All language subtitles for Dark Side Of The Ring s03e07 The Dynamite Kid.eng

♪

I see people
who emulate him.

[indistinct commentary]

But in my mind, nobody
did it better than Tommy.

The Dynamite Kid, baby.

He was the beginning of the
modern style pro wrestler.

[grunts] Ah!

My mom told me all the time,
"Your dad was the best."

...on the top!
Oh, my!

What I was most impressed with
was how explosive he was.

Oh, my!

With extraordinary agility
and technical mastery,

Dynamite Kid took the
wrestling world by storm.

His need to be the best was
fueled by an intense desire

to overcome his
small stature...

by pushing his body
to dangerous extremes.

When Tommy found himself
in the land of giants,

the way to stand out was to
make his style more realistic...

harder hitting...

than anybody else's.

You really got
banged up, Dynamite.

What goes around comes around.
It's a dog-eat-dog world.

There's things that
you can do that are

going to destroy your body.

[cheering]

And he did.
He destroyed his body, young.

And that's the willingness
to sacrifice for the sake of

your art, which Tommy
took to an extreme.

Debilitating injuries,
steroid abuse,

and a dependency on
painkillers made Dynamite

an increasing threat to himself
and those around him.

I'm telling you...

he did a complete
personality change.

Outside the ring,

there was a lot of questions
about his character.

I think he probably had
the worst case of little man

syndrome in the
history of the world.

Everybody knew not to
push his buttons because

you would feel his wrath.

We'll wrestle you.

We'll embarrass you,
will humiliate you.

Agh!

He really punched me,
and then he ended up

kicking me in the face.
And, he was like a monster.

It was terrible things
that he did to me.

But that was like a
small chunk of it.

I can't imagine what it would
have been like for her,

having a
gun at your head.

Everybody else
who did way worse,

they get their
accolades and,

Tom doesn't.

I still have the ability to

watch his matches
and enjoy them.

But, people still praise
him publicly and it's like,

I can't do it.

He sacrificed his
body and his family,

everything, for wrestling.

♪

♪

The Dynamite Kid's impact...

Gigantic. I think he
left an unbelievable

permanent mark
on the business.

And, for the most part,
a positive one -

on the business.

I'm Lance Storm,

a professional wrestler
for 30 years.

28-year-old Lance Storm!

I think if you're a fan of
wrestling today with

the faster pace,
higher impact...

I think that's
attributed to Dynamite.

The Dynamite Kid!

And, all of those guys in
Stampede, you know, Bret Hart...

Bret Hart, there's your
opponent for next week.

Oh, he--
they're both over the top!

Stampede Wrestling and
the Calgary Stampede,

those are the two things
that Calgary's famous for.

My name's
Michelle Billington.

I used to be married
to The Dynamite Kid.

One day, when my sister
Julie and I first came

to Calgary, Julie saw
Bret and she was like,

"Who's that guy?
Oh, my god."

And it was love
at first sight,

for both of them.

♪

I'm Julie Hart.

I'm the former wife of
Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

And, the sister of
Michelle Billington.

I kind of took
Michelle under my wing.

I've always been
very protective of her,

her whole life.

Julie was more like a
mother to me than my mother.

She was like my hero.

And, I started
living with them and,

when I first saw
Tom in the ring,

it was with Bret.

They were
incredible matches,

and Tom was like
a ping pong ball,

just flying around the ring.

Oh, survivor!

So, then when Tom
wasn't wrestling,

he would stand
behind me and talk to me,

and I would just,
like, surreptitiously,

like, "Yeah, hey,
how's it going? Good match."

And he's like, "Yeah,
thank you, thank you."

♪

So, we went for a walk
and it was so romantic.

Like, the-- it was that
big fluffy snow that was

coming down, and it was like a
blanket of diamonds and...

I just thought he was so
exotic 'cause he had

that English accent.

So, I had this big...

romantic idea of that suave,
debonair Englishman.

I was 18 when he married me.

So, let's read this one.

"Michelle, I can tell you
this little secret now

because we're married.

I think that you
will believe me.

And the next thing on
my mind is that

we will have some babies."

Bronwyne!

"But, only when
you are ready.

I wish that is soon because
when I'm on the road,

the babies can
look after you.

All for now.
I love you more than ever.

