Dynamite Kid

Real name: Tom Billington
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 228 lbs.
Date of birth: December 6, 1958
Date of Death: December 5, 2018
Hometown: Golborne, England
Pro debut: January 1975
Trained by: Ted Betley
Finishing move: Diving Headbutt

Biography

– Billington began his career in Max Crabtree’s promotion in 1975, working as ‘The Dynamite Kid’ and within a year, was working televised matches
– On April 23, 1977, Dynamite defeated Jim Breaks to win the British Lightweight Title
– On January 25, 1978, Dynamite vacated the Lightweight Title and defeated Jim Breaks to win the British Welterweight Title
– In April 1978, Dynamite moved to Canada to work for Stampede Wrestling
– On January 6, 1979, Dynamite defeated Bret Hart to win the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On January 17, Dynamite defeated Bret Hart to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On February 2, Dynamite defeated Louis Laurence to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On July 7, Dynamite defeated Bret Hart to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– Later that month, Dynamite would travel to Japan for the first time, working a short tour with IWE
– On August 10, Dynamite defeated Keith Hart to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On December 14, Dynamite defeated Hiroshi Yagi to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On December 21, Dynamite & Mr Sekigawa defeated Leo Burke & Hubert Gallant to win the vacant Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On December 28, Dynamite defeated Bruce Hart to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– Dynamite spent the early part of 1980 on tour with New Japan
– On March 21, Dynamite & The Loch Ness Monster defeated The Hart Brothers (Bret & Keith) to win the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– Three days later, Dynamite defeated Bruce Hart to regain the vacant Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On April 4, Dynamite defeated Hubert Gallant to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On May 30, Dynamite defeated Barrabas to retain the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On June 3, Dynamite & Kasavubu defeated The Hart Brothers (Bret & Keith) to win the vacant Stampede International Tag Team Titles. They would retain the titles against the Harts twice more in the next ten days
– On October 24, Dynamite defeated Bruce Hart to win the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On July 3, 1981, Dynamite defeated Keith Hart to regain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title, having vacated it to embark upon a recent tour of Japan
– On July 10, Dynamite defeated Bruce Hart to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On October 23, Dynamite again defeated Bruce Hart to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On December 14, 1982, Dynamite defeated The Great Gama to win the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title for a third time
– On March 4, 1983, Dynamite defeated Leo Burke to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On April 29, Dynamite defeated Hubert Gallant by DQ to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On July 22, Dynamite defeated Cobra to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On August 25, Dynamite defeated Gama Singh to retain the Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title
– On September 7, Dynamite defeated Curt Hennig to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
– On September 16, Dynamite defeated Brian Adias to retain the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
– On September 24, Dynamite defeated Buddy Rose to retain the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
– On September 30, Dynamite defeated Billy Jack to retain the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title
– On November 12, Dynamite & The Assassin defeated Curt Hennig & Buddy Rose to win the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
– On November 21, Dynamite & The Assassin defeated Al Madril & Billy Jack to retain the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
– On December 1, Dynamite & The Assassin defeated Al Madril & Jules Strongbow to retain the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Titles
– On February 7, 1984, Dynamite defeated The Cobra in the final of a tournament to win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title. Whilst this was a WWF branded title, it was contested almost exclusively in New Japan Pro Wrestling and rarely appeared on WWF shows in the US
– On March 9, Dynamite defeated Killer Khan in a No-DQ Match to win the Stampede North American Title and would rack up multiple defenses against Khan, Bad News Allen and Ron Starr before the month was out
– On March 31, Dynamite & Davey Boy Smith won their first gold as a tag team, defeating Bad News Allen & The Cuban Assassin in the final of a tournament to win the vacant Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On April 9, Dynamite & Smith defeated The Cuban Assassin & KY Wakamatsu to retain the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On May 9, Dynamite & Smith defeated Danny Davis & Duke Myers to retain the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On May 30, Dynamite & Smith defeated Duke Myers & Bad News Allen in a Cage Match to retain the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On June 17, Dynamite & Smith defeated Bad News Allen & The Cuban Assassin to retain the Stampede International Tag Team Titles
