Glass Hand Dissolving: British Bulldogs

vs Hart Foundation (WWF 9/23/1985)

The Bulldogs take the early parts of this; for the most part is pretty basic stuff. The Hart Foundation take over on what is a pretty subtle heel move where Bret grabs the trunks to shoot Davey off into the ropes, and then hits a kitchen sink knee. To me, it is just too subtle to really work for changing the momentum in such a drastic way. Bret and Jim work over both Bulldogs for the bulk of the match from that point, and the moment that turns that momentum just isn't impactful enough. Bret ties Dynamite in the ropes, and attempts a running attack of some kind, but Bulldog frees himself, Bret gets caught in the ropes, and Davey Boy tags in. Davey takes it to Brett for a bit, but Bret hits a backbreaker that gets momentum back for the Hart Foundation. Bret hits a top rope Hart Attack, but while the referee is getting Anvil back to his corner, and Bret is covering Davey, Dynamite hits a top rope headbutt, rolls Davey out, and covers Bret himself for the win. I liked the finish of this, and most parts of it, but as I said, man that transition into the heat just wasn't what I needed. 

vs Dream Team (WWF 5/19/1986)

Davey spends the first half of the match working from the bottom. Valentine is pretty good at working a heat like this; I don't know if Davey is. It's a fine segment, but there are certainly better examples. Davey finally tags out, and Dynamite doesn't offer much offense; he quickly ends up selling for Valentine and Beefcake. The only thing of note in this match, pretty much across the entirety, is the finish. Valentine hits an elbow drop and goes for the pin; Johnny Valiant holds down Dynamite Kid, and the referee counts three. As he's counting three, he sees Valiant cheating, so he decides not to count the fall. Valentine is celebrating, Dynamite comes up behind him and hits the O'Connor Roll for the win. I think the Bulldogs were okay here, and I don't think there's much else to say. 

vs Islanders (WWF 2/6/1988)

I went back and watched this a few times, and not because it was really good, but because absolutely nothing stood out to me. The vast majority of this is pretty much back and forth; Dynamite gets disqualified for using a leash for the finish. It isn't bad; the action is actually pretty good, but nothing has any impact, at least for me watching this here in 2026. 

vs Cuban Commandos (Stampede 12/12/1988)

I knew going into watching this, given that the video was less than nine minutes, that this wasn't going to be some epic cage match. I had tempered expectations, and I think this either met them or fell a bit short. I just don't get a sense of violence out of this match, and it should be there. It's short; it can be short and violent and be a really good match. This doesn't feel like that.  Sometimes it feels like guys are just standing around. The ending, where there's some movement towards a finish, is pretty good, but it doesn't do enough to push that match over the hump. 

vs Can-Am Express (AJPW 5/12/1989)

Kroffat and Dynamite start this off, and after a few attempts to grapple, which Krofat thwarts, Dynamite just slaps his opponent. It sets the tone for what's going to happen next, and I appreciate that we're going to skip the sort of perfunctory early stages of respect and 50-50 wrestling, and just get into the portions of the match with some animosity. Both guys tag out after a bit, and we get the two powerhouses squaring off. We get a lot of tests of strength, shoulder blocks, and the like. It's fine, but it has its limitations. Both tag out and we get back to Dynamite and Kroffat. They got at a really fast clip for a little bit, Kroffat hits a dive, and when Dynamite finally gets to the ring, he tags in Davey. Kroffat tries to out-finesse Davey, but Davey matches him move for move. Kroffat tags out and lets Furnas try his luck with the Bulldog again. They work a mix of spots built around agility and then ones built around strength, mostly trading off; Davey hits the last one, a big powerslam, and tags in Dynamite. We mix up the pairs here, with Dynamite working a small patch with Furnas and Davey a small section with Kroffat. Things slow down a bit from here; first the Bulldogs and then the Can-Ams take segments of the match to work submissions. In the middle of those, Dynamite hits a really great superplex, which warrants a mention. The closing stretch has a lot of big moves, not like finisher-type moves or plunder-type moves, but moves of a magnitude that this match hasn't really seen up to this point.  Kroffat goes for a German Suplex; Dynamite hits a standing switch and then a bridging back suplex for the win. This was pretty good; I'm not crazy about it, but it is a solid match. I don't love the finishing stretch or I guess I don't like the contrast of the closing stretch to the ten minutes before it, because in context it seems like we just pretended to work everybody's leg for it not to matter at all. 

Verdict

I think that this is a team who doesn't quite live up to their reputation. They aren't bad, I'd say they are a very good team in the grand scheme of things, but nothing here stood out to me in a major way. Most of the matches were good, some of them had structures I didn't dig, and some looked more impressive for their opponents, and not in the way that would be a compliment to them.