Insane Insights Dark Side Of The Ring: Dynamite Kid
In pro wrestling, there are a ton of terms that get overused when it comes to certain wrestlers. One of those words is revolutionary and so many people get labeled that. There is one pro wrestler who was revolutionary The Dynamite Kid. The moves and style of wrestling that he was doing in the ring in the 1980s are the norm of what pro wrestlers are doing today.
Dynamite Kid inspired so many people to become professional wrestlers. The most obvious one is Chris Benoit. Benoit was a copy of the Dynamite Kid as Benoit used the same moves and same steroid abuse (We'll get to that). The diving headbutt and Snap Suplex all came from the Dynamite Kid.
Unfortunately there was a Dark Side to Tom Billington aka The Dynamite Kid. There are a ton of stories regarding the Dynamite Kid that this episode should have been a 2 part episode. Dark Side of the Ring did an episode on him and there are so many dark moments involving him.
10. Dynamite Kid’s Steroid Abuse
The most obvious thing with Dynamite Kid is that while he may be small, he was hacked and had a ton of muscles. It was obvious that Dynamite Kid did a ton of steroids and it didn't help that steroid abuse was crazy in the 80's and 90's in pro wrestling. Dan Spivey called Billington a giant muscle.
Gary Portz even bonded with Dynamite thanks to steroids. He tells a crazy story about Dynamite Kid and the steroids used at that time by other wrestlers. The story goes that pro wrestlers always have these parties together on the road and the drugs would always be out. Well sometimes there would be a dart board on the side of hotel walls, but no darts. What they did use was needles to inject steroids.
A one point there would be dozens of darts hanging from a wall and they would just leave them there to go to their matches. When they returned they grabbed a random needle and would inject themselves with steroids. What a business!!!!
How stupid can these guys be? Sharing needles would make it super easy for disease to transmit from one person to another. They were lucky that they did not catch any diseases or if they hid/treated them.
Dynamite Kid would even walk around the locker room with a needle in his butt before going out to have matches. What person in their right mind decides to walk around with a needle body?
Julie Hart the ex-wife of Bret Hart and the sister of Dynamite Kid wife Michelle Billington got interviewed as well. She comments that Dynamite Kid started taking steroids in WWF, but that's total nonsense. Dynamite Kid was taking Steroids for many long years before he joined WWF.
This was not mentioned in the documentary, but Dynamite was introduced to steroids by pro wrestler The Junkyard Dog in 1979. Dynamite Kid did not join the WWF until 1984. It was written all over multiple Bret Hart books and Dynamite Kid’s book titled “Pure Dynamite”. Now, did his steroid abuse get worse when he joined WWF? Absolutely, but it didn't start when he joined the WWF.
9. Dynamite Kid Thought it was Funny Drugging Others
It's stories like this why Dynamite Kid hasn't been glamorized in the pro wrestling industry. Dynamite Kid was a big ribber and loved to play "practical" jokes with others on the road. These jokes are not even remotely funny at all and one common joke that he did was "drugging" people with Halcion pills.
One story involved an independent wrestler named Mitch Snow. Snow at the time was a young rookie wrestler and had a bit of a mouth on him. It annoyed everyone including Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith. They both wanted to get back at him, so they decided to slip a Halcion pill into his drink. Yes, because it is a super ethical way to get back at somebody by drugging them without their consent.
That's not all as both Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were hiding in his balcony window and were waiting until the pills knocked Snow out. Think about that, think about how creepy that is for them to do that and wait for the drugs to take effect. That predator-like behavior. It gets worse, way worse.
When Snow was Dynamite Davey decided to go to the bathroom in Snow’s bag and shave Snow’s eyebrows and hair. When Mitch Snow woke up he had a nervous breakdown and was in such fear of his life, he fled back to his home and hid from the public. Could you blame him for that?
The worst part is that there are a ton more stories of Dynamite Kid drugging people. This wasn't mentioned either but Dynamite also had a thing for drugging animals as well. According to WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana, revealed that Dynamite Kid also drugged Matilda the dog and even Jake Roberts snake Damian as he thought it was funny. I guess the animals were not safe either with Dynamite Kid being this demented.
Why was Dynamite Kid not arrested for this? The number of times he did this and stories that came out about this while he was alive, it's stunning he never went to jail. Drugging people is not a funny act, it just makes you demented and a piece of garbage.
8. There is Footage of Dynamite Kid’s Back Injury
With Dynamite Kids' style of wrestling, it was only a matter of time before his back gave out. Well, it eventually did and Dynamite Kid got injured in 1986. It was in the middle of a house show match and the crazy part is there was footage of the injury
It is a super rare film too as at the time it was hard to film during wrestling shows. They didn't have cellphones like today and they were strict trying with recording during shows. It is an amazing find and the injury is even up on YouTube if you want to take a look.
Dynamite Kid's injury was so bad that he needed emergency surgery. His 4th and 5th lumbar area was just shredded and two discs were so tangled around his spinal cord that it needed to be removed. The injury ultimately led him to be wheelchair bound.
