I'm not going to lie, after spending a considerable amount of time looking back over, researching and thinking about the stories and the lives of the people I have written about so far in this series. it does leave you with a feeling of sadness. I have to admit that whilst going back over the story of The Bulldogs (The British Bulldog - Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid - Tom Billington) I found myself shedding tears. This may sound odd but I was overcome with emotion when I was finishing off my notes about Tom Billington and for some reason or another, I found tears streaming down my face. Did I know him personally? No. Was he an amazing person that deserves my tears? Probably not. As I tried to understand my reaction to this all I can explain it as, is the wasted talent of someone who really did have it all at one point and destroyed himself in the process.
The Bulldogs were around before I had gotten into wrestling but I knew who they were and how important they had been to wrestling history and how they had inspired so many of our favourite wrestlers of recent times. To know of their legendary status and then to learn of what happened to them was heartbreaking. Although saddened by the outcome for both of these men, the story of Tom Billington (Dynamite Kid) was the one that got to me the most because he became a monster in a lot of ways and ended up back in England, living in a council house on welfare. There's nothing wrong with living in a council house (I grew up in them) but he was a wrestling legend and he threw it all away, in fact a better way to describe it is 'destroyed', he basically destroyed what he had worked so hard for and he hurt the people who loved him most. All he had left to show for it in the end was a stack of video tapes of recorded past glories and to me it just saddened me. He was confined to a wheelchair with not a penny to his name and that's all he had left until he passed away at the age of 60 on the very same date that he was born. It's just tragic all the way around, both for Tom and for Davey.
I was originally going to write this post sorely on Davey Boy Smith (The British Bulldog) but knowing the heartbreaking and unbelievable life and tragic death of Tom Billington (Dynamite Kid) and how these guys were not only cousins, iconic tag team members but how they ended up so close to the Hart family. it's funny sometimes with the wrestling world that a lot of people are linked somehow and The British Bulldogs (as Tom and Davey called themselves and their tag team) did make it all away across the pond not only to train in the infamous Hart Dungeon by the legendary Stu Hart, but they helped put British wrestling on the map. They were pioneers, especially Tom who many (including Bret Hart) have referred to as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
Another fact that saddens me (and I can understand why) is that Tom Billington will never be included in the WWE Hall of Fame and as we go along in this post you will probably understand why too. It doesn't make it any more less sad that his name will never be included especially after everything he achieved and sacrificed since he was 13 years old. Davey Boy Smith was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2020, Davey had his troubles but Tom's past behaviours and actions were not those that can be papered over so easily no matter how much time has passed.
If you're a wrestling fan you will no doubt know the story of both of these men and if you are new to wrestling then you will probably have noticed the difference in how fans talk about Davey as opposed to Tom. Davey is looked back on with sadness and fond memories are shared. With Tom, there is negativity and a list of things he had done but who is to blame for that? Nobody but Tom, Some people will make excuses for his behaviour and say it was all drugs but he was a handful since he was a child, the steroids just amplified what was already there.
So, as both of these men led extremely wild and complicated lives I have had to break it down because so much had gone on with the pair of them that I could fill 5 blog posts just on them alone. In this post I aim to give you a brief background of Davey and Tom, their stories and the tragic endings for both of them.
So let's dive briefly in to the background of Tom, Davey and what was to become of one of the most infamous tag teams in wrestling history, The British Bulldogs.
Thomas Wilton Billington was born in Golborne, Manchester (England) on the 5th of December 1958. It was almost as if he was born to be a wrestler because he had that competitive streak in his blood and came from a line of bare-knuckle boxers as well as having and ancestor (James Billington) who had been a wrestler. He had two sisters and a brother and was quite quiet as a child who didn't pay much attention to his school work. He was quick to temper and due to having the male role models in his family being boxers in the past, he wanted to follow in their footsteps but he was self conscious about his size. He was considered small but skinny, fast and quick. Tom never wanted to be labelled as small and skinny. He started training intensely at the tender age of 13 and was determined to build himself up. He was introduced to Ted Betley (Dr Death) who was a former wrestler and Ted trained him for about three years. It wasn't long before he was making a name for himself in British wrestling and beyond.
