Harry Smith (aka Davey Boy Jr.) is back in WWE

For the fans in attendance at Houston’s Toyota Center last night, Harry Smith - aka Davey Boy Smith, Jr. - was the first wrestler they saw walk down the ramp.

That wasn’t on SmackDown - at least not the televised portion. To get the honor of being first through the flat screen, Smith worked a dark match for his re-debut. Read into that what you will.

WWE did release a post-show interview with the third generation wrestler touting his return to the company after nearly a decade away.

“You know, it’s great to be back in the WWE, especially in front of the WWE Universe live here in Houston, Texas. The atmosphere, the ambiance, the energy that you can feel from a live WWE audience - nothing can touch that. And that’s why Harry Smith is back in the WWE. The past 10 years I’ve been going around the globe making myself the best competitor that I can be, all over in Japan, all over in Europe. And that’s why I’m back in the WWE, to show exactly how much Harry Smith has grown over this past time.”

During his first WWE stint from 2006 - 2011, Smith teamed with Tyson Kidd & Natalya as The Hart Dynasty, with the men winning tag gold once. Smith remains close to his cousins (Harry and Nattie’s mothers are two of Stu & Helen Hart’s 12 children), and it’s believed their presence in the company is a factor in his decision to return.

As he alludes to in the promo, Smith’s time away from WWE has been spent working all over the globe. He captured three IWGP Tag Team championships, and two GHC Tag belts in Japan. He’s also a two NWA World Tag champ, and once won MLW’s World Tag Team championship.

We’ll see what plans WWE has for the 35 year old this time around.