Davey Boy Smith

Although the WWE appear to be ignoring the British Bulldog when selecting their annual Hall of Fame, Smith’s achievements and fanfare in wrestling has not gone unnoticed by thecurrent crop of superstars.

Bryan, who is one of the most popular WWE superstars in the modern era, has become the latest star to back the Bulldog in his Hall of Fame bid - either as an individual or with his tag-team partner, Tom 'Dynamite Kid' Billington.

Asked whether he should be inducted, the five-time world champion told Sky Sports News: “That's an interesting question. To me - yes. I don't know if that would be as a tag team or as Davey Boy Smith on his own.

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"One of the highlights of my fandom was Davey Boy beating Bret Hart at SummerSlam in 1992. To me, as a kid, when I thought of epic matches I thought of Ric Flair-Ricky Steamboat and I thought of that.

"But I don't make those calls."

And Bryan, who controversially retained the WWE Championship against AJ Styles at the WWE Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View last night, also spoke on the influence that ‘The Dynamite Kid’ has had on his own career as well as the landscape of professional wrestling.

Billington died late last year on his 60th birthday - 16 years after the death of his cousin, Smith.

"The modern style of WWE and professional wrestling is very largely based on what Dynamite Kid did," he said. "I was a huge student of watching Dynamite Kid tapes and not just the stuff with Tiger Mask, but the early stuff he did in England with Stampede too.