Your ever loving
yard dog, Tom."

[sniffles]

♪

And he didn't hold Bronwyne
until she could walk.

Like, he didn't actually
pick her up 'cause

he was so scared to
drop her or hurt her.

♪

My name is
Bronwyne Billington.

I am the eldest daughter
of Tom Billington,

The Dynamite Kid.

We had a wrestling ring
in our backyard,

so he'd always be
training his friends or,

just wrestling around
with his buddies,

and we used to play
in there as kids.

I remember being backstage
at the wrestling shows.

Randy Savage and
Miss Elizabeth.

They loved me
for some reason.

I think I just wanted to
hang out with them, really.

[laughs]

My dad was a really funny,
goofy guy.

I'd just like to tell you
about this woman.

She's mean, she's lean.

She's 205 pounds
of fighting fury.

She's got 17-inch biceps,
95-inch legs.

And she's muscle,
steel and sex appeal.

He had no teeth
at one point.

He had like the
retainer teeth,

and he'd pull them out
and like do tricks on me,

so I thought he was magic.

If you look at any of the
pictures with my father and I,

growing up, he was always
holding my hand really tight,

as a little girl.
I think that's a sign of like

how much he loved
his daughter.

When I was younger,
my mom would tell me,

"Oh, my god, you're so much
like your dad," because

I learned how to do
flips all by myself.

I thought he could fly.

Like, I've never really seen a
wrestler that could do all that.

♪

My name's Amaris Billington,

and I am The Dynamite Kid's
youngest daughter.

And, I'm just so proud of him
for who he was in his career.

And he didn't care
if someone said,

"You're too small."
He's like,

[British accent]
"Watch me."

By the 1980s, The Dynamite
Kid is not only one of

Stampede Wrestling's
top performers...

[cheering]

[Japanese commentary]

He's also catapulted himself
to super stardom

on the other side of the globe.

And some of the greatest
matches took place

in front of small
crowds in Japan.

My name is Mick Foley.

I wrestled from 1985
through 2000 and

made several comebacks.

There was a series of moves
that he did with Satoru Sayama,

the original Tiger Mask.

And, it looked like magic.

It wasn't what they did...

it was the speed
with which they did it,

and the excellence of
execution that was amazing.

I perused that on VHS tape
the way that most young men

of my generation perused the
Phoebe Cates topless scene

in Fast Times At
Ridgemont High.

I rewound it and
slow-motioned it

so often that it just,
it broke.

Oh, wow!

The in-ring product that
we see today

starts with him and Tiger Mask.

♪

My name's Dave Meltzer.

I'm the editor of the Wrestling
Observer Newsletter.

I do podcasts at
wrestlingobserver.com.

There is no Jushin Liger

without Tiger Mask
and Dynamite Kid.

You know, that opens the
door for Eddie Guerrero and

Chris Benoit, and Owen Hart,
and all of these different guys

who came after and
patterned themselves after him.

I think he always had a
chip on his shoulder,

as far as size and,
you know,

he wanted to be
the best and,

at his size, you had to over
perform because it was not

what wrestling turned into
years later where

a guy his size was acceptable.

[indistinct commentary]

If you were
looking for illusions,

Tommy was a bunch of things,

but a magician was
not one of them.

If it looked good and
it looked like it hurt,

it's probably
because it did.

It was amazing to see.

But hindsight,
when you think about it,

it's like, oh, yeah, he just
had no regard for his body.

[Japanese commentary]

[cheering]

In 1984, the Dynamite Kid's
fearlessness in the ring

pays off as he
signs with the WWF,

joining cousin
Davey Boy Smith,

brother-in-law, Bret Hart,
and Jim "The Anvil" Niedhart.

In order to
compete at the top,

Tom continues to push
the limits of his body.

Tom's physical
changes came

once he went to WWE.

You know, he'd been doing a
lot of steroids at the time.

- The Dynamite Kid!
- [cheering]

Physically, describe
Tommy as one big muscle.

He was like Mighty Mouse.

This guy had
striations in his butt.

Muscles just
ripping out of his ass.

I mean, the guy was just
nothing but a pure muscle.

My name is Dan Spivey.

I'm a friend of
Dynamite Kid's.

- [match bell]
- Danny Spivey, of course...

