Bulldog fights his inner demons
By RICK BELL -- Calgary Sun
Life is not always a scene out of Rocky.
Sometimes there isn't even a good soundtrack.
Calgary's Davey Boy Smith, the one-time fruit and vegetable delivery boy
from England who has made a name throughout the world as wrestling's British
Bulldog, has seen better days than these.
Family sources confirm Davey Boy is now in hospital in this city. Again.
This time, Davey is being treated for an infected shoulder after surgery was
done to save his arm. Davey was only out of hospital a few days after a bout
of pneumonia.
The sources also confirm Davey has much bigger and life-threatening
problems to tackle.
Despite trips to rehab, Davey is still hooked on the deadly painkillers
he's abused for years and he is now mired in marital woes.
To make matters worse, computer screens across the globe recently told mat
fans that Davey is trying to kill himself, to end it once and for all.
It was quite the story a year ago this very month.
Davey working out, twice a day, vowing he'd come back from a back injury
caused by a slam against a trap door in a wrestling ring, a mishap that would
cripple weaker men.
Vowing he'd come back from spinal discs dissolving in infection. Vowing
he'd come back even though he was fired by World Championship Wrestling as he
lay in pain at Rockyview Hospital.
Vowing he'd come back even when doctors said he was crazy and the maggots
who feed on bad news said Davey was washed up and done.
Yes, a year ago, anyone with any sense couldn't help rooting for Davey, the
working-class lad who never copped an attitude, never felt full of himself or
his fame.
"I'm an addict to wrestling. It's almost like a drug," are words Davey used
at the time. But sadly, wrestling is not Davey's only drug.
He endured the pain in his back.
He lived with the pain in his heart. His sister died at 27, his mom died,
his tag-team partner and brother-in-law Owen Hart died.
He tried to medicate himself against the pain, a recipe for disaster. He
went to rehab for the drugs.
And he came back to the ring.
Last August, 11 months ago, Davey signed a big deal with Vince McMahon's
World Wrestling Federation. Some, including brother-in-law Bret Hart, attacked
Davey's decision, comparing him to a dog rolling in manure.
After all, Davey's tag-team partner and brother-in-law, Owen, was killed in
a WWF match.
"I'm not afraid. I'm not a quitter," are words Davey used at the time.
Davey didn't quit.
But life is not always a scene out of Rocky.
This spring, Davey called from a hallway phone in a rehab clinic outside
Atlanta, still an admitted addict to morphine, painkillers with names too
tough to spell, muscle relaxants and sleeping pills.
Davey swallows them, he shoots them, he wakes up in the night to get a fix.
"Things were really getting on top of me. I didn't want to die," he said at
the time.
He knew he had to clean up, to get straight, to defeat his biggest
opponent.
But he checked out days later. "Davey didn't need a get out of rehab card,"
says a family member.
Now, Davey is still not off the painkillers. He is still an addict and
still must face his family problems.
But the story can still end for Davey with his hand raised. He has his
supporters, his friends and family who worry about him, who encourage him, who
tell him they want him to live long and triumph, no matter the odds.
And Davey can still triumph, if he has the will. Just like a scene out of
Rocky.