This injury not only changed him both in and out of the ring. In the quotes from his ex-wife Michelle Billington “In the first 5 years of our marriage, there was none of that sadistic behavior, but it all started happening once he had his back operation”.
7. Dynamite Kid Would Force his Wife to Sleep in the Closet
Now comes the Domestic Violence incidents involving Dynamite Kid. When Dynamite had his back injury he had a growing temper and it showed when he was at home. He treated his wife like absolute trash and there were so many incidences.
One time Dynamite and his wife Michelle were out of town. Dynamite wanted to drink alcohol, especially his wife. At the time she did not wish to and ordered a Tonic Water to pretend it was alcohol. Well, this angered Dynamite who decided to drink it and was unhappy.
Now they are driving home and as punishment, he decides to drive erratically on the road. Maybe Dynamite wanted to try and punish everyone else on the road driving too. When they got home Dynamite immediately forced her to the closet and forced her to sleep there for not drinking alcohol. Especially as it is super disrespectful to not drink alcohol in your presence in public with friends. What a piece of work.
6. The Jacques Rougeau and Dynamite Kid Fight
Ahhh the Jacques Rougeau and Dynamite Kid backstage fight. One of the most notable and crazy brawls that happened in the WWF locker room.
Now Dynamite and Rougeau for years have not been fans of each other and had a notable beef. It all got worse when both joined WWE. The event that made their beef worse was the 1988 SummerSlam event. It was the first-ever match in the event's history. That tag match ended in a time-limit draw which was both stupid booking-wise and a really bad decision behind the scenes. It gave the Rougeau brothers the mindset that they were on the same tier as The British Bulldogs and started being more arrogant.
Well, Dynamite Kid had the old-school mindset that you have to earn your right to be arrogant. He was not a happy person when they were being arrogant. Out of nowhere Dynamite just beats the ever-loving heck out of Jacques Rougeau. It resulted in his face being swollen and made him look weak in the locker room.
What wasn't mentioned in the documentary is the reason Dynamite attacked Rougeau. The blame can be put on Mr. Perfect "Curt Henning". Perfect was ribbing Dynamite Kid, which sounds like a brilliant idea knowing the man's history of drugging people and getting revenge. Perfect ribbed Dynamite that somebody had tampered with their bags and to check on them. Well, Dynamite Kid did and he believed that Jacques was the one who messed with their bags and wanted to teach him a lesson. Thus the fight happened and the blame for this happening was with Mr. Perfect.
Now in the aftermath, Rougeau has the idea of revenge on his mind. He lost respect in the locker room and was affected mentally and physically by the attack. Rougeau was even quoted that he was constantly vomiting in the aftermath and barely could sleep. He decides to speak with his father Jacques Rougeau Sr who also used to wrestle. His advice was to get a roll of quarters, find Dynamite, and beat the living heck out of him. Jacques agreed and prepared for his plan.
Well, it's Judgement Day and Jacques decided to do it. He immediately finds dynamite and beats the ever-living heck out of him. Dynamite is a bloody mess and even lost 4 teeth in the incident. The craziest part was Dynamite never fell on his back in the altercation. He took this beating hard but only fell to one knee. That is how tough the Dynamite Kid was.
5. How Dino Bravo was involved
Once the fight finishes, Dynamite goes and plans for his revenge. Rougeau is a very smart guy and knows he needs a plan to prevent that, so he utilizes a friend in pro wrestling, Dino Bravo. If you don't know Dino Bravo is a pro wrestler who had connections to the Mafia and later became a part of one.
Bravo decided to tell Dynamite Kid that he saw an envelope with his name, address, and photos of the house and family on it. If he retaliated and went after Rougeau, he and his family would be harmed. This terrified Dynamite Kid a ton. he would carry weapons including handguns and shotguns everywhere he went after this point. Dynamite would sell his home and relocate the family to a safer location in Canada.
The funny part is, that it was all a trick by Rougeau. Rougeau knew that Dino Bravo was a stooge for the Bulldogs and sort of like a messenger man. Rougeau wrote a fake and told Dino to call them every night. It was all a trick to have Dynamite not take revenge and it worked. Heck, it even got Dynamite Kid to give his notice to the WWF once this incident took place. Then again Dynamite also missed the respect he had in Japan, but you can't ignore this has a hand in him wanting out of the company.
4. His Obsession with Watching his Matches with Tiger Mask
Dynamite Kid's wrestling career was pretty much over and while at home, he had a habit of inviting people over. What for? Well, to watch professional wrestling and always it was his matches with Tiger Mask.
The man was obsessed with it and watched it for many long hours on repeat. At many spots, he would say “He took a hell of a bump”. He did this all night and day for a while while dealing with the pain and many addictions he had. His Obsession was so bad that it became the last memory that many had of the guy. Many claimed he did that to watch his glory days with others and feel a sense of being proud again. Well, I'm doing that it helped drift him further apart from his wife.