People will pay money to
come see a bunch of

muscular guys beat
on each other.

Oh, yeah, we talked
about steroids and

did steroids, you know.

Pfft, everybody
was taking them.

♪

My name's Gary Portz.

I came over to America
and started wrestling, 1978.

And, I met Dynamite Kid.

Scott McGee!

Here he comes... Oh!

We got along -
Danny, myself, and Dynamite -

every day was Christmas.
Every day was like a party.

People would come to one
room and give each other

shots and stuff, and...

throw the needles into the wall,
like a dart board.

And leave 'em there.

Me and Danny,
one time we walk up...

I looked at a wall and
there must have been

10 needles stuck in the wall.

I mean, who does that?

Dumbass wrestlers, you know.

With his new
muscular physique,

Dynamite's explosiveness
in the ring makes him

a breakout star in the WWF.

By 1985, he and his tag team
partner Davey Both Smith

are packing arenas
around the country.

Here are the
British Bulldogs!

Davey Boy Smith
was his cousin.

You know, in many
ways emulated him,

kind of same look.

People went crazy
because they were...

[cheering]

Because they were great.

Davey Boy and Dynamite!

A much harder, faster style

than almost
everybody else there.

We all wanted to
be the Bulldogs.

They were gods of wrestling.

I remember Dynamite
doing that fast suplex.

Snap suplex!

And he'd do like,
boom, you were gone.

Boy, before you knew it.

My name is Jacques Rougeau.

For 41 years, I was a
professional wrestler.

I was the Fabulous
Rougeau Brothers

with my brother, Raymond.

- The Rougeau Brothers.
- Fabulous Rougeau Brothers.

The Fabulous
Rougeau Brothers.

I remember Dynamite Kid one
night just walking in the

dressing room with a
needle in his butt.

Needle's sticking,
going like this and...

and he'd go, [shouting]

"I'm gonna have a good
fucking match tonight!"

And you know,
he was like a beast.

And the-- so,
I was afraid of him.

[laughs]

I was afraid of
those kind of guys.

Look out!

After years of self-sacrifice
and physical strain,

Tom finally earns a
championship victory with

Davey Boy at
WrestleMania II.

Tag team champions!
The British Bulldogs!

Now at the top of
the pecking order,

Tom is hell-bent on putting
up and coming wrestlers

through the same hard knocks
he was once forced to endure.

♪

He was a product of
the Snake Pit in Wigan.

Guys who really knew how
to hurt you in a hurry.

And, I don't
know for a fact,

but I'm assuming that Tommy
had the crap beat out of him.

And, I think it created in him
a resiliency and also

maybe a little bit of
bitterness to people who

hadn't endured what he
had to make it through.

And, I found
that out firsthand.

From Bloomington, Indiana...

I showed up in
Providence, Rhode Island,

with all of one
match to my credit.

Jack Foley!

It's me and Les Thornton
against The British Bulldogs.

[cheering]

I was excited.
I'm in the ring with, you know,

one of my heroes, Tommy.

[commentary]
Tremendous affection!

I came in and I got a
very, very quick education.

Dynamite starts
shaking the ropes

like he couldn't wait to get in.

And when he was tagged in,
he sent me into the ropes,

and he didn't so much
clothesline me as

he clubbed me with
his bicep, in the jaw.

Oh, wow! Whoa.

And that was the last time I
ate solid food for 3 weeks.

I didn't know
it at the time,

but he had
dislocated my jaw.

Almost lost my career
because of that.

There were no hard feelings.
I said,

"It was such an honour to
be in there with you guys."

Shook their hands, ah...

went back to my hotel room
and threw up in the toilet.

Tom's appetite for violence
soon spreads beyond the ring

into the locker room, and
eventually into his home life,

setting off a chain of events
that shatters his career,

his marriage,
and ultimately, his legacy.

♪

So, this is the
matching cape and vest...

my dad wore in WWF...

in the British
Bulldogs tag team.

It has his name
on the inside.

Well, it says, "Kid".

And these were the
original British Bulldogs

from when I was little.

I used to play
Barbies with those.

Yeah, these would
be our Ken dolls.

From England,
The British Bulldogs!

I really loved the Bulldogs.

But, I saw a few
things happen that...

Changed my opinion.

He was a ribber.

He loved giving
people a hard time,

you know, jokingly.

