The Dynamite Kid, real name Tom Billington, was a professional wrestler from England.
He was most visible in the US as one half of the British Bulldogs tag team with Davey Boy Smith, who Billington described as a distant cousin in his autobiography Pure Dynamite .
Idolized by a young Chris Benoit, the relatively small but enormously powerful and agile Tom Billington made a huge impact in the wrestling world with his no-nonsense high-risk style, and he spent part of his career wrestling for Stu Hart in the Calgary Stampede promotion. A big hit in Japan, where his feud with Tiger Mask became legendary, he claims to have helped train Bret Hart, among others, and Hart has repeatedly called him "pound-for-pound, the greatest wrestler who ever lived".
Tommy Billington is currently confined to a wheelchair due to numerous back injuries and degeneration due to steroid use. His autobiography remains a testament to his style: a no-nonsense approach in which he pulls few punches about drug use, cruel ribs and even his opinions towards other people in the wrestling business. While it portrays him as a venomous personality, it is often considered one of the best wrestling books around.
