Thomas Wilton Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Billington is considered by many to have been one of wrestling's most influential in-ring performers, having increased the level of athleticism involved in the art, bringing together styles from Britain, Mexico, Canada and Japan. 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. He competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, he was also known for being one half of the tag team The British Bulldogs which have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in history.

Billington was trained by former wrestler "Dr. Death" Ted Betley for three years starting at 13, and attended Riley's Gym, known as The Snake Pit, where he learned catch wrestling. Billington was known for being a tough guy and for his stiffness as a worker. Dynamite Kid made his debut working in 1975 for Max Crabtree. Dynamite Kid began taking steroids in 1979, when Big Daddy Ritter, aka the Junkyard Dog, introduced Billington to the anabolic steroid Dianabol. Billington was also introduced to speed during his stay in Canada by Jake Roberts.

David Smith and Tom Billington were first cousins from Wigan, England, with Billington's father being the brother of Smith's mother. In the 1970s, Smith and Billington both began their careers in Britain. The two were soon invited to join Stampede Wrestling in Canada by talent scout Bruce Hart. Billington went to Canada first and made a revolutionary impact in Stampede with his effortlessly fluid technical wrestling style, and had a feud with his future brother-in-law, Bret Hart. Smith came to Stampede in the early 1980s. During their time together in Stampede, Smith and Billington began a heated feud as Billington provoked Smith by claiming he was "a test-tube baby". After they settled the feud, the two started to team as the British Bulldogs both in NJPW and Stampede Wrestling. In March 1984, the Bulldogs won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship for the first time.

In 1984, Vince McMahon purchased Stampede Wrestling. The buyout meant that the British Bulldogs joined the World Wrestling Federation along with Smith's brother-in-law Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation). Dynamite Kid made his WWF television debut on 29 August 1984, where he and Bret Hart defeated Iron Mike Sharpe and Troy Alexander in a match eventually shown on 15 September 1984, on the Maple Leaf Garden broadcast.

In 1985, Billington would end up teaming with Davey Boy Smith as the British Bulldogs, while Bret would turn heel and team with Jim Neidhart as The Hart Foundation, and it led to matches between the two teams that usually ended in No-Contests. The familiarity between the two teams led to some outstanding matches that elevated both teams. On 7 April 1986, accompanied by Captain Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne, the British Bulldogs won the WWF World tag team title from Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake at WrestleMania II.

Dynamite Kid would suffer a serious injury in a tag-team match that took place in December 1986 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, against Don Muraco and Bob Orton, Jr. and several wrestlers including Roddy Piper, Junkyard Dog and Billy Jack Haynes would substitute for him when tag title defenses were made. While recovering in the hospital from back surgery, Billington would later recount that Bret Hart showed up and stated that Vince McMahon had sent him to get Dynamite's tag belt; Billington refused. Shortly after checking himself out of the hospital (against doctors' orders), Billington met with McMahon, who requested that the Bulldogs drop the tag titles to the team of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff; Billington refused, saying that he would only drop the belts to The Hart Foundation.

McMahon acquiesced and at a TV taping on 26 January 1987, The British Bulldogs wrestled a match to drop the titles to The Hart Foundation; the match would air on 7 February edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling. The match itself was an odd sight, Billington was so debilitated that he was carried to the ring by Smith and saw little physical action after being "knocked out" by the megaphone of the Hart Foundation's manager Jimmy Hart before he even got into the ring. “Evil Referee” Danny Davis then allowed the Foundation to continually double-team Smith in order to get the win (all the while continuing to "check" on Billington, leaving the double teaming to take place).

Toward the end of the Bulldogs' title reign, they were given a bulldog named Matilda, who accompanied them to the ring. She was central to their feud with The Islanders (Haku and Tama) who along with their manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan "dognapped" her. After rescuing her, the Bulldogs teamed with Koko B. Ware (and his parrot "Frankie") in a six-man tag team match against The Islanders and Bobby Heenan at Wrestlemania IV. The match ended with a loss as Heenan covered Koko for the 3-count. The Bulldogs then feuded with The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond), which included wrestling the first match at the inaugural SummerSlam event at Madison Square Garden which ended in a time limit (20 minute) draw.

The Bulldogs left the WWF after backstage altercations with The Rougeau Brothers. The Bulldogs had allegedly pulled a number of ribs (pranks) on the Rougeaus. Curt Hennig also pranked the duo, who, assuming that the Bulldogs were behind that prank as well, retaliated: Jacques Rougeau knocked out four of Dynamite Kid's teeth with a fist filled with a roll of quarters.

In September 1990, Smith abruptly withdrew the Bulldogs from AJPW's annual World's Strongest Tag Determination League by returning to the WWF, and fabricating to the All-Japan office that Billington had been in a serious car accident and couldn't compete. Since Smith had trademarked the term "The British Bulldog" during the Bulldogs' previous run in the WWF, he decided to return to the WWF as The British Bulldog and sent people to the United Kingdom to warn the promoter every time a flyer was distributed promoting Billington as a "British Bulldog." As a result of these actions, Billington passionately despised Smith for a long time.

Billington's health problems were only worsened by his drug use. He visited Dan Spivey and stayed in his home in Florida for a week, while Spivey went on holiday. When Spivey came back, he and Billington took hits of LSD, which resulted in Billington coming close to death twice in one day, but he was revived with adrenaline shots by paramedics both times.

His final wrestling match took place on 10 October 1996, at a Michinoku Pro event called These Days. While at the airport to return home on the next day, Dynamite had a second seizure (the first one was in 1987) and was sent to the hospital immediately. In 1997, after having a great deal of complications he was experiencing with walking due to the large number of back and leg injuries he sustained during his career, Billington lost the use of his left leg. He would start using a wheelchair for mobility. In November 2013, Billington reportedly had a stroke. Billington died on 5 December 2018, his 60th birthday.

This skin was made for me by Yondee.