What some people
wouldn't think was jokingly.

Some of the stuff was
pretty stiff that he did.

He used to love
to Halcion people.

One time, he...

he Halcion'd my mother.

Putting a sleeping
drug into their drinks.

There was a guy
called Mitch... Snow.

It's our first
look at Mitch Snow.

And the kid had a
big mouth on him.

He'd just talk shit.

So, Tommy gave him
the Halcion gimmick.

♪

Dynamite and Davey Boy
went on the balcony

to get into his room.

♪

And they sh...
crapped in his bag.

Shaved his eyebrows
and shaved his head.

The kid went back to his
home in South Carolina

somewhere because he
was in fear of his life.

I think he almost had a nervous
breakdown or something.

It's supposed to
be a joke and

it's supposed to
make people laugh.

Okay, it's funny now,
but it's not funny

when you're 23 days on the road.

It's not funny when you lost
your bags earlier that week.

It's not funny when you haven't
seen your kid in 20 days.

It's not funny,
it's not easy.

Well, he wasn't like that
when I first started

going out with him.

Or, in our first 5 years
in our marriage.

There was none of
that sadistic behaviour.

It started happening
after his back operation.

During a non-televised
match in 1986,

Dynamite does a seemingly
harmless drop down

with his opponent.

After years of being
pushed past its limits,

Dynamite's body
finally breaks down.

Tom is rushed to the
hospital with a severe

back injury requiring
immediate emergency surgery.

When they opened him up,

his 4th and 5th lumbar
was just shredded.

And his, his discs were all
tangled in his spinal cord.

Two discs.

He wasn't supposed
to work anymore,

you know, after the surgery.

And I think he was back in
the ring two weeks later.

Vince, you know, needed to
take the titles off of him.

He could not wrestle.

Davey carried him to the ring -
this is off camera...

the television audience
never saw this.

I think he gets hit by
the megaphone or something,

he got taken out right away.

Jimmy Hart on the
other side of the ring,

just striking
Dynamite Kid from behind!

Davey worked the match,
got pinned,

they got the
belts off of 'em.

- No, no, no!
- 1, 2, 3!

- [cheering]
- [match bell]

New tag team champions!

He got carried
back to my car.

When he got to my house,
he went back in the wheelchair.

And, stayed with me
for a couple of days.

He'd sleep on the floor, not
because I didn't have a bed,

but because that was the
most comfortable place for him.

My wife used to
hear him crying,

crying, in the
middle of the night.

It was like a, a whimper.

♪

I can't imagine how
much pain he was in.

Contrary to doctor's orders,
Dynamite rushes a return to

the ring just months
after the surgery.

Wrestling in constant agony,
his temper begins to spiral

out of control,
creating chaos at home.

Yeah.

I seen it.

♪

There was one night when
he was taking me out

to show me a nice time.

I didn't want to
drink alcohol,

so instead of saying,
"I'm not drinking,"

because that would have
been like a dis to Tom,

I ordered a tonic water and
put lemon in it and

he'll think it's a vodka tonic.

He grabbed my drink
and he drank it,

and he just spit it out,
like as if it was poison.

He said,
"What the fuck is this?"

And I was like,
"It's tonic water."

And he was like,
"Tonic water!

How come you're
drinking tonic water!"

He just wouldn't let it go.
Like, he was so mad.

And then, all the way home,

he was playing
chicken on the road.

A car would be coming
and he'd act like

he's gonna hit the car.
And he'd,

"How could you
fucking lie to me?"

And I was like, "Sorry.

I just didn't
want to like drink.

What's the big deal?"

When we got home, I'm just
about to go to sleep and

he's like, "Fucking get up!"

And I was like,
"What, what?"

He's like, "Get up, get up!"

♪

Then he shoved me
in a closet.

And he goes,
"You fucking stay in there,

you little yard dog."

I just, I slept on
the floor in there.

And I was glad that
he wasn't bugging me.

I was like,
I'll sleep in the closet.

Anyway, I find out I'm
pregnant with our son.

So, after Marek
was born, he was,

you know, going to great
lengths for what he did

in the closet incident.

And Marek was such
a difficult child.

Like, he was just
really high maintenance.

But Tom was so
patient with him.

So, I think he really wanted
to make up for that with Marek.

