With my first pick in the draft, I am proud to select in the
Pre-80s category – THE DYNAMITE KID who debuted in Stampede Wrestling in 1978 (which was taken over by the WWF in the ‘80s)
Growing up Saturday afternoons meant watching Stampede Wrestling before HNIC and to me there was no one better than Dynamite!
“Wrestling and gymnastics, helped him develop a relatively small but powerful and agile shape. In addition, he had also received training in boxing during his formative years, which helped instill toughness in him before his career. His father, the brother of Davey Boy Smith's mother, was a miner and itinerant labourer who often took young Thomas to see wrestling matches in Wigan, then as now well-known for its wrestling tradition. It was during a home visit that the younger Billington met and caught the attention of Ted Betley, who had been running a pro-wrestling school in his home; it was here that Billington began his training, as a way of avoiding the back breaking work of the coal mines. His first shot in the pro ranks was working for Max Crabtree, as he debuted in 1975. During his early days, he won the British Lightweight title on April 23, 1977 and the Welterweight title on January 25, 1978. He was also instrumental in starting the career of then-Judo star
Chris Adams while still competing in Britain. He was scouted by
Stu Hart, and moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1978.
After doing big business in Canada, Dynamite was booked on his first tour of Japan, working for
International Pro Wrestling from July 19-25, 1979. Stu Hart and Stampede Wrestling switched their business relationship from IPW to
New Japan Pro Wrestling shortly after Dynamite's first tour, and he wrestled for New Japan from January 4, 1980 to August 2, 1984. Perhaps the most memorable matches that came out of Dynamite's run in New Japan were from his now legendary feud against
Tiger Mask; Tiger Mask's debut was against Dynamite, in which Tiger Mask shocked the wrestling world by gaining the victory over Dynamite. The two would compete against one another several more times in a feud that is often credited as putting Junior Heavyweight wrestling on the map, as well as setting the standard for future generations.
On February 7, 1984, Billington captured the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship by winning a tournament in New Japan Pro Wrestling; although it was a WWF Title, it was primarily defended in Japan. He defeated Davey Boy Smith earlier in the tournament, and would go on to defeat The Cobra in the finals
Throughout his time in the WWF, Dynamite Kid made several enemies, including Brutus Beefcake (for insulting someone close to Billington) and Jacques Rougeau (who retaliated for a prank mistakenly attributed to the Bulldogs by sucker-punching Billington with brass knuckles), but was highly respected by many for his toughness and legitimate shooting ability in and out of the ring. For example, after getting assaulted by Rougeau and taking 3 shots in the face from the brass knuckles (including one in the mouth that knocked out 4 of his teeth), Billington never went down; no less than Vince McMahon himself marveled at the fact that Billington took the shots and stayed on his feet. An example of his stiffness in the ring is when he and Smith wrestled a jobber tag team with one half consisting of a young
Mick Foley. By Foley's account, Billington manhandled him so badly in the ring that he couldn't eat solid food for a time, and tore a ligament in Foley's jaw with his trademark Hook Clothesline. Outside of the ring, WWF-champion
Randy Savage once specifically asked for him to watch his back when he went drinking in a hotel bar frequented by NWA wrestlers, including
Ric Flair.”