Tom was a natural in the ring and exciting to watch, it was like he had years of experience already under his belt but he was still very young. At this point British wrestling was pretty much underground, there was a small following but nowhere near as huge as it was to become in the 1990's leading up to present day. Overseas it was huge and people often look back and comment about how the 80s and 90s were the glory days of wrestling. Tom caught the attention of the Harts and soon found himself on a plane to Calgary to train at the famous 'Dungeon' where the talent he already had was made even stronger. When he arrived at the Dungeon he compared himself to some of the other wrestlers who were training and he felt inadequate as he was 5 ft 7, for him this was an issue and he was very insecure about his height, this would lead him to try and overcompensate later by taking human growth hormones to make himself as big as he possibly could. (When Tom began taking steroids he was reported to have gained at least 30 to 40 pounds) With his performance and dedication to his craft everyone was impressed, even seasoned legends such as Stu Hart. Tom took everyone by storm and due to the fact that British wrestling seemed to be a lot more technical, almost taken more seriously than American wrestling he was able to bring some of that flavour too but had to learn how to be a bit more theatrical as was the usual routine with Canadian/American wrestling. The Dynamite Kid was making waves and it wasn't long before his cousin (who was just a few years younger than him) Davey followed in his footsteps.
Davey was also a hot headed young kid from humble beginnings just as his cousin Tom was. He'd been having some trouble at school and in his local area, it seemed that these kids had bags of energy and short fuses so it was put to Davey that he channel his energy into something positive. Davey already admired his older cousin and had an interest in wrestling so he started training too and soon found himself appearing on UK TV at just 15 years old. He ended up alongside Tom in the states as he had proven to be a talented wrestler too.
Looking back, it was amazing what they were both able to achieve in the late 70s into the 1980s, this was back at a time where (in British wrestling at least) it wasn't the glitz and glamour affair of today, it was rougher and not as polished, it was very rough and dare I say it....more a man's sport but when the Bulldogs ended up in the states, they saw the difference and adapted to a more glamorous tone. As the years went on they had widened their experience by wrestling in other countries as well as Japan. The Bulldogs, especially the Dynamite Kid ended up gaining a reputation for having a unique style of combining elements of European, Japanese and American wrestling. Everyone was excited to see what they would do next when they did perform in the ring either individually or as a tag team.
As well as having eventful careers in the ring their personal lives were something to behold too. Both of the cousins had romances with women who were close to the Hart family, cementing their connection to the iconic family even more. Davey marrying Stu and Helen's daughter Diana a day after her 21st birthday and had two children with her. Tom married the sister of Bret Hart's wife and they had a son and a daughter together. I had mentioned in my previous post about how close the Hart family were and they took Tom and Davey into their family and treated them the same as they treated everyone else.
With success on their side, beautiful wives, children and a hit with wrestling fans across the globe, all should have been well for Tom and Davey but events, over inflated egos and steroids were to poison not only their personal relationships but their reputations as a whole. In the case of Tom Billington, I mentioned earlier that I found myself shedding tears because I saw what became of the man and the path that he went down. Tom had it all (even Ozzy Osbourne was a huge fan - I had to get that in there somewhere) and instead of becoming a good person with it, he became a monster who's reputation was so toxic that today any chance of him being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame is highly unlikely. The guys were never angels, even before they hit the big time, both were known for being quick tempered and competitive but although those traits were negative it's what in part helped them become such great wrestlers. Adding steroids and other substances into the mix was just a recipe for disaster and it caused other people close to them to suffer and eventually their careers would suffer as a result.
