British Bulldog’s WWE HOF Chances, XFL Releases Official Rules

Triple H Believes British Bulldog Deserves WWE Hall Of Fame Honor

Count Triple H among those in favor of inducting “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Smith passed away in 2002 of myocardial infarction. He was just 39 years old at the time.

During a recent teleconference for the upcoming NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool 2 event, a reporter posed the question about the hall of fame to Triple H.

“100 percent deserves to be in the hall of fame,” the WWE executive said.

The career of Smith spanned three decades and included numerous title runs and high-level feuds. He held the Intercontinental, Hardcore and tag team titles, while also winning the 1997 WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament with Owen Hart.

One of those titles was the inaugural WWF European belt, which he held for a record 206 days. Smith also was the reigning champion during the only pay-per-view to feature the European belt in the main event, which came at One Night Only in 1997 vs. Shawn Michaels. He lost the title that night to Michaels.

Smith and Diana Hart, the daughter of Stu and Helen Hart, were married in 1984 and had two children. One of those, Davey Boy Smith Jr., competed for the WWE for several years.

Just prior to his passing away, Smith was training with his son for a potential return to action. He had wrestled a handful of matches with him just days prior.

XFL Rules Include Interesting Overtime Format

A series of rules will definitely set the XFL apart from the NFL, which is exactly what Vince McMahon promised when he decided to bring the league back.

Kickoffs will start from the 30-yard line with only the kicker and return man being allowed to move until the ball is caught or hits the ground. Coverage and blocking units will line up at the receiving teams 35 and 30.

Also, players cannot leave the line of scrimmage on punts until after the kick, there will be three options after scoring a touchdown with none of them being to kick an extra-point and two forward passes on one play will be allowed if the first pass does not go past the line of scrimmage.

“What we did is listen to fans,” XFL commissioner Oliver Luck said in an interview with ESPN. “And what they told us is that they love this game, but they would like it at a little more of a faster pace and with a little more excitement. They thought there is too much idle time. We tried to listen to what they didn’t want, also. They didn’t want gimmicks or things that were inauthentic. They also didn’t want to be complicit when it comes to player safety. So what we wanted to do is take a great game and make it a little better.”

Overtime will be a shootout-style with each team getting five single-play possessions from the 5-yard line. Rotating possessions will continue until a winner is determined.

The XFL is scheduled to launch in February the weekend after the Super Bowl.