Harry Smith Talks About The Current Wave Of Japanese Wrestlers In WWE

This WrestleZone Radio exclusive features WZ Daily’s Nick Hausman chats with former WWE Superstar Harry Smith (aka The British Bulldog Jr.)

You can find some of Harry’s comments transcribed below and listen to the full interview in the embedded audio player above.

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On why he thinks Japanese wrestlers and the Japanese pro wrestling style is resonating right now with WWE:

HS: I think that it has to do with, to be honest, Giant Bernard. I remember he came back as Lord Tensai. I know he was one of New Japan’s favorite Guijins when he was there years ago. He had a long run there. Like nine years or something. He was kind of the top ace Guijin. When he left I think that he had established a pretty good relationship with a lot of the guys. Especially Shinsuke Nakamura. The Bullet Club guys. Some of them. Some of them came on later. I think he established a good relationship. I know that he is a trainer down in NXT. I think that it was just from his ties and his ideas of, “Hey, we have these Japanese guys.” It think it was just his relationships prior and then he brought them over. I guess it was a good idea on his behalf. A lot of the Japanese guys before that came to WWE there were a lot of good ones but they always seemed to wind up doing silly, goofy characters. Tajiri wound up being more of a comedy wrestler. Taka too. They were all good but I guess it was about where they could fit in the company. Now they have brought in a lot of guys who are showing more of the strong style in NXT. There were always all kinds of Japanese guys before. WWE just always had them kind of doing weird, goofy characters. Even Hakushi towards the end of his run was teaming up with Barry Horowitz!

In the full interview Harry discusses:

His current run with NOAH in Japan
Balancing his pro wrestling and MMA training at the moment
The odds we see him in an actual MMA bout soon
How much it costs to take care of your body at a high level
Tyson Kidd’s neck injury and how his recovery is doing
Ibushi’s current run with WWE as part of the Cruiserweight Classic
Why fans are tuning in to the Cruiserweight Classic
Why Japanese wrestlers and wrestling are resonating so well with WWE at the moment
What fans can expect from TM-61 in NXT that may not have seen them before
Natalya’s recent heel turn
His thoughts on triple threat matches
Jim Neidhart getting his “Anvil” nickname throwing them at the Canadian Stampede
His uncle Bret Hart’s recent outspoken comments about Triple H and whether they are justified
Brock Lesnar’s UFC 200 victory
How fans can help get the Hart Foundation inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame
More…