Dynamite Kid

Thomas Billington, (born December 5, 1958, Golborne, Lancashire) is a retired English professional wrestler better known by his ring name The Dynamite Kid .

He is regarded by many fans and peers as one of the greatest pure wrestlers in the history of the industry and was most visible in the US as one half of the British Bulldogs tag team with his cousin Davey Boy Smith. He has written his own autobiography, entitled Pure Dynamite.

Career

The Dynamite Kid was a relatively small but powerful and agile wrestler who made a huge impact in the wrestling world with his no-nonsense, high-risk style. He spent part of his career wrestling for Stu Hart in the Calgary Stampede promotion. Dynamite Kid has claimed to have helped train Bret Hart, among others. Despite differences between them due to comments Dynamite Kid made about Stu Hart in his autobiography, Bret has repeatedly called him "pound-for-pound, the greatest wrestler who ever lived". Others, including Mick Foley, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Chris Benoit have made similar claims about him.

Dynamite Kid was also instrumental in starting the career of then-Judo star Chris Adams while still competing in England.

Dynamite Kid was recruited by Bruce Hart to work for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in 1978. He became a big hit in Japan, where his feud with the original Tiger Mask became legendary and one of the most-pirated wrestling feud tapes of all time. Another big, popular feud was with Bret Hart.

In 1984, Billington captured the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament in Japan (although it was a WWF Title, it was primarily defended in New Japan Pro Wrestling). He defeated his future partner, Davey Boy Smith, earlier in the tournament, and went on to defeat The Cobra in the finals.

World Wrestling Federation

Dynamite Kid made his WWF television debut on August 29, 1984, where he and Bret Hart defeated Iron Mike Sharpe and Troy Alexander in a match eventually shown on September 15, 1984. Billington would go on to team with Davey Boy Smith, while Bret would team with Jim Neidhart, leading to matches that usually ended in No-Contests.

Dynamite Kid tagged with Davey Boy Smith as The British Bulldogs. On April 7, 1986, accompanied by Captain Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne, they won the tag team titles from Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake at WrestleMania II. Dynamite Kid was injured in late 1986 in a tag match in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada against Don Muraco and Bob Orton, Jr. and several wrestlers including Roddy Piper would substitute for him when tag title defences were made. On a TV taping on January 26, 1987, Dynamite wrestled a match to drop the titles to The Hart Foundation. After getting into a backstage fight with Jacques Rougeau, the Bulldogs fought their last WWF match at Survivor Series on November 24, 1988. Davey Boy Smith would eventually return to the company in singles competition in October 1990.

Throughout his time in the WWF, Dynamite Kid made several enemies, including Brutus Beefcake and Jacques Rougeau, but was highly respected by many for his legitimate shooting ability in and out of the ring. An example of his stiffness in the ring is when he and Smith wrestled a jobber tag team with one half consisting of a young Mick Foley. By Foley's account, Billington manhandled him so badly in the ring that he couldn't eat solid food for a time. Outside of the ring, then WWF-champion Randy Savage once specifically asked for him to watch his back when he went drinking in a hotel bar frequented by NWA wrestlers including Ric Flair.

After WWF

After leaving the WWF, the Bulldogs returned to Stampede Wrestling to win the International Tag Team Title. After having a falling-out with Davey-Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid formed a team called the British Bruisers with Johnny Smith, they mostly competed in All-Japan Pro Wrestling. Due to years of steroid abuse and working a high impact style, Billington was forced to retire in 1991, at the relatively young age of 33. He would wrestle one more match in 1996, for Michinoku Pro Wrestling, wrestling former rival, Satoru Sayama, in a six-man tag team match.

Tom Billington currently uses a wheelchair and had a leg amputated due to numerous back injuries and degeneration due to steroid use. He is cared for by his wife Dot. His autobiography Pure Dynamite (ISBN 0953709701) remains a testament to his style: a no-nonsense approach in which he pulls few punches about drug use, cruel ribs and even his opinions towards other people in the wrestling business. While it portrays him as a venomous personality, it is often considered one of the best wrestling books around.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

Managers

Championships and accomplishments

World Wrestling Federation

1-Time WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion
1-Time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Davey Boy Smith)

All Japan Pro Wrestling

1-Time AJPW Asian Tag Team Champion (with Johnny Smith)

Stampede Wrestling

1-Time Stampede Wrestling North American Champion
4-Time Stampede Wrestling World Mid-Heavyweight Champion
6-Time Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champion
5-Time Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champion (with Davey Boy Smith - 2 times, Duke Myers, Kasavubu and Loch Ness Monster)

Others

1-Time Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion
1-Time Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champion (with Cuban Assassin)
1-Time European Welterweight Champion
1-Time British Welterweight Champion
1-Time British Lightweight Champion

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him # 41 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
He was ranked # 5 of the best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Davey Boy Smith.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
1982 Match of the Year (vs Satoru Sayama)
1983 Most Underrated Wrestler
1984 Best Technical Wrestler (tied with Masa Saito)
1984 Best Flying Wrestler
1985 Tag Team of the Year (with Davey Boy Smith)

Legacy

The Dynamite Kid's style can be seen in many professional wrestlers to this day, most notably current World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestler Chris Benoit, who idolized Billington growing up and adopted a similar moveset. From the Dynamite Kid, Benoit has adopted the swandive headbutt as well as the Snap suplex.

English professional wrestlers | 1958 births | Living people | Stampede Wrestling alumni