– On July 20, Dynamite defeated Davey Boy Smith to retain the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title
– In late 1984, Dynamite started working for the WWF and, around the same time, switched his Japanese commitments to All Japan
– In early 1985, The British Bulldogs (Dynamite & Davey Boy Smith) made their official WWF debuts
– On June 8, 1985, Dynamite defeated Mighty Inoue to win the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Title, but would lose it to Kuniaki Kobayashi less than a week later
– Dynamite competed in the WWF Wrestling Classic Tournament, losing in the semi-finals to eventual runner-up Randy Savage
– At WrestleMania II, The British Bulldogs (Dynamite & Davey Boy Smith) defeated The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) to win the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On the May 3, 1986 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, The British Bulldogs defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On May 5, The British Bulldogs defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) by DQ to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On May 19, The British Bulldogs defeated The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On May 27, The British Bulldogs defeated Paul Christy & Moondog Rex to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On June 3, The British Bulldogs defeated Jack Kruger & The Menace to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On July 12, The British Bulldogs defeated The Moondogs (Rex & Spot) to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On July 15, The British Bulldogs defeated AJ Petruzzi & Tiger Chung Lee to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On August 5, The British Bulldogs defeated The Gladiator & Iron Mike Sharpe to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On August 23, The British Bulldogs defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On August 25, The British Bulldogs defeated The Funk Brothers (Jimmy Jack & Hoss) to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– The next day, The British Bulldogs defeated Les Thornton & Jack Foley to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On September 6, The British Bulldogs defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On the October 4 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, The British Bulldogs defeated The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) in a Best Of 3 Falls Match to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On October 28, The British Bulldogs defeated Dave Wagner & Rick Renslow to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On Novmeber 1, The British Bulldogs defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles
– On December 13, Dynamite suffered a freak-but-serious back injury during a match against Bob Orton & Don Muraco. This injury would turn out to be the beginning of the end for Dynamite’s career
– Dynamite returned to action in March of 1987
– The British Bulldogs were on the winning side of the 10-team Elimination Match at Survivor Series 1987
– At Summerslam 1988, The British Bulldogs wrestled The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques & Raymond) to a time-limit draw
– The British Bulldogs were again on the winning side of the 10-team Elimination Match at Survivor Series 1988. This would be their last WWF match of this run, as they left the company to return to Stampede soon after
– On December 7, 1988, The British Bulldogs defeated The Cuban Commandos (Cuban Assassin & Gerry Morrow) in a Cage Match to win the Stampede International Tag Team Titles and would retain against them nine times before the year was out
– The British Bulldogs abruptly separated as a team when Davey Boy Smith accepted an offer to return to WWF as a singles competitor in early 1990. Dynamite would continue to tag with Johnny Smith (no relation) in All Japan
– On April 6, 1991, Dynamite & Johnny Smith defeated Super Generation Army (Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi) to win the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Titles
– On December 6, Dynamite announced his in-ring retirement, citing a buildup of injuries
– Dynamite came out of retirement for two matches with All Japan in the summer of 1993
– Dynamite came out of retirement again for a brief run for the UK’s ASW and Germany’s GPW in early 1994
– Dynamite wrestled his final match on October 10, 1996 for Michinoku Pro, teaming with Dos Caras & Kuniaki Kobayashi to defeat Mil Mascaras, The Great Sasuke & First Tiger Mask. Dynamite was visibly ailing in this match, having suffered severe muscular atrophy. In fact, he would suffer a seizure on his return to the airport
– Due to a series of complications resulting from his various injuries, Dynamite lost the use of his left leg in 1997 and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life
– On April 1, 2008, The British Bulldogs were inducted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame.
– On December 5, 2008, Dynamite Kid passed away