The SmarK Rant for Coliseum Video presents The Best of the British Bulldog
Someone in the comments had, I think, mentioned this one recently, so why not?
Released October 11 1993 according to the WWE Network, which is weird timing given that he was still firmly in WCW at that point. I think they might be off by a year on that one.
Hosted by Sean Mooney
The Warlord v. The British Bulldog
This is a match from the Tuesday in Texas show in 1991. Warlord tries to overpower Davey to start and complains about tights being pulled when it doesn’t work. Davey takes him down and splits the legs, then hits him with a pair of clotheslines to put him on the floor. He tries to follow with a dive, but Warlord sort of catches him and runs him into the post. I don’t know what’s up with the commentary here on the Network, because Bobby Heenan has all kinds of stuff cut out, leaving huge chunks of silence. Back in the ring, Bulldog ties him up in the ropes, but he misses a blind charge and clotheslines himself, allowing Warlord to take over. Warlord puts the boots to him in the corner and goes to a bearhug, before turning it into a belly to belly. Bobby notes that the match has “been going on for more than 10 minutes now”, although actually only 5:00, which just shows that Warlord has the power to dilate the flow of time itself with his terrible wrestling. Also Gorilla claims that “20,000 people are behind Davey” although attendance was about 8,000 in reality. Both time AND space are getting warped by the Warlord! It’s like Doctor Who’s police box gimmick. Warlord gets the full nelson and Bulldog has to fight his way out of that, albeit very slowly. Finally Warlord tosses him down because he can’t get a grip on the hold and then whips him into the corner, but Davey fights back with a clothesline off the middle rope. Delayed suplex gets two. Corner clothesline sets up the powerslam, but Warlord grabs the ropes and falls on top for two. Davey with a crucifix and that finishes at 12:50. I feel like the powerslam finish would have been way more impressive but whatever, this was fine. 1 for 1.
The British Bulldog v. Rick Martel
Dark match from Wrestling Challenge here, somewhere around March of 1992 best I can tell. Bulldog works a headlock and Martel bails to the apron to escape, so Bulldog slingshots him back in and goes to an armbar. He has the balls to mess up Martel’s hair, which is something coming from a guy with cornrows. Martel throws him out and works on the back outside, but Bulldog makes a comeback in the ring with clotheslines, but he tries a sunset flip and Martel grabs the ropes to block. But Hebner stops counting at two, and Davey reverses for the pin at 5:23. They were sleepwalking through this one, and that’s putting it kindly. 1 for 2.
The British Bulldog v. Shawn Michaels
Another Challenge dark match from Tampa this time. We’re somewhere between WM8 and Summerslam. Bulldog chases Shawn to the floor right away, and back in for a headlock, but Shawn does a drop down to escape and Bulldog hits him with a headbutt. Bulldog tries a hiptoss and Shawn flips out of it, so Bulldog clotheslines him and goes after Sherri. That backfires on him and Shawn hits him with a cheapshot and takes over with a backdrop. Back elbow and he chokes him out on the mat and goes to a chinlock. Davey fights out, so Shawn throws him out and Sherri lays the badmouth on him, allowing Shawn to hit him with a forearm off the apron. Back in for more chinlocking, and Shawn cuts off a comeback with a thumb to the eye and goes up with the flying elbow for two. Another one misses and Davey makes the comeback, but Shawn thumbs him in the eye AGAIN. So Davey punts him out of the ring and Shawn takes a huge bump off the post, and Davey hauls him back in for a press slam and drops him on the top rope. But then Sherri comes in for the DQ at 8:02 just as it was getting good. So Davey teases a powerslam on her, but Shawn makes the save and the heels run away. Good enough for a point but not anywhere near the level of their SNME match later in the year. 2 for 3.
The British Bulldog v. Earthquake
We’re somewhere in England for this one, and Andre the Giant is in Bulldog’s corner, so we’re late in 1991. Big stall to start and Bulldog wins a power battle and hits Quake with dropkicks while Alfred struggles to think of the word for 500 years. “Quintessential?” offers Mooney. I assume these guys don’t play Wordle. Bulldog tries a middle rope clothesline and Quake catches him in a bearhug, but Bulldog tries to slam out of it and Quake falls on top for two. Bulldog tries a sunset flip and Quake sits on him to block and then goes to another bearhug despite the cheerleading efforts of Andre. Davey tries to fight out, so Quake powerslams him and then decides to go after Andre for a cheapshot. He’s just a helpless 7 foot tall 500 pound giant! Back in, Earthquake misses an elbowdrop when Andre hits him with the crutch, and Bulldog slams him and pins him at 8:28. This never got going to any degree. 2 for 4.
The British Bulldog v. IRS
Another UK match, from the European Rampage show that aired in England in April of 1992. Sounds kind of interesting, with a Randy Savage v. Shawn Michaels WWF title match for the main event. If it’s available on the Network I might give it a look. A lengthy stall to start as Jimmy Hart complains about crowd noise and Bulldog wants more crowd noise, etc. Bulldog quickly escapes a headlock and chases him to the floor, then runs him into Jimmy for literally no reason. So Irwin stalls again and tours the floor, but Davey takes him down and works the arm in the ring until IRS escapes with an enzuigiri. Back to the floor and IRS puts the boots to him to take over this time, and it’s back in for an abdominal stretch, which of course is never applied to the satisfaction of Gorilla. Davey counters with a rollup for two, but Irwin hits him with the Write Off clothesline and legdrops him for two. Irwin with the chinlock and he puts Davey down with a knee to the gut to cut off the comeback and then tosses him for more cheapshots while Jimmy takes the ref. Davey fights back in and suplexes IRS into the ring for two, but he tries a splash and misses. Irwin takes him to the corner, but Bulldog runs him into the turnbuckles for the 10 count, which is 14 when converted to US currency, and a rollup gets two. IRS whips him into the corner to put him down again and grabs the briefcase, but Davey catches it and powerslams him for the pin at 12:50. 3 for 5.
And, uh, that’s the whole tape apparently. Copyright at the end is 1992 so I think the 1993 release date on the Network is definitely incorrect. Also that was definitely not “the best” of the Bulldog, it was a few dark matches from the year long period they were covering with this one. They didn’t even have any profile stuff or interviews, just the matches. But hey, as something to burn an hour on a Sunday night, you could do worse, I guess.