For those of you who don’t know the name, Tom Billington is better known as The Dynamite Kid, the trend setter of 1980’s wrestling in England, Canada, Japan and the WWF. A lot of moves you see today were pioneered by Dynamite, and Chris Benoit bases his entire style around what Dynamite did back in the 80’s.The book goes right back to his roots in a small town outside Wigan, in England, and follows his progress through wrestling school and making his debut with UK wrestling legend, Big Daddy. Offered a trip to Canada by Bruce Hart in 1978, he left for Canada and wouldn’t be back home for 13 years.
This is the start of one of the most amazing careers and life stories there has ever been. Dynamite leaves nothing to your imagination, telling every detail about his life, his career and his matches... he tells about what the Hart family are really like.
Dynamite lifts the lid on Japan too... how the foreign wrestlers are told to treat the fans like dirt, and when he did, he was arrested for it... and drug abuse in the wrestling world. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book comes when Dynamite discusses his cousin, The British Bulldog.
It’s widely known there is a lot of hatred between the two, and Dynamite spells it out why, and in amazing detail. In between dishing the dirt, Dynamite recalls the great matches and times in his amazing career, and relives some of the jokes he loved to play on people. He also lists where his injury problems started, and why he is now confined to a wheelchair.
For anyone who is a long time fan of wrestling, this is a must have. Dynamite is rightly regarded as one of the all-time greats, and his story is fantastic to read. Along with Mick Foley’s books, this is one of the best wrestling books about.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review written by Tony Cottam