Tom was a bully and Davey would be behind him joining in and this was all happening not as part of a storyline but just because Tom felt like it. Backstage in the locker room Tom would pick on new wrestlers, younger wrestlers, anyone who he saw as a potential threat and on one of these nasty occasions, Tom and Davey reportedly got into another wrestler's hotel room after they had spiked the man's drink with a sleeping pill, shaved off his eyebrows and defecated in the man's training bag. The constant harassment from Tom drove this man into having a break down and leaving the wrestling business. The Dynamite Kid was seen as an icon for so many kids and up and coming wrestlers (I mentioned in my Chris Benoit post about the huge impact he had on Chris who practically worshipped him) but the way he was throwing his weight around backstage, bullying people and then it became known that he was abusive to his wife. He created a very uncomfortable atmosphere and fellow wrestlers began losing all respect for him and he ended up being taken down a peg or two when one of his 'victims' who'd had enough of the bullying grabbed a fist full of coins and punched him in the face knocking his teeth out. This completely stunned Tom as well as humiliated him. People still talk about that to this day, many believing that it was him getting his just deserts for the way he had treated other people.
Both Davey and Tom had addiction problems, refusal to take time off from various injuries sustained and constant drama caused by them in their personal lives it got to the point where Vince McMahon was wanting rid of them due to their bad reputations and for learning that they'd been taking steroids and Vince was already under fire at that time so didn't need any more drama. Davey who was deemed the lesser evil of the two ended up trying to distance himself from Tom's bad reputation. He may have joined in on the bullying at times but was never a major player he just did what Tom told him to do. Tom came across as a very intimidating person and people enjoyed watching this in the ring but he was even worse in his personal life and with some of the other wrestlers he encountered. Out of the pair of them it seemed that Davey was the one who could possibly turn his life around and repair some of the damage that had been caused. Tom on the other hand just got worse and at one point pointed a gun at his pregnant wife after she told him to leave due to the constant abuse she had endured whenever he was home. His wife and kids didn't want him around because he was frightening.
Despite the ups and downs of Davey's wrestling career, it is fair to say that Vince McMahon did try his best to support him. I know that will raise a few eyebrows with me speaking of Vince in a sort of positive light but Vince did pay for Davey's rehab and always gave him chances when other doors were closed.
It just goes to show you how bad Tom's reputation was that people were willing to give Davey a chance despite his troubles but they had washed their hands with the guy who had basically inspired other wrestlers and helped put British wrestling on the map and proved to be a huge draw in the beginning.
The relationship between Davey and Tom soured and continued to sour. In the matches that Davey and Tom participated in, Davey felt he was the one doing all of the work due to Tom's back injuries where he shouldn't have been wrestling, Tom's behaviour was getting worse and more toxic. Despite Davey doing his best to support him Tom blamed Davey for his injuries and things were just never the same between them. Eventually the pair would cut ties altogether when, after a road accident Davey was left pretty shaken up and determined to turn his life around so he returned to WWF determined to make a go of things but this time without Tom, he wanted to go solo. In what some would say was a bit of a backstabbing move, Davey trademarked 'The British Bulldog' so that Tom could no longer use it and the pair reportedly never spoke to each other again after that.
Davey tried to turn things around but his addictions were still very much in control of him and more drama in his personal life didn't help matters either. He assaulted a man in a bar who he believed had been making inappropriate comments to Diana and the man ended up in the hospital with head injuries. He was originally charged with aggravated assault but these charges were later dropped.
After Owen Hart's tragic death (I previously covered Owen's story here) Davey had caused some tension with Bret Hart because he made comments about Owen's death just being a tragic accident. Davey wasn't with the WWF at this time but he was looking to return and Bret felt betrayed both by what he had said about Owen and also about him wanting to return to WWF. Vince always kept the door open for Davey under the condition that he was 100% clean but he could never conquer his demons. Like his cousin Tom, he was very abusive to his wife and had threatened to kill her. He was in a very bad place and a Doctor had told him that he had an enlarged heart. He was supposed to be taking things easy but he continued to push things.
On the 18th of May 2002 (at the age of just 39 years old) Davey Boy Smith aka The British Bulldog sadly passed away due to a heart attack. His death was determined to be from complications of having a heart that was too big for his chest despite evidence of steroids and other substances in his body. The levels of these substances were not enough to have contributed to his death according to the medical examiner.
