VALE DYNAMITE KID

December 7, 2018

Former tag team champion, Dynamite Kid, has passed away on his 60^th birthday after a long battle with illness.  Born Thomas Billington near Manchester in 1958, Dynamite Kid was taken to wrestling events in Wigan in his youth, and made his debut in 1975 for a local troupe run by the legendary Max Crabtree.

Billington ventured to Canada to compete in Stampede Wrestling under the guidance of the famed Hart family.  He eventually formed a tag team knows as the British Bulldogs with his cousin, Davey Boy Smith, and entered into a long feud with Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart in the World Wrestling Federation.  The team defeated Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake to win the WWF Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania II in 1986.

Later that year, Dynamite Kid suffered a serious back injury which left him in hospital for several weeks.  He recovered well enough to drop the titles to Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart in early 1987.  Billington continued to suffer from the effects of the injury, and returned to Stampede Wrestling in 1988.  He spent several years in Canada and Japan, and wrestled his last match in 1996.

By 1997, Dynamite Kid’s injuries were so severe that he needed to be in a wheelchair.  For the next twenty years, Billington suffered from deteriorating health which eventually led to his untimely death.  Dynamite Kid will be remembered for his innovative style and charisma, especially as a part of the British Bulldogs.  Bret Hart once called Billington “Pound for pound, the greatest wrestler who ever lived.”