Diana Hart-Smith of the legendary Hart wrestling family recently spoke to Sean Ross Sapp of WrestlingInc about her late husband Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart’s 2010 return to WWE, as well as the rift between the British Bulldogs. She also speaks about Harry Smith using the Davey Boy name, and her new novel Cauliflower Heart: A Romantic Wrestler. Here are some highlights.
Have you spoken to Dynamite Kid since the problems with Davey occured?
“I haven’t spoken to him, but I have had messages back and forth through my kids who have spoken to him with affection.”
What caused the rift between Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid? Tyson Kidd and Natalya recently mentioned that you had the foresight to trademark the British Bulldogs name. How did Dynamite feel about that?
“It had to do with Davey going back to WWF, and Dynamite didn’t want to go back. Davey said ‘I’m on the verge of losing my house’ and Tom wasn’t. I did have the wherewithal to trademark the British Bulldogs name and Dynamite didn’t want anything to do with it. I told Tom we were doing this, and it would cost this much money. At the time it seemed like a lot, but in hindsight it was well worth it. We would own the name and he didn’t want any part of it. As Dynamite said, I was the tail wagging the dog. If he thought of it, he would have just had to do it, but since it was Davey’s wife who was trying to implement it, it wasn’t good. I don’t have any animosity towards Tom, I love Tom. I just don’t think he thought I knew what I was doing. I learned a lot from being Helen and Stu Hart’s daughter, I wasn’t an ostrich with my head stuck in the sand. It’s nice of Nattie and TJ to give me credit for that, I really appreciate it.”
There was a situation in 1997 regarding HBK and Davey in Europe where Davey was supposed to defend the European Title but Shawn ended up going over. How was their relationship after that?
“It seemed OK. I think things were okay. I was talking to Shawn earlier that day. It was disappointing that Davey had to lose that night in England, but that’s how things are in wrestling. I don’t think there were any hard feelings. I don’t recall Davey having any hard feelings with anyone. When the Montreal thing happened with Bret, we started thinking back and wondering if there was more to that match. Suddenly the finish changing the afternoon of the pay-per-view, we wondered if things were being put in place where they were immobilizing The Hart Foundation, taking away all the power to get ready for the Montreal match with Bret. I’m thinking that we didn’t know if Bret was going to give his notice. Bret might have known.”
You also appeared in 2010 during the storyline with Bret and Vince McMahon. Was that something you were on board with, and how did the family feel?
“Certain ones it took convincing. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about that until the day of the event, really. It was kept so top secret. They didn’t want anyone to know what the finish would be. I guess with ten Hart family members, there could be somebody that talks to a wife or friend, and then it’s all over the world.”
You can check out the full, two part interview at this link: http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2015/0727/598757/diana-hart-smith-talks-about-rift-between-davey-boy-and-dynamite