But, you know,
that didn't last.

The Dynamite Kid's
home and work life

have become
increasingly volatile.

After being forced to
surrender the championship,

Tom takes out his rage on
another rising tag team

in the WWF.

Vince called the
Bulldogs and the Rougeaus.

And he said, "Guys, I'd like
to go ahead and have a great

match with you 4 guys
and I'd like to have

a 20 minute Broadway."

- [match bell]
- The time limit has expired.

This contest is
ruled a draw.

It was a draw.

So, for me, that was
a victory because,

you know, it's like putting us
in the same league as them,

which we were not.

And, lord knows,
after that match,

I was so happy and
everything was good, and...

I never, I never thought

I'd encounter problems
with the Bulldogs.

Oh, the Rougeau thing?
I'm tired of it.

I don't want to
hear about it anymore.

Like, is that the only thing
that ever happened to him?

When the Rougeaus
came to WWF,

they seemed to have
this prestige right away.

Tom had the old school way.

You earn your right
to have privilege.

[Jacques] I've always had an
arrogance in me that

made me succeed in the business.

I never was a mean person,
but I was a person

who talked a lot
and joked a lot,

and not everybody liked
to hear jokes, you know.

And that may not have
helped my cause either.

♪

And I came in, I walked
in the dressing room.

And Perfect was sitting
completely at the other end

of the dressing room,
against the wall.

As soon as I walked in,
"Hey, Jacques, Jacques,

let's play cards!"

And he knew he got me
because I'm a card player.

Next thing you know,
it's like, pow!

And, I fell down.
And then I got back up and

then he really punched
me in the face.

Then he ended up
kicking me in the face.

I was swollen up
like the Elephant Man.

♪

Made him look bad in
front of the guys,

to the point where he
told Mr. McMahon...

...after the fact.

Like, he could no longer
shave because

he couldn't look himself
in the mirror.

I was in bad shape,
mentally,

much more than physically.

I didn't want to
do what was coming.

I just knew I had to.

Get revenge.

♪

In the days following Tom's
brutal locker room assault,

Jacques Rougeau anxiously
plans his retaliation.

I had lost 10 pounds
during that week,

since Wednesday to Sunday,

because I
couldn't eat anymore.

I was throwing up
every time.

I think I had to fight.

I... I wasn't sleeping well.

I was afraid of
what was coming.

Jacques was not a tough
street fighter or anything.

He just felt that he needed
to get his respect back.

And you know what
my father said?

"Before going to the
building tomorrow,

go to the bank.

And get yourself a
roll of quarters."

Just hours before a
television taping,

Jacques lies in wait for
Dynamite's arrival

at the arena.

I saw that curtain open.

And I know
Dynamite's coming.

For the first
time in a week,

I looked at him in the eyes.

And I said,
"Hey, how ya doing?"

He had a coffee in
his hand and he went...

And I went...

Pow!

You know when you're young
and you see those

monster movies, where the
blood is throwing out,

like a river? It's true.

4 teeth came out.

And then I remember
Dynamite Kid,

[muffled speaking]
..."I'm gonna fuck you!

I'm gonna fuck you up!"

Then I said, "The next time
I'm gonna put you

in a fucking wheelchair!"

♪

Was it a roll of quarters?
I don't think so.

I think it was a
pair of brass knuckles.

I just didn't think
what Tom had done

deserved getting his
teeth knocked out.

His reputation
had been damaged.

I mean, here you got the guy
that's tougher than nails

get physically
abused like that.

Tommy couldn't handle it.
It bothered Tommy.

You know, he wanted to
beat the shit out of him,

and then some, probably.

Tom's plan for
revenge comes to a halt.

Well, there's Dino!

As Dino Bravo, a wrestler
with alleged ties to

organized crime gives
him a cautionary warning.

Tom bought a 9 mm
handgun with a clip for me.

I was like, "I don't
want that gun."

Like, I was so scared of it.

He goes, "Look, I don't
want to fuckin' scare you.

I talked to Dino Bravo," and
he said he saw an envelope

with Tom's name,
our address,

and inside of it had a
picture of our house,

me and the kids, like,
if there's any retaliation,

like, anything, your family's
gonna be dead.

♪

We sold our house 'cause we
were worried that the mafia,

they knew where we
lived and everything.