3. Dynamite Kid Threatened his Wife with a Firearm
If the earlier domestic incidences were bad, get strapped in for this one. Now it's 1991 and Dynamite Kid is getting deep into his demons. Now he has a habit of doing bare-knuckle fights and he would come home all bloody in front of the kids. Imagine how terrifying that had to of been with those kids.
Michelle then started having issues and just could not take it anymore. Her abuse of dynamite was so bad that she was having suicidal thoughts. She then decides to divorce Dynamite Kid by giving him a one-way ticket back to England. She even said to him, don't come back.
That angered Dynamite Kid and what he does next is disturbing and shocking. He starts to drag his wife across the floor and dislocate her jaw. Then he decides to get a shotgun and threatens to shoot her in front of the kids. By the way, Michelle Billington (Dynamite's Wife) was pregnant at the time this happened. What an absolute disgrace the Dynamite Kid is.
While doing this Michelle decided to call his bluff that he wouldn't do it. Honestly, that's probably not the smartest thing to say as this guy was what he was doing in front of his kids while his wife was pregnant. What she does do though is call 911 to get the cops over there. Well, the 911 Operator was no help and legit ignored her cry for help. This 911 operator told her to leave the house herself if she was that terrified. Whoever this operator was should be ashamed of themselves.
Michelle decides to go to her sister Julie Hart's House and takes the kids as well. Eventually, Dynamite Kid sees sense in this whole thing and decides to leave Calgary. He used the one-way ticket to go back to England and lived there the rest of his life.
2. The Event That Gave Michelle Billington Courage to Speak Up About Dynamite Kid’s Abuse
Domestic Violence incidents were a secret for a large chunk of time. The only people who knew were the Hart Family. That changed in 2007 around the time that the Chris Benoit Incident happened for those that don't know. Chris Benoit was a pro wrestler who committed a double murder-suicide where he killed his wife, son, and himself in 3 days. The media circus was crazy and media outlets were doing a piece on Domestic Violence and Pro Wrestling. CNN especially was the main one doing it and Michelle wanted to speak up about her experiences with Dynamite Kid
Before the interview aired on TV, Michelle had to tell the truth. At that point all the stories she told to them about Dynamite Kid were positive, and when she told them about the Domestic Violence, it broke their hearts. Especially Amaris Billington who was so mad at her dad for doing it and made at her mother for lying/hiding it. It was a dark point in her life and Amaris refused to see her dad for the first time, and nobody can blame her for doing that at all. With how much of a monster he was, it is best to cut all ties with that person even if it's your dad.
1. Bronwyne Billington Visited Dynamite Kid
Bronwyne Billington decides to see her dad for the first time since she was a kid. Bronwyne flies to England and goes to where her dad is. The first time she sees him he is in the living room in his wheelchair. Bronwyne immediately breaks down crying as that was the first time she saw him in a wheelchair and it's an emotional moment.
Dynamite Kid acted like no time passed by being a good caring dad to her. They both hold hands and start crying, which Dynamite Kid has never, ever done before until that moment. While in that moment Dynamite did something he never did, apologizing. He apologized to his daughter for his actions and how he got to that point. It was the first and only time that he ever apologized to anyone. At least Dynamite got some peace with one of his kids.
My Thoughts on the Documentary
This was a well-made documentary that was made by Vice and the Dark Side of the Ring crew. In the ring, he is one of the most talented and revolutionary wrestlers ever. His in-ring work inspired so many and he did moves that are common in pro wrestling. However out of the ring he was a sadistic, dark, and trashy human being. The stuff he did is unforgivable and to make it worse, there are so many more stories that were not told.
The one story that surprisingly wasn't mentioned was the insurance scam story. The story goes that Dynamite had a friend whose daughter got into a car accident and wanted to get insurance money for injuries and damages. The daughter went to the doctor and her X-rays were terrifying. He was terrified that he wasn't going to collect any money. So Dynamite's friend went up to him and asked him for a favor he help him break his daughter's legs? Dynamite did it, he took a hammer and broke the girl's legs. The worst part is that Dynamite admits that this story is true in a Kickstarter that was made of him. That is a situation that needs to be reminded of how demented and evil this man was. The dude was willing to help break his friend's daughter's legs all for insurance money.
The MVP of this documentary I have to give it to the Billington Family. Michelle, Amaris, and Bronwyne were all great in this documentary. They shared a view of the Dynamite Kid that is hard to replicate.
Everyone else involved with this documentary as well was great. Julie Hart came across well in the documentary. Dan Spivey, who still looks creepy with that vein popping out of his head, was a nice talking head. Gary Portz also provides a great inside on Dynamite. Dave Meltzer is the historian of the podcast and he always is a great inclusion of the documentary.
Jacques Rougeau was a great speaker as well when discussing his fight with Dynamite. Mick Foley was a great addition and he was so believable when he discussed pain. His quote was "If it looked like it hurt, it probably meant that it did". Coming from him and knowing the punishment he went through, is a super believable statement.
As for the Dynamite Kid, he passed away on December 5th, 2018 on his birthday at the age of 60 years old. Dynamite leaves behind a complicated legacy where he revolutionized the wrestling business, but you just can’t ignore his dark side.
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