WWE: 15 Greatest Technical Wrestlers – Number 6

On our quest to find some of the greatest technical wrestlers in the history of the WWE, today, we come down to number 6. These technical wrestlers are those who’re gifted athletes, and have honed their craft for years, traveling around the world and showcasing their abilities to the wrestling fans. Most of them never cared about making huge money, or being in the spot light for years. These are the performers who want to be known as the ‘best’, who want adulation and respect more than being featured in commercials and movies, and most importantly, they’re the ones who fall in love with professional wrestling and cannot fathom doing anything else. Today’s pick is one of those performers, and he is universally hailed as arguably the greatest technical wrestler in the history of professional wrestling! Not only that, but he was the reason many current performers got into the business. He’s one of the very few people that this generation’s crop of ‘wrestlers’ idolized and looked up to when they were kids. He is none other than ‘The Dynamite Kid’, Tom Billington.

“Pound-for-pound, Dynamite Kid is the greatest wrestler who ever lived” – Bret Hart

Dynamite Kid is considered to be the greatest name coming out of England, and is praised universally by all the ardent wrestling fans. While some consider him to be the greatest professional wrestler, alive or dead, some claim that he’s one of the most underrated performers in the history. Tom started his career in the UK, then moving to Canadian Stampede which was run by the legendary Stu Hart. It was here that Tom found his big break, putting on some of the greatest match in Stampede’s history. He soon became the idol of Bret Hart, and a very young Chris Benoit. Tom continued to tour Japan, where he had arguably one of the greatest feuds in professional wrestling history with Tiger Mask, and they put on some of the best matches in the business. Tom was then offered a contract by the WWF, and he teamed up with Davey Smith to form one of the greatest tag teams of all time, the British Bulldogs. They won the tag titles at WrestleMania 2, but didn’t taste much success in the WWF. Dynamite then quit the WWF due to differences with Vince and his peers.

After the WWF, Davey went back to Japan and worked with All Japan Pro Wrestling. Dynamite Kid could never return to the WWF however, as he retired from professional wrestling soon after in ’91. Davey Smith left AJPW and went back to the WWF, and since he trademarked the name ‘British Bulldogs’, he earned the right to keep the name, thus making it impossible for Dynamite to use it in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world. Dynamite was also married to Bret Hart’s sister, and trained in Stu Hart’s ‘Dungeon’, and is claimed to be one of the greatest names to ever come out of Stu Hart’s school. Dynamite also held the WWF Junior Heavyweight championship of the world, along with the tag team titles.

Dynamite Kid was also plagued by numerous injuries throughout his career due to his stiff work style, his move set and his practice of taking steroids, pain killers and consuming alcohol. Dynamite Kid was an inspiration to many wrestlers over the world through the past three decades, such as Chris Benoit and Jay Lethal. Dynamite suffered a severe back injury in the mid 80s which cut his career short, and after ’91, Dynamite’s health deteriorated and in ’97, he lost the use of his left leg, thus being paralyzed permanently. Kid used the Swandive headbutt in his matches, popularizing the move which was invented by Harley Race, and Race once said he regretted using the move, saying it might have caused the spinal problem which Dynamited Kid suffered from. No matter what happened outside the ring, the Dynamite Kid will always be remembered as one of the greatest failures in professional wrestling, as he could have achieved everything in this business due to his talent and work ethic. He was voted as the best flying wrestler, best technical wrestler and the most under rated wrestler by Wrestling Observer, while his matches with Tiger Mask earned 5 star ratings, and was voted the match of the year. Dynamite Kid’s matches were classics, as he always delivered inside the ring. His contribution to professional wrestling, along with his in – ring work earn him the number 6 spot in our list of 15 greatest technical wrestlers to have ever stepped foot inside a WWE ring.