Early career (2005–2013) Smith made his debut on October 28, 2005, at East Coast Professional Wrestling event under the
ring name Donnie "The Body" Johnson, where he lost to Ace Wylde. Over the next five months, Smith wrestled in
National Wrestling Alliance as Baby Hughie. On September 26, 2009, at NWA New Jersey The Dennis Coralluzzo Invitational 2009,
The Powers of Pain (
The Barbarian and
The Warlord) defeated The Varsity Club (Baby Hughie and
Rob Eckos). In 2010, Smith changed his ring name to Smith James. On July 21, 2011, James defeated Memphis Mofo in a TNA dark match. In 2012, James joined The New Age Wrecking Crew with Bill Carr, Stockade and
Vince Steele. On March 10, 2012, Steele and James entered in a tournament to crown a new ACE Tag team Champions, but were defeated in the finals by The Movement. On March 9, 2013, James and Vince Steele won the American Championship Entertainment (ACE) Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles on May 11, 2013. On February 23, 2013, James and Bill Carr won the NYWC Tag Team Championship. However, they lost the title against
Mikey Whipwreck and Stockade on June 23, 2013, his last match in the company.
WWE (2013–2016) In June 2013, James signed a contract with
WWE. He was assigned to the
WWE Performance Center. On August 28, 2013, his name was changed to Bull Dempsey. Dempsey made his debut in
NXT on September 12, 2013, where he was defeated by
Aiden English. Throughout late 2013, he made sporadic appearances as an
enhancement talent. In the late spring to summer, Dempsey returned to
NXT as a
tweener,
squashing various low carders and local talents. In August, Dempsey and
Mojo Rawley formed an uneasy tag team and participated in the
NXT Tag Team Championship tournament, where they were defeated by
The Vaudevillains (
Aiden English and
Simon Gotch) in the first round, prompting Dempsey to attack Rawley in the aftermath and establishing himself a
heel. On September 11 at the
NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, Dempsey defeated Rawley in a squash with his new finisher The Diving Headbutt. On the September 25 episode of
NXT, Bull was victorious in the rematch. Following that, he embarked on a rivalry with
Baron Corbin, another dominant wrestler who mostly squashed jobbers. The two competed to see how quickly they could defeat the "local talent", sometimes back-to-back. This eventually led to a match between the two on January 14, 2015, in which Dempsey's undefeated streak was broken by Corbin. Dempsey competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Qualification Tournament at
WrestleMania Axxess 31, but lost to
Tyler Breeze in the first round. Soon after this, Dempsey's
gimmick was tweaked to that of an overweight, out of shape wrestler who eats too much, which also saw him turn
face in the process. After several vignettes aired to promote "Bull-Fit", Dempsey debuted his new gimmick on the August 26 episode of
NXT, where he defeated
Elias Samson. On the February 24 episode of
NXT, he was defeated by
Tommaso Ciampa. On the March 23 episode of
NXT, he and his supposed opponent
Danny Burch both got beaten down by
Samoa Joe, before they even started the match, this led to a match between Dempsey and Joe on the following weeks episode. Dempsey won in a quick squash match by disqualification because Joe kept his finisher, the Coquina Clutch, on Dempsey prompting NXT General Manager
William Regal to try to stop him. Samoa Joe's insubordination would bring NXT Champion Finn Bálor to the ring to "rescue" Dempsey. The following week Dempsey lost to Joe in a squash match, this was Dempsey's final appearance for
NXT. On February 5, 2016, Dempsey announced on the social network
Twitter that he had been released from WWE.
Independent circuit (2016–present) James began wrestling on the independent circuit following his release from NXT, using the name Bull James, a combination of his NXT name and his birth name. James announced that he was set to debut in
Combat Zone Wrestling, stating that he was coming after
Sami Callihan, also known as Solomon Crowe, facing him on March 1. On February 25, 2017, James won the NYWC Heavyweight Championship at Psycho Circus XV. On February 24, 2018, James lost the title to Alex Reynolds at Psycho Circus XVI only to regain it on March 31, 2018, at Aftermath. James lost the title to King Mega on June 30, 2018, at Going The Distance. On March 11, 2017, James won the SWF Cruiserweight Title at SWF Legacies Never Die. On January 05, 2024, James made his debut at a Florida-based
Independent wrestling promotion, Boca Raton Championship Wrestling (BRCW) defeating Ozzy Kilmeister and Skitz in a
Three-way. On March 17, He defeated Jaden Jakens in BRCW march madhouse.
Ring of Honor (2016) On September 18, 2016, James made a surprise debut in
Ring of Honor's
Honor Rumble, making it to the final four. On October 21, 2016, James faced
ROH World Champion Adam Cole, in a losing effort. The following day James teamed up with
Mr. Wrestling III losing to
B. J. Whitmer and
Punisher Martinez. James was defeated by
Silas Young. ==Championships and accomplishments==