Jacques got his
respect back.

Dynamite never was allowed
to get his respect back,

I suppose, you could say.

His life was never the same.
He was never the same guy.

That is funny.

But there's something
I gotta tell you guys.

I forgot about that.
Now you're bringing it back.

♪

I didn't like Dino Bravo,
but I knew he was a stooge.

I knew he was a
stooge for the Bulldogs.

That whatever I
said to him,

he was gonna bring it
back to the Bulldogs.

I took a piece of paper
and I wrote a name down.

I wrote a fictive name...

an invented name.
And I told Dino, I said...

I said, "You see this
name here?

I gotta call him
every night."

And I said, "If I
don't call him one night,

things will be
taken care of."

And I'm glad to
hear that it worked.

♪

Finding out about the mafia
possibly coming to kill

his wife, that really
made him not want to be

a part of that company anymore.

At the 1988 Survivor Series
Pay Per View event,

Tom decides to end
his career in the WWF.

I don't think Dynamite
was ever happy in WWF.

He liked the respect
he had in Japan,

so it was like, we can
cut a deal in Japan,

we can get away
from this thing.

[Japanese commentary]

Tommy was really hurting on
that tour in Japan.

But, you would not have
known it if you were a fan

because he was
still giving 100%.

[cheering]

Yeah, he started to say his,
his arm was "bothering him".

But later I found out
his ligaments

weren't even on the bone.

He got his
shoulder operated on.

It was terrible.

About a week later,
he was upset with me

'cause my girlfriend came
over and he was like,

"You're just fucking
talking to Sandra.

You don't even
fucking care about me."

And I was like,
"Yes, I do, Tom."

He starts going...

He takes his supporting
arm band thing off.

I was like, "Stop it!"
And he's like...

I was like, "Stop it!"

All the shit we've been
through and you're like

trying to set us back
and wreck your arm?

I didn't understand,
like, what the hell?

♪

With countless injuries
from years of self-inflicted

abuse in the ring,
Tom's best days

are now behind him.

Tom was slipping
deeper and deeper,

I'd say,
into pills and drinking.

This one night, he invited me
to come and watch wrestling.

♪

It was hours watching him
and Tiger Mask.

He said, "Watch this.
Took a 'F' of a bump."

[cheering]

Just him and Tiger Mask,
all night long.

[cheering]

That's my last
memory of Tom,

being with him
and watching...

the end of greatness.

[Japanese commentary
& crowd chanting]

Well, after that, he hit
quite a few other people.

You know, he...

they broke a few jaws.

♪

It was New Year's Eve.

It was about 10 o'clock, and
Tom came in with his brother

and couple of friends
that he went out with.

And he had this
white sweatshirt on,

and it was just
full of blood.

And his cheek is like cut,
and it's just the flap,

it's just open.
Like, you see his cheekbone.

And he's got his
sunglasses on.

Like, Bronwyne's crying,
"Daddy, daddy, what happened?"

I remember, I was scared.

I was like, "What
happened to daddy?"

He's like, "I fucking
fell down, little girl.

Daddy's gonna be okay."

Bronwyne never
saw this stuff,

but she was seeing it.
And I was like, oh, my god.

I was feeling
like such a failure,

like as a, as a mother.

And now I'm pregnant and
I'm gonna bring

another child into
this horrible life.

I just couldn't
take it anymore.

And that's when I got,
like, suicidal,

and I'm walking
around going like,

I just can't live another...

fricking minute like this.

♪

And, I finally
deiced that was it.

And I gave Tom a
one-way ticket to England.

And I said, "Tom, I would
like you to leave now.

Take whatever you
need and just go."

And then, that's when
the shit went down.

And my dad dragged my mom by
the hair across the floor.

♪

He lost his mind.
He was like,

he had me in some kind of
hold on my jaw, my mouth.

He let me go
and I was like...

[crack]
I put my jaw back.

The kids were there.

They have never seen
anything like this.

And they were crying.

I'm trying to act like,
you know,

Daddy's having a moment.
It's gonna be fine.

He's gonna leave.

He goes, "No, I think
you should fucking go."

And I was like,
"I'm the one pregnant.

I'm the one with a toddler."
Marek was still in diapers.

You know, all my
stuff is here,

all their clothes are here."

