The Dynamite Kid

Dynamite Kid

Billington as part of The British Bulldogs
Birth name	Thomas Billington
Born	(1958-12-05) 5 December 1958 (age 58) Golborne, Lancashire, England, UK
Spouse(s)	Michelle Smadu (m. 1982; div. 1991) Dot Billington (m. 1997)
Children	3
Family	Billington Hart (by marriage)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Dynamite Kid
Billed height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Billed weight	103.5 kg (228 lb)
Billed from	Liverpool, England Manchester, England
Trained by	Ted Betley Jack Fallon Billy Riley John Foley Stu Hart
Debut	24 December 1975
Retired	10 October 1996

Thomas "Tom" Billington (born 5 December 1958), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, is a British former professional wrestler. He competed in the World Wrestling Federation, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid-to-late-1980s. With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, he is also known for being one half of the tag team The British Bulldogs. He also had notable feuds with Tiger Mask in Japan and Bret Hart in Canada.

Billington is considered by many, including Bret Hart and Dave Meltzer, to be one of wrestling's most influential in-ring performers, having innovated the level of athleticism involved in the art and merging styles from Britain, Mexico, Canada and Japan.

Billington was born in Golborne, Lancashire. His father's name was Bill and he has two sisters and a younger brother named Mark. His father Bill and uncle Eric Billington were boxers in their youth and his grandfather Joe Billington was a bare-knuckle boxer. He is a member of the Billington family. One of his ancestors James Billington was also a wrestler.

Academic work was not a priority to him, but he was drawn to sports at his comprehensive school; his adherence to it, particularly 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.