whatever she wants to do. You know, it's her call at the end of the day," Georgia said. "It's hers and her kids' call and I mean, there were some things that I didn't agree with Martha with, and how she handled things but at the end of the day, they don't want to be a part of the WWE, they don't want the Hall of Fame, they don't want any of that. They celebrate Owen's career and Owen's life in different ways. They want to be private and people have to respect that! Obviously, Owen did have a career and we can't forget that and you know, we need to cherish those memories and you know, it would be amazing if he was in the Hall of Fame, but to them, the Hall of Fame, it does not have the same significance as it might mean to me or to anyone else. You know, they do things differently, they have a different life. So, that's kind of my thoughts on it and I think people need to leave them alone."
As for how she wants her late uncle to be remembered, Georgia says she hopes people look beyond his work inside the squared circle.
"Owen was a really, really good father," Georgia said. "He was an amazing person. It was just something that my family, we've never gotten over. It was the worst thing that's ever happened to our family but Owen, he was just such an amazing, like a Saint walking the Earth. He was like my grandfather Stu and just so funny, so giving, always thought about people, always wanted to help people. Never, never had a bad attitude. Yeah, he would do anything for his kids and always make time for them. As I mentioned like my dad, when he was home, he'd want to like relax, you know, power to him. But Owen was always wanting to do things with his kids, wanting to take them out, wanting to like, have as much time with them as he could. Like, they were his life! Athena, Martha and Oge, like they were his whole world and everything he did was for them. Yeah, he was just class, class, class person."