Harry Smith on nearly returning last year as “Stampede Stud”

[héad.casé]

“John Cone said ‘the next time you are going to come to SmackDown it’s going to be your debut, you did really good in your dark match, Vince really liked it.’ So I was like, ‘great, I’ll just wait,’ and then they asked me to do a dark match in Tampa and they were going to do some backstage vignettes with me and my father’s leather vest.

“They were going to show that for the documentary, and then luck would have it I ended up having COVID, really bad, so I was kind of out of commission for about three weeks or a month. Then I was kind of forgotten about, I came to TV one or two times. I was waiting to come back and then they called and Johnny Ace said he wasn’t a fan of my release, he wasn’t happy with the list of names he was given but it wasn’t from him.”

“I don’t know what they were waiting for, the only thing I was told was, I was going to be debuting on SmackDown and they were going to call me ‘The Stampede Stud.’ It just never happened, it wasn’t my fault. I showed up more than in shape. I saw Vince and he was like ‘oh you’re looking good kid.’

www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2022/06/released-wwe-star-nearly-debuted-with-new-name-and-gimmick-on-smackdown-last-year/

[Feargus McReddit]

Yeah, the re-signing of Harry Smith was so weird. It made all the sense in the world considering he was experienced and coming off a hot-ish run across the indies and he had the dark match where he was over…then nothing.

Like, for how pointless Cain Velasquez was, at least he showed up on TV. Smith didn't go beyond YouTube Exclusive.

[Nosnorb]

I can imagine he would probably have had to drop or water down the Cowboy gimmick in time with Beastie Boy being practically a full-timer up until Wrestlemania.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

What a stud:

[Legion]

He says it himself, he was forgotten about.

He got Covid and plans moved on.

If he was British, I think he'd have been set as they could have just rehashed his dad's gimmick, but as a mediocre Canadian wrestler whose dad's whole schtick was being British, he had about as much chance as Mr Perfect's son not being Perfect.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

He should have been the "Stampede Sandwich" and dressed as different sandwiches every week.

Then he meets his nemesis, a wrestler dressed as a hot dog, where they fight over whether a hot dog is technically a sandwich or not.

[nisidhe]

I honestly think the window is closing on Harry's potential for WWE stardom. I mean, he's a more than passable worker, but he'll never be what his father was. To package him as anything related to either his father or to Stampede would just do him more damage than good.

If anyone needs to find his own gimmick and his own path _soon_, it's Harry Smith. David's been gone over 20 years and there are wrestlers now with no memory of the Bulldogs and/or Hart Foundation (in any form) or even Davey's solo work. Japan might remember, but it's ancient history stateside.

[thegatewaydrug]

Now that's.... bizarre!

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

So he was going to be called the Stampede Stud whether he wants too or not

[J is Thunder Justice]

Jun 9, 2022 6:19:12 GMT -5 héad.casé said:

‘The Stampede Stud.’

[Legion]

Jun 9, 2022 8:45:04 GMT -5 nisidhe said:

I honestly think the window is closing on Harry's potential for WWE stardom. I mean, he's a more than passable worker, but he'll never be what his father was. To package him as anything related to either his father or to Stampede would just do him more damage than good.

If anyone needs to find his own gimmick and his own path _soon_, it's Harry Smith. David's been gone over 20 years and there are wrestlers now with no memory of the Bulldogs and/or Hart Foundation (in any form) or even Davey's solo work. Japan might remember, but it's ancient history stateside.

Nah, years of WWE treating any old star as a massive legend means they could show a couple of vignette's about Davey Boy and the crowd would react, especially if they'd done it for this Summer and the Castle show in the UK.

It is old, but old can be new again when nostalgia is what you've trained your crowd to love for years.

[Chiral]

Stampede Stud could've put up a fight against Seth Franklin Rollins

[fw91]

Straight out of Southpaw

[Venti]

What a bizarre name

[thegatewaydrug]

He coulda been the centerpiece of a stable with Colonel Parker!

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Wasn’t he kind of doing this before he got cut the first time in 2011? I vaguely remember him randomly wearing a cowboy hat.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Kinda crazy Vince doesn't see anything in this guy, second gen star, the spitting image of his father who is a WWE Legend, he's big, and he's a good worker, idk if I'd put him in the same category as his dad there but he's certainly a fine worker in his own right

Vince usually falls all over people who check these boxes, but who knows, his plans and ideas change by the hour anymore.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jun 10, 2022 1:15:09 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Wasn’t he kind of doing this before he got cut the first time in 2011? I vaguely remember him randomly wearing a cowboy hat.

the hat and hte weird ass facial expression right before he was cut yeah.

[Mozenrath]

I always liked him, but he works better in a tag team, which, yeah, good luck with that in WWE.

Sort of wonder if he'll ever get a look from AEW. Pillman Jr. and Lance Archer obviously have worked with him a lot, the latter having won a shitload of tag titles with him both in the US and Japan. I just am unsure if they broke up acrimoniously when Smith left NJPW, but I think Smith's issues were with them, not him. He did also throw coffee in in Jake Robert's eyes once because, to be frank, Smith is kind of insane, but Jake forgave him for that already.

[Deleted]

He would be a better fit in AEW.

Put him with Lance Archer again.