He defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 1992 at London's original Wembley Stadium; he also has the distinction of being the inaugural and longest reigning WWF European Champion in a total of 206 days, and to have held the title on the sole occasion where a match for that championship headlined a pay-per-view event, at One Night Only in 1997.

Prior to finding singles success, Smith achieved stardom as one half of The British Bulldogs tag team, alongside the Dynamite Kid.

[2] Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Smith was born in Golborne,[3] where he grew up with his father Sid, mother Joyce, brother Terrence, and sisters Joanne and Tracy.

[7] Smith started his training with Ted Betley at 13 after his grandfather and father noticed he needed to be involved in a positive activity.

Smith filled a spot in the promotion left by his slightly older cousin the Dynamite Kid,[6] who had recently departed to wrestle in Calgary.

[12] In 1983, Smith debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he became involved in a three-way feud with Dynamite Kid and The Cobra (George Takano) over the NWA Junior Heavyweight title.

[20] Though there are various accounts of this situation, many suggest that Billington drew first blood by bullying Rougeau (among many others including The Honky Tonk Man, whom Dynamite brought to tears) in Miami.

On 4 July 1989, Smith, along with fellow wrestlers Chris Benoit, Ross Hart, and Jason the Terrible, was involved in a serious automobile accident.

[23] Smith, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, needed 135 stitches after slamming his head through the windscreen and being thrown 25 feet onto the pavement.

[31] In 1992, due to Smith's newfound popularity in the United Kingdom, the WWF decided to hold its annual SummerSlam pay-per-view in Wembley Stadium in London.

On 29 August at SummerSlam, in front of 80,355 of his homeland fans, Smith won the title in a match which is regarded by many wrestling experts as the finest in his career.

[32] Smith lost the title to Shawn Michaels on 14 November at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXI,[33] and was later released by the WWF.

[11] In January 1993, Smith signed with World Championship Wrestling, debuting at SuperBrawl III on 21 February, defeating "Wild" Bill Irwin.

He scored a total of six points, defeating Danny Kroffat, Doug Furnas, and Johnny Ace but losing to Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, The Patriot, Stan Hansen, Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, and Toshiaki Kawada.

[37] The feud continued afterwards,[38][39] and culminated when Smith seemingly won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship from Vader on a tour of England in October, though the decision was reversed.

[10] His final pay-per-view appearance for WCW during this period came at Battlebowl on 20 November, the month prior, where he was teamed with Kole in the first round of the Lethal Lottery; they lost to Road Warrior Hawk and Rip Rogers.

He was brought into the company by Max Crabtree to be his next top star after Big Daddy retired in December 1993 after suffering a stroke.

During his time in RWS, Smith wrestled the likes of Jimmy Ocean, Ricky Knight, Drew McDonald, Karl Krammer, Kamikazi, Black Bart, Johnny Angel, Dale Preston, and Iron Duke Lynch, while primarily teaming with Tony Stewart.

[11] On November 23, Smith appeared at Survivor Series in a 10-man elimination match; his partners were Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, and The Headshrinkers.

They faced WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels and Diesel, Owen Hart, Jeff Jarrett, and Jim Neidhart, but Smith was eventually counted out.

On an August episode of Monday Night Raw, the Allied Powers were supposed to face Men on a Mission but Luger (kayfabe) no-showed the match; Smith found a replacement in the WWF Champion Diesel.

[11] On 22 October at In Your House 4 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Smith received a WWF Championship shot against Diesel, winning by disqualification after Bret Hart interfered.

[47] At Survivor Series on 19 November, Smith participated in the Wild Card eight-man elimination match, teaming with Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sycho Sid and facing WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, Dean Douglas, Owen Hart, and Yokozuna, which they won.

[51] At WrestleMania XII on 31 March, he teamed with Vader and Owen Hart to defeat Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson, and Jake Roberts.

[53] The two were the main-event of the In Your House 8: Beware of Dog pay-per-view on 26 May, and their match ended in a draw,[54] leading to a rematch on 23 June at King of the Ring, where Smith failed to win the title.

He suffered another, much more serious injury on 14 September 1998 at Fall Brawl during his match with Neidhart against The Dancing Fools, Disco Inferno and Alex Wright.

During the match, while taking bumps, Smith twice landed awkwardly on a trapdoor that had been set up underneath the ring canvas to enable The Warrior to make a dramatic entrance in the night's main event.

[10] Due to his training in Stu Hart's Dungeon, Smith was renowned for both his technical skill along with his power moves, frequently performing multiple gorilla press slam variations and a delayed vertical suplex, where he would often hold the opponent in the air for an extended length of time to emphasize his strength.

Shortly after his release from the WWF in 2000, Smith entered an Atlanta drug rehabilitation clinic to treat his addiction to prescription opiate painkillers, including morphine, upon which he had become dependent following a 1998 back injury suffered while in WCW.

[75] Smith died on 18 May 2002[76] after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Invermere, British Columbia, with his girlfriend Andrea Redding, who was Bruce Hart's estranged wife.