Not to play down the tragedy of his death but another soap-opera style detail in this sad and unbelievable story is that Dave had been on holiday at the time of his death.....with Bruce Hart's estranged wife Andrea. He reportedly had two funerals, The Hart family paid their tributes and another one was held by Andrea.
Davey was buried back in Golborne, England, the very place he was born, so he basically came back home to rest and his memorial stone is a beautiful black monument. There is calls for a statue of The British Bulldog to be placed in his hometown as a tribute to him. To this very day there is tribute accounts to Davey, people like to focus on the good times.
With Tom, despite all of his achievements there's still that black shadow of his behaviour towards others and the pain and hurt caused. I know there was an episode of 'Darkside of The Ring' which focused on Tom but I have yet to see it. I know the details revealed in the programme shocked many fans as some were unaware of the full extent to the problems as well as the horrible incident with him threatening his wife with the gun. There's just too much negativity towards others that makes one find it a bit difficult to try to find some light in the darkness when it comes to Tom, all I can say is the truth that he was a pioneer, a very talented man but also a very troubled man. He gave his life to wrestling and sacrificed it all including his sanity. Davey passing away at the age of just 39 was so tragic and everyone did all they could to help him but having been in that life since a young teenager (it's unclear when Tom first introduced Davey to steroids but we know they were both young and continued to take them throughout the years) one can only imagine how difficult it was to try and break free. These steroids don't only wreak havoc with the human body, they also destroy the mind.
Despite health problems continuing to plague him and ending up back in England penniless, living in a council house on welfare, Tom managed to survive somehow to the age of 60. The age of 60 is still a young and tragic death but considering how much substances he had taken over the years and the damage to his body he was quite strong to last that long. Tom was also confined to a wheelchair and I know a lot of his downfall was his own doing but it doesn't fill me with pleasure to see what became of him. I just find the whole thing so sad. Some people visited him, he did receive letters and well-wishes from fans who still respected him for what he had done for wrestling. The achievements he made were still recognised by many but what a truly sad ending to an unbelievable story of two young boys who left England and became wrestling superstars for a time in wrestling history. Tom died on the same date that he was born, his cause of death has never been determined for whatever reason but we do know that he was suffering from depression. Tom was cremated and no other details are known. I know it's not appropriate to speculate these types of situations but the day of his death being his 60th birthday, the state of his health and the circumstances must have been incredibly difficult for him. Tom had a vast amount of video tapes from his glory days and it's kind of heartbreaking to think of him sitting there watching the tapes remembering the good times, no longer the strapping young man that he was, full of energy living his best life in the states, living the dream, his wrestling dream and then for it all to come to what it did, it's just so sad and what else can you say?
I'm not a fan of bullies but I think he didn't deserve what became of him. Some people say he had changed his ways and had a different outlook on life. I hope that despite everything that happened he at least maybe knew that there was an appreciation for what he did achieve.
RIP Davey and Tom. Aside from the dark times, your contribution to wrestling forever remains unmatched and you will never be forgotten. Thank you for paving the way for others with a dream.
Further Reading & Sources:
- Dynamite & Davey | Book by Steven Bell
- Pure Dynamite: The Autobiography of Tom 'Dynamite Kid' Billington | Book by Tom Billington
- Davey Boy Smith | Find A Grave
- Tom Billington | Find A Grave
- The British Bulldogs | Wikipedia
- Best of The British Bulldog | WWE Network/Netflix
- British Bulldog: Article | BBC News
- The British Bulldog | Instagram
- WWE Hall of Fame | Pro Wrestling
I would love to know your thoughts on this post, Davey and Tom. If you've made it this far, thank you. As always I appreciate it. I hope you will join me for part six in my Dark History From The World of Wrestling Series. In the meantime, I hope to see you elsewhere on my socials. Take care until next time x
No comments:
Post a Comment