Post by Stu-E Price on Jul 23, 2007 15:12:56 GMT -5
There was another wrestler who made a big impression on me and that was The Dynamite Kid, Tom Billington. I met him in 1978. I was 14. He was my first crush.
Tom had such a strong Cockney accent that I could barely understand what he was saying, but he seemed nice. He was a discovery my brother Bruce had made while in England. Bruce was overseas wrestling for wrestling legends, Max, Brian and Shirley Crabtree. Shirley was also known as Big Daddy. He was a big star in Britain who was famous for doing a "belly splash," which was a lot like Billy and Benny's move off the turnbuckle. Otherwise, he couldn't wrestle very well. Ted Betley – who later became famous for training my future husband, Davey Boy Smith – had trained Dynamite. Davey was Dynamite's cousin. I remember Bruce calling my dad from England insisting, "You've got to see this guy, Tom Billington! He's unbelievable. I've never seen anyone like him in my life!"
My dad was concerned about Tom's size. He was only 165 pounds. The smallest
wrestler in my dad's territory in the '70s, except for my brothers, weighed a minimum of 250 pounds. Tom would have to be pretty damned good to be able to work with people 80 pounds heavier than he was. Bruce pushed for him. He really pushed.
“Please Dad, just take a look at him!"
So Tom flew back with Bruce. They were like brothers. They were best friends. Bruce saw so much potential in Tom ‘Dynamite Kid' Billington.
There was a lot of tension between my brothers Bret and Bruce after Dynamite came on the scene. Bret was wrestling as a heavyweight because he was tall – six feet. Compared to Bruce's five-feet-eight. The height gave the perception that Bret was heavier than he was. When Bruce proposed that Tom wrestle as a cousin, Tommy Hart, Bret vetoed that he wasn't a Hart so he could not wrestle as a Hart.
Tom had such a strong Cockney accent that I could barely understand what he was saying, but he seemed nice. He was a discovery my brother Bruce had made while in England. Bruce was overseas wrestling for wrestling legends, Max, Brian and Shirley Crabtree. Shirley was also known as Big Daddy. He was a big star in Britain who was famous for doing a "belly splash," which was a lot like Billy and Benny's move off the turnbuckle. Otherwise, he couldn't wrestle very well. Ted Betley – who later became famous for training my future husband, Davey Boy Smith – had trained Dynamite. Davey was Dynamite's cousin. I remember Bruce calling my dad from England insisting, "You've got to see this guy, Tom Billington! He's unbelievable. I've never seen anyone like him in my life!"
My dad was concerned about Tom's size. He was only 165 pounds. The smallest
wrestler in my dad's territory in the '70s, except for my brothers, weighed a minimum of 250 pounds. Tom would have to be pretty damned good to be able to work with people 80 pounds heavier than he was. Bruce pushed for him. He really pushed.
“Please Dad, just take a look at him!"
So Tom flew back with Bruce. They were like brothers. They were best friends. Bruce saw so much potential in Tom ‘Dynamite Kid' Billington.
There was a lot of tension between my brothers Bret and Bruce after Dynamite came on the scene. Bret was wrestling as a heavyweight because he was tall – six feet. Compared to Bruce's five-feet-eight. The height gave the perception that Bret was heavier than he was. When Bruce proposed that Tom wrestle as a cousin, Tommy Hart, Bret vetoed that he wasn't a Hart so he could not wrestle as a Hart.