Surprisingly, the cute and cuddly English Bulldog that we know and love  today was originally bred to help butchers manage dangerous bulls. It was not long before owners of this new breed began entering the bulldogs in contests that were called “bull baiting.” This contest consisted of the dog attaching itself to the bull’s nose until the bull died from suffocation or loosing too much blood. The English Bulldog was developed from the Mastiff. The physical characteristics of the Mastiff were changed to aid them in successfully fighting the bulls.

The following characteristics were implemented:

• Shorter legs-helped keep out of the way of the bull’s horns
• Heavier body-provided strength for fighting bull
• Large head-for a forceful jaw to hold onto bull’s nose
• Muzzle that curves up-for a forceful jaw and to keep out of the way of the nose so that the dog can breath when clenching onto bull
• Wrinkled muzzle-provide a passageway for the bull’s blood to run down dog’s face away from eyes

Fortunately, bullbaiting was declared against the law in 1835. Although, English Bulldogs kept their physical characteristics, their fighting personality gradually changed to that of a family pet.

Source: http://wotan.liu.edu/~suziemarie/historyofthebreed.html