In the blink of an eye, Tom Billington, better known as the Dynamite Kid, saw his life and career change forever.
Teaming with Davey Boy Smith as the British Bulldogs, Billington was riding high in WWE. Together, they captivated fans much like the rock stars of their era. Billington and Davey were a perfect mix of power, intensity, and high-flying ability that fans hadn’t seen before. At WrestleMania 2, they won the World Tag Team titles and were cruising toward immortality.
That all changed on Dec.
13, 1986, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
During a match against Don Muraco and Bob Orton, Billington collapsed shortly after being kicked in the back by Muraco as he crossed the ropes. However, Billington’s injury happened just moments before Muraco touched him. As he described in his book, Pure Dynamite: The Price You Pay for Wrestling Stardom, he had just leaped over his opponent when he felt something go wrong.
“I felt something go in my back,” he wrote. “I can’t really describe the feeling, except that I felt this terrible sharp pain and crumpled to the mat. I couldn’t get up — I couldn’t move my legs — I just lay there in agony, wondering what had happened.”
He tried telling Muraco he was hurt but didn’t recall the words coming out. He used his arms to get out of the ring while the match continued. When paramedics arrived, his left leg twitched violently, so they strapped it down to keep it still as they took him away on a stretcher.
Billington was taken to the hospital, where it was revealed that he had ruptured two discs in his back and required immediate surgery. For a time, his leg was paralyzed — the result of disc fragments pressing against his nerves. He would ultimately regain use of his leg, but he was advised to retire.
He didn’t. Instead, Billington continued to wrestle off and on for another 10 years. By the time he finally stepped away, the once-powerful Kid was now a frail shadow of his former self. His gaunt appearance was a stark contrast to the wrestler fans once idolized — only his name and worn face remained recognizable.
Although the event wasn’t televised, grainy fan-cam footage captured the moment, which has since been uploaded to YouTube. But in his estimation, the injury wasn’t caused by that one night in Hamilton.
Instead, Billington blamed the years of grueling punishment, particularly from his legendary series of matches against Japanese icon Satoru Sayama — better known as the original Tiger Mask.
“One minute I’d been running across the ring to nail Don Muraco, and the next, I couldn’t even stand on my own two feet,” Billington wrote. “I knew it hadn’t really happened just like that. Not on that night.
“I’d been storing up trouble for myself — for my body — for years. I knew what had caused it as well; those crazy matches I used to have with Sayama. In the space of one match we’d give each other more piledrivers, back suplexes, body drops, than most wrestlers would tolerate in a week. In my mind, it was like hammering a car till the shock absorbers go; and that was what had more or less happened to my back.”
In his later years, Billington lost the use of his left leg and required the use of a wheelchair. After reportedly battling other health issues, he passed away on his 60th birthday in 2018.
Billington’s story serves as a reminder of the brutal toll pro wrestling can take — especially when performed at the relentless pace and intensity he pioneered, a style still emulated by wrestlers today.
