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One of the most popular tag teams in WWE history competed during the Hulkamania Era in the 80s. This tag team was the British Bulldogs, and while Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith only won the tag titles once together, no one was hotter when they were the top babyface team in the company.

However, while the British Bulldogs were extremely popular with the fans, things were different behind-the-scenes. There are very few negative stories about Davey Boy Smith, but when it comes to Dynamite Kid, most people had a strong opinion of him. He was one of the best wrestlers in the company, but he was also one of the biggest bullies in WWE.

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Where Did Dynamite Kid Come From Before WWE?

Dynamite Kid was part of the Stampede Wrestling promotion in Canada, working for Stu Hart, and it was there that he became close with the Hart Family. It was also during this time that the Dynamite Kid worked with New Japan Professional Wrestling, which was in a business relationship with Stampede Wrestling. During this partnership, Dynamite Kid fought Tiger Mask in what many fans considered one of the best matches of all time, and a match that was the precursor of the cruiserweight and light heavyweight division. Dynamite Kid even won the WWE Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1984. This led to WWE buying out Stampede Wrestling and bringing in several of their top stars, including Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Dynamite Kid, and Davey Boy Smith.

WWE put Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart together as the Hart Foundation, and Dynamite with Davey Boy as the British Bulldogs. The four men had a lot of experience working together, so they began a major feud that saw the Bulldogs win the WWE tag team titles and then the Hart Foundation steal them by cheating with a crooked official. That was the last time that the Bulldogs held the titles, although they kept feuding with heel tag teams until the Bulldogs left WWE. During this time, Dynamite developed a reputation as a backstage bully.

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British Bulldogs in WWE

Dynamite Kid's Backstage Bullying Stories

Dynamite Kid loved to play pranks backstage. However, unlike Owen Hart, who pulled good-natured pranks and remained beloved backstage, Dynamite's pranks were destructive and cruel. He was also a little too rough in the ring. The most famous backstage feud involving Dynamite Kid was with Jacques Rougeau. After one match, The British Bulldogs returned backstage after they wrestled a match and found someone cut up all their clothes and threw them around the locker room. Dynamite Kid thought it was Jacques who did it as revenge for previous pranks that Dynamite pulled on him.

Dynamite wanted revenge and Jimmy Hart wrote in his biography, The Mouth of the South: The Jimmy Hart Story, that Dynamite found Jacques at a Miami Beach show and attacked him. "Next thing you know, Dynamite storms in, turns Jacques around and goes off on him. He really beat him up, busting Jacques’ nose wide open," Hart wrote. Later, Jacques sucker punched Dynamite Kid with a roll of quarters and knocked out some of his teeth. "When Dynamite finally emerged from lunch, [Jacques] nailed him with a brutal, well-rehearsed sucker punch. And then he kept on hitting him," Hart wrote. What is most interesting about this is that Jacques didn't even pull the original prank. It was Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig who cut up the Bulldogs' clothes.

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In shoot interviews, Jake "The Snake" Roberts said that the Dynamite Kid often roughed up Bret Hart in matches. Bret's brother, Bruce Hart, talked about this in his own shoot interview. He also discussed the often-told story of Dynamite Kid attacking him in Canada. "It was kind of stupid," Bruce remembered. "I think Dynamite and them maybe went into the bar and got plastered." Bruce said that Dynamite Kid didn't show up in time for the show that night, and they tried to make up for it. They were finally there two hours late and when Bruce asked what was going on, Dynamite sucker punched him from behind and dislocated his jaw. Bruce said Dynamite told him later on that he heard Bruce was making fun of him for being in WWE and then ending up in a territory again, which Bruce denied.

Dynamite Kid was part of the Dark Side of the Ring documentary series on Vice, and there were a lot of scary stories about his bullying in the episode. Jacques was on the episode and talked about how violent and aggressive Dynamite Kid was, blaming it mostly on his alleged steroid use. However, getting past the aggression, some of his pranks went way over the line. The Dark Side of the Ring episode told the story of a young wrestler named Mitch Snow. Jacques said that Dynamite put a sleeping pill in Snow's drink, and after he passed out, he relieved himself in Snow's bag and then shaved his eyebrows and head. Jacques said Dynamite thought it was funny, but with Snow wrestling on the road for 23 days, it wasn't funny at all.

Dynamite Kid's Life Falls Apart After Leaving WWE

Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith Jr

There were also stories on Dark Side of the Ring that accused Dynamite Kid of domestic abuse. According to his wife Michelle, Dynamite Kid was drinking too much and his life was spiraling out of control at home. One night, Michelle said that she and Dynamite were out to dinner, and she got him tonic water instead of alcohol. It angered him so much that he kicked her out of their bed that night and shoved her into the closet, where he made her sleep on the floor. By this time, he was also struggling with his health after taking so many nasty bumps in his career, and he ended up leaving WWE. He became even more violent with his wife, and she left him in 1991.

After this, Dynamite Kid saw his life fall apart. He began struggling in his matches and his body was completely breaking down. He retired from the ring in 1996 and then, in 1997, he lost the use of his left leg and ended up in a wheelchair. Harley Race used to use the diving headbutt in his matches, which Dynamite Kid adopted for himself, and Race said that he feels that is the move that left Dynamite unable to walk in his later years. In 2013, the Dynamite Kid suffered a stroke, and then he died in 2018 at the age of 60.