Um...

And he went downstairs
and he got a gun.

♪

And he said, "If you're not
out in 15 fucking minutes,

I'm gonna blow your
fuckin' head off."

♪

And I was like,
"No, you're not."

He was like, "I fucking am."

And my dad then put a
shotgun up to my mom's head.

And I was holding
my little brother,

screaming, "Daddy, no!
Daddy, no!"

They're hysterical.

I'm not though 'cause I'm
like calling his bluff and

I'm like, "No, you're
not blowing my head off.

If you're not gonna leave,
I'm calling the police."

So, I called the
police and, I said,

"My husband's threatening
to blow my head off and

I'm pregnant and I
have children."

And she goes,
"Well, honey,

if he said you could leave,
just leave!"

Oh, god.
I was like, not again.

Like, I didn't want to go
to Bret and Julie's 'cause

I just didn't want to bring
our bullshit over there, again.

But I did. I...

I packed up my
little bags and I left.

She was terrified that

he was gonna come and,

who knows, do what...

to her or any
of us, you know.

His headspace was not good.
Not good at that time.

Michelle's harrowing
experiences would stay

a family secret for years,
until they were eventually

exposed to the world,
forever altering the legacy

of the Dynamite Kid.

♪

In a final act of violence
after holding his wife

at gun point, Tom leaves his
family behind in Calgary and

returns to England.

He moved back to
England in 1991.

My mom was about 8 months,
7 months pregnant with me.

I wanted a girl because I
had the perfect name...

- I had the name Amaris.
- [sneezes]

And it means,
"Gift from God,"

and I believe Amaris
saved my life.

I believe she
saved all our lives.

That kid has been a blessing
since the day she was born.

[cheering]

He just had his
retirement match in Japan.

Now he'd wrote a letter to
Michelle saying

that he was gonna
come to Calgary.

I really believed that Tom
would come and see his baby.

And thank god he
didn't because

in the end,
I think he did the...

you know, like,
he man'd up and let us be.

I think he knew there was
something wrong with him,

like... he wasn't
the same person.

Like, this violence
was out of control.

I don't think he had
control of it anymore.

After he finished wrestling,
he was fighting in garages.

You know, he was
like a, like a dog.

Like a pit bull.

There was just cars parked
in a circle with lights on.

And it was just
bare knuck fights.

And he was doing
those to survive.

I knew you were
gonna ask me that.

And no,
he didn't, because...

that was just Tommy,
you know.

His personal stuff was...

he wouldn't let people in.

He didn't let me in because
he didn't want to show me

any sign of weakness.

It's a macho thing,
I know, but...

you know, you had to
keep that reputation,

you know,
not being a wimp, hm.

[Japanese commentary]

5 years after
his retirement,

Tom returns to Japan
for a comeback match.

The comeback
match was real sad.

He looked like a shell
of the Dynamite Kid.

I think all of us like kind
of willingly suspend that

state of belief in
order to believe in a,

a different reality, that we are
who we're portrayed as being.

And that we are that tough,

and that we are immortal
in some way.

One time he went
to ambalate it

and he just hit the deck.

Went to hospital
and he said,

"What about my
fucking legs?"

And, they told him he
had too much scar tissue.

Too much scar
tissue to operate. So...

♪

You know, guys came
to see him and...

for the most part, he didn't
want anyone to see him.

The greatest wrestler who
changed the business and

everything like that, and
this guy who at times

could be an absolute monster...

and then, the absolute
tragic ending.

Way too young, you know,
in your 40s in a wheelchair.

It's just a sad thing from

being this incredible athlete.

I just, I felt
so sad for him.

Of course,
I still loved him.

I mean, god, you don't
get married and

have children and
not still love him.

Just didn't love
what was going on.

She always talked about him

like he was like
a prince charming.

She never said anything
negative about him.

It was always positive.

And then, the Chris Benoit
documentary came out.

I think I was
about 16 years old.

And, that was the first time
my mom talked about

any kind of abuse in
the relationship.

As part of a media frenzy
spark by the 2007

Chris Benoit tragedies,
a CNN expose airs with focus

on domestic violence
perpetrated by wrestlers.

Michelle is interviewed,
and for the first time ever,

details her stories of abuse
at the hands of Tom Billington.

