10 Failed WWE Stars Who Re-Invented Themselves In Japan

6. Davey Boy Smith, Jr.

DH Smith had everything necessary to succeed in WWE. He had the size (6€™5, 250lbs.), physique (dude was built like an oak tree), the family lineage (son of the British Bulldog), and the training (the Hart family & his own father). Yet despite all of those positive attributes, WWE never used him as anything more than a lower-card tag team wrestler. This would last until 2011, when he was released after months of inactivity. But WWE€™s loss was NJPW€™s gain, and Smith has become a big name in the top Japanese promotion. Maybe it was something to do with WWE€™s style of wrestling that hindered Bulldog Jr., or maybe it was the way that WWE presents its athletes. Whatever it was, it was holding Smith back, and he has managed to shine in NJPW since signing with them in 2012. Following in the footsteps of other €˜evil foreigners€™, Smith has shown considerable improvement while in NJPW. He has been given many opportunities to wrestle in a more technical style, evidences a tighter grasp of psychology than he did in his WWE matches, and is allowed to behave in a way freer way (which wouldn€™t be allowed in the micro-managed WWE). As part of the Killer Elite Squad, Smith has become arguably the top foreign tag team wrestler in the promotion, and will continue to put on good matches as long as the bookers continue to let him do what he€™s been doing so far.