An innovative performer who combined high-flying maneuvers with British technical prowess, Thomas Billington — better known as The Dynamite Kid — had an in-ring career that lasted from 1975 to 1996. During those 21 years, he proved to be an influential star in the junior heavyweight style, and captured singles gold as well as tag team championships with his partner, Davey Boy Smith, as the British Bulldogs.
Also a member of the Hart wrestling family, Dynamite Kid is a bit unsung compared to other members of the clan He’s certainly a figure worth knowing about, so let’s go over his life and career.
10 Boxing Background
Born in England, Thomas Billington had boxing in his family, as his father and uncle both competed as boxers in their younger days. Growing up, the young Billington would train in boxing as well, an upbringing that would contribute to the rigorousness he’d be known for as a pro wrestler.
Also, his grandfather was a bare-knuckle boxer, an endeavor Dynamite Kid would embark on as his wrestling career was on a downturn in the 1990s, competing in underground fights.
9 Fascinating Family History
Boxing — and later wrestling — wasn’t the only shared family business in the Billington family. Strangely, at one point the Billingtons were known for being executioners for the English government. It started with James Billington, who lived in the 1800s and worked as a hangman, a job that was carried on by all three of his sons for a time, who assisted their father (and each other) in the grisly undertakings, though many of them consciously stepped away from the job during their lifetimes.
Coincidentally, James Billington also did some wrestling during his life.
8 Cousins With Davey Boy Smith
Thomas Billington wasn’t the only member of the family to embark on a wrestling career, either. Billington’s cousin on his father’s side was Davey Boy Smith, who lived around the corner. After receiving training from wrestler turned trainer Ted Betley, Billington ended up leaving England for Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling, founded by Stu Hart.
Smith, four years younger than Billington, would soon follow in his cousin’s footsteps, training with Betley and moving on to Calgary. There, both men would marry into the Hart family, with Smith marrying Stu’s youngest daughter Diana and Billington marrying Michelle Smadu, who was Bret Hart’s sister-in-law at the time.
7 Stampede Wrestling
Dynamite Kid debuted for Stampede Wrestling in 1978, where he began to establish his reputation as a standout junior heavyweight wrestler in matches with Stu Hart’s sons, Bruce and Bret, as well as his own cousin Davey Boy Smith.
While in Stampede, Dynamite Kid would not only capture many of the company’s singles titles, but also have tag team success, becoming a six-time International Tag Team Champion, with two of those reigns being alongside Davey Boy Smith.
6 Legendary Feud With Tiger Mask
In the first half of the 1980s, Dynamite Kid wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he’d do some of his most innovative work during his rivalry with Satoru Sayama, better known as the original Tiger Mask. Dynamite Kid was Sayama’s first opponent under the Tiger Mask gimmick, and scored a surprise win in his debut outing.
The two would have 11 singles matches against one another in the years that followed, with their in-ring performances being hailed as establishing what fans know as the fast-paced, high-flying junior heavyweight style.
5 The British Bulldogs
In 1984, WWE acquired Stampede Wrestling, and brought several of its stars into the fold, including Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, several Hart brothers, and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.
The following year, Kid would be paired with Smith as the British Bulldogs. With Dynamite Kid as the smaller high-flyer and Davey Boy Smith as the larger powerhouse, they made a perfect babyface tag team and clashed with family members Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart, The Hart Foundation, numerous times throughout their run, often for the WWE World Tag Team Championship.
4 Backstage Incident With Jacques Rougeau
Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were infamous for their backstage antics that took practical jokes beyond the realm of good fun to the point of being actual terrors in the locker room. Reportedly, Jacques Rougeau of the tag team The Fabulous Rougeaus had enough, and got a beating from Dynamite for his efforts.
Rougeau — later known as The Mountie — planned his revenge, and retaliated by ambushing Dynamite one day, knocking out four of his teeth thanks to a punch assisted by a roll of quarters.
3 The Injury That Changed His Career
In 1986, while wrestling a tag bout Don Muraco and Bob Orton, Dynamite Kid suddenly sustained a freak back injury in the middle of the match. Refusing to vacate the Tag Team Championship the British Bulldogs had won earlier that year, Dynamite Kid met with WWE boss Vince McMahon and told him that he would only drop the belts to The Hart Foundation.
When it came time for the match, Dynamite was still recovering from back surgery, and was thus knocked out by Foundation manager Jimmy Hart’s signature megaphone early in the bout to keep him from having to actually wrestle.
2 Retirement
No longer a top tag team in their division, the British Bulldogs left WWE in 1988, wrestling in Stampede and All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1990 Davey Boy Smith decided to return to WWE, breaking up the team, but Dynamite Kid continued with other partners until abuse of both steroids and recreational drugs, as well as his in-ring style necessitated a retirement in 1991.
However, he returned to the ring a number of times in following years up until his depressing final bout in 1996, a three-on-three tag match for Michinoku Pro where he appeared noticeably skinny compared to his prior, steroid-addled years.
1 Featured On Dark Side Of The Ring
Vice’s acclaimed documentary series Dark Side of the Ring focuses on the real-life stories of pro wrestlers and backstage incidents, and the life of an influential figure like Dynamite Kid proved a perfect subject on the series.
With a focus on the toll that wrestling took on Thomas Billington’s mind, body, and soul, the episode was basically about the concept of suffering for one’s art, and how Billington’s pursuits essentially led to him tarnishing his own legacy in the process.