Michelle says at home the
Kid was out of control.

At one time,
dragging her by the hair,

holding a gun to her face.

He certainly wasn't the
guy you fell in love with.

No.

The night before
her interview,

Michelle reveals to her
children the complicated

truths about their father.

I was just so mad.
I was...

I was mad at my dad for
hurting my mom

because she is like...

the best woman ever.

And I was mad at my mom
because I felt like

she lied to me about
who my dad was.

♪

So, when I found that there
was actually abuse and a gun...

she was pregnant
with me at that time.

That was...

the beginning of a very
dark time in my life.

♪

Despite promising Michelle
he would visit his family,

Tom would never
return to Canada.

When I had my first child,
I finally felt whole.

I thought that she was
everything that

I was looking for.

And eventually, that started
to change again and

I didn't feel whole again.

And, I knew that it was
my dad that I was missing.

She was like,
"Flight's booked. I'm going.

Are you coming with me?"
And I said, "No."

I decided I was just
gonna go see my dad,

without him knowing.

♪

15 years after Tom last
saw his eldest daughter,

Bronwyne travels to England
to pay him a surprise visit.

Walked into the living room,
that's where my dad was

sitting in his wheelchair,
and that was the first time

I'd ever seen him
in a wheelchair.

And I immediately
just broke down crying.

He acted like no time
had passed and he said,

"Why are you crying?"

I said, "'Cause I haven't
seen you in 15 years."

By the third day,
it was just my dad and I,

and I'm sitting on the couch and
my dad's in his wheelchair.

And I was just
looking at him, like,

I want to
be close to him.

So, I took a chair and moved it
and just sat right next to him.

We held hands and
we started crying,

and he said, "I'm sorry."

♪

And that was the only time

he'd ever apologized
for anything.

I knew in that
moment what it meant.

He didn't have to say
anything else and

I just felt it.

And it was a really
beautiful moment that

we shared and, I'm so
happy that I went.

♪

At the end there I
understand that, you know,

he was very sick.

Yeah, I just know it was bad.

Yeah.

I...

♪

I can't.
What do you want me...

sit here and cry?

You know, he was a
great friend and...

Somebody I
cared about a lot.

And, I miss him.

♪

He loved his friends
and he loved his kids.

And, I love the
Dynamite Kid.

I knew it was coming,

but I didn't cry
for like a week.

I was in shock.

I got a call from my mom.

I think I was
consoling her more.

And then, right before
we hung up, she said to me,

"Well, now you know
that he's right beside you."

And I hung up the phone
and I just started...

[sniffles & sighs]

'Cause that's
all I ever wanted,

was for him to be beside me.

The week before, Danny
had tried to talk with him.

And, Danny said, "I love ya."

And, Dynamite said, "Why?"

It, it...

you know, brought home a lot
of memories, when he died,

of what an integral
figure he was in the

history of wrestling
that probably he'll never

get the full credit for
because telling that story

is a, is a sad story,
not a happy story.

♪

You don't have that
happy ending story.

Let it go.
Let my kids heal.

My kids can't heal
with this kind of stuff.

You know, and if you do
talk about the violence,

talk about CTE.

Talk about the
signs of depression.

Don't knock him.

Like, he could 'a came back.

We could have
perpetuated it.

But we ended it,
we did the right thing.

And my kids did better without,
you know, him around.

Even though it pissed me
off that he said,

"I hope my children are so
proud of my body of work,"

and I said, in my head, why,
why don't you be a father?

They don't need a wrestler.

♪

But, now that I'm older,
I understand that

that's what he wanted
to give the kids.

You know, he's largely been
forgotten by the hands of time,

but those who
witnessed him in his prime,

they'll never forget it.

What is this?

Never seen this,
both men on the top!

Oh, my god!

I remember
Bruce Springsteen saying,

"Trust the art,
not the artist."

And, Tommy had a canvas
and he was brilliant.

- They love it!
- [cheering]

The Dynamite Kid!

He's not the first,
nor will he be the last

to suffer for the
sake of his art.

And, there's a sense that a
lot of people who are

great at something are not
necessarily great at all

aspects of their life and
they find solace

in doing what they do.

But they pay for
that brief time.

You become a bigger star
than you ever imagined,

and then you pay for it
every day

for the rest of your life.

♪

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