How Bret Hart Carried An Unprepared Davey Boy Smith To A WWE SummerSlam Classic
Daniel Foster
Published Mar 28, 2026
Read update
- The Wembley classic between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith for the Intercontinental Championship at the SummerSlam 1992 PPV event is one looked back on very fondly by WWE fans as one of the best of all time. However, despite it going down as a success, the match came with a lot of baggage and controversy. On the surface, this match was an instant hit, but below the belt it was actually far more of a struggle - particularly for Bret Hart. This match would also go on to cause a great mess for Smith too, whose WWE career went steeply downhill following what was on paper the biggest win of his entire career.
Quick Links
WWE recently held its Clash at the Castle premium live event at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It was WWE's first stadium show in the UK since SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium -- and it was a smashing success. SummerSlam 92 had an incredible main event that saw The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith defeat Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in front of a raucous home crowd. There were many callbacks to SummerSlam 92 prior to, and during Clash at the Castle, including Bret Hart in attendance for the occasion. Not only is the Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith match an all-timer, but it is perhaps Bret Hart's masterpiece. He had to carry Davey Boy throughout the entirety of the contest.
UPDATE: 2023/07/16 11:00 EST BY ANDREW KELLY
The Wembley classic between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith for the Intercontinental Championship at the SummerSlam 1992 PPV event is one looked back on very fondly by WWE fans as one of the best of all time. However, despite it going down as a success, the match came with a lot of baggage and controversy. On the surface, this match was an instant hit, but below the belt it was actually far more of a struggle - particularly for Bret Hart. This match would also go on to cause a great mess for Smith too, whose WWE career went steeply downhill following what was on paper the biggest win of his entire career.
Davey Boy Smith Was Not In The Right Frame Of Mind Leading Up To The SummerSlam Match
Bret Hart recounted the entire story in his outstanding book, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. It was Bret's idea for he and Davey to main event, and he told Vince McMahon that nobody was going to be able to follow them. He had the perfect finish in mind, and Vince wanted it to be a surprise. Bret's reputation was on the line -- only for Bret to find out that Davey Boy had been partying and doing drugs with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart in the weeks leading up to the show. Neidhart took Davey to the airport to fly to England, claiming he was "high as a kite" when he boarded the plane.
RELATED: 10 Things Bret Hart Never Accomplished In Wrestling
Naturally, Bret feared Davey could make them both look bad, so Bret put together the entire match and had Davey recite all the moves back to him the night before. Bret had done everything he could. Wembley Stadium was packed to the gills with 80,000+ screaming fans, and filled with the sound of annoying air horns. The match began with Davey outmaneuvering Bret with some simple wrestling holds, but after just a few minutes, Davey was breathing incredibly hard.
Davey Boy Smith Forgot The Entire Match With Bret Hart Mere Minutes In
"Bret, I'm fooked. I can't remember anything!" Davey Boy said. "Davey, just listen to me. I'll carry you." Bret Hart proceeded to call out every high spot for Davey, even helping him with facial expressions, doing his best to help Davey conserve his stamina for his comeback at the end. The Hitman played more of a heel given the circumstances, and was on offense for the majority of the match. The crowd was fully behind Davey, just as Bret designed, and the drama continued to build layer by layer, prompting referee Joey Marella to say "Do you guys hear that crowd? This is unbelievable!" Bret carried him as far as he could, and Davey took control for the long-awaited comeback.
RELATED: Top 8 Biggest Botches Of Bret Hart's Wrestling Career
Davey hit Bret with his trademark running powerslam for a great nearfall, followed by Bret hitting a German Suplex for a nearfall of his own. After a double clothesline, both men laid on the mat as Marella started his 10 count. While still on the mat, Bret started intertwining Davey's legs, pulled him up and twisted him into a sharpshooter in the middle of the ring! It was easily one of the best executed sharpshooters of all time.
Bret Hart Vs Davey Boy Smith Had A Perfect Ending
While in the sharpshooter, Davey Boy got to the ropes -- becoming the first person to ever escape the hold -- and caused an explosion from the crowd. Shortly after, it was time to go home. Bret squeezed Davey's wrist as the signal for him to reverse Bret to the ropes. Bret went for a sunset flip, but instead of falling back, Davey Boy fell forward, clutching both Bret's legs for the 1, 2, 3! The old Leo Burke finish as Bret called it. Just how he drew it up.
“I’ve always believed this was my greatest match, especially because I’d carried Davey all the way through it without anyone being the wiser," said Bret in his book. "My dad would tell me later that it’s one thing to have a great match, but it’s another thing to have a great match in front of eighty thousand people.”
The SummerSlam 1992 Match Led To Davey Boy Smith's Firing
Although Davey Boy Smith vs. Bret Hart is considered as one of the greatest SummerSlam matches of all time, and certainly one of the best of either men’s careers, it was also a match which may have been a catalyst for the end of Davey's time in WWE. As noted, Bulldog’s conditioning wasn’t great, and the use of drink and drugs had made him a liability. This led to WWE no longer considering him a top star, and this prompted heat between the two sides.
RELATED: 10 Wrestlers We Can't Believe Had A World Title Match At SummerSlam
The relationship between Davey and WWE fractured more and more throughout the year, before Davey dropped the Intercontinental Championship and was released soon after. Amidst steroid controversy and more, there were likely several reasons for the Davey's WWE departure in 1992, but a big part of it came with the debacle in the SummerSlam 1992 main event with Bret Hart. Even the pinnacle of his professional wrestling career came with a sobering fact that he was never to be trusted in a top spot or to be a world champion, despite often being on the periphery of stardom during the course of his career.
His WWE story wasn’t over though, as he eventually returned to Vince McMahon’s company in 1997 and 1999 ahead of The Attitude Era, though he was clearly far from his prime by this point, as the years hadn’t been kind to him. If he had walked into SummerSlam with a clearer mind and less controversy, the match could have been even better, and he might’ve even found himself in the main event scene shortly after.
