1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,000 I see people who emulate him. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,560 But in my mind, nobody did it better than Tommy. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:09,040 The Dynamite Kid, baby. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,280 The beginning of the modern wrestler. 5 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,120 My mom told me, "Your dad was the best." 6 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,120 On the top! Oh, my! 7 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,240 What I was most impressed with was how explosive he was. 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:25,240 With extraordinary agility and technical mastery, 9 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,640 Dynamite Kid took the wrestling world by storm. 10 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,680 His need to be the best was fueled by an intense desire 11 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,360 to overcome his stature by pushing his body to dangerous extremes. 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,000 When Tommy found himself in the land of giants, 13 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,640 the way to stand out was to make his style more realistic, 14 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,360 harder hitting, than anybody else's. 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,520 You really got banged up, Dynamite. 16 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,320 It's a dog-eat-dog world. 17 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,520 There's things you can do that will destroy your body. 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,240 And he did. Young. 19 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,120 That's the willingness to sacrifice for your art, 20 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,400 which Tommy took to an extreme. 21 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,640 Debilitating injuries, steroids, and a dependency on painkillers 22 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,960 made Dynamite an increasing threat to himself and those around him. 23 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,600 I'm telling you, he did a complete personality change. 24 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,680 There was a lot of questions about his character. 25 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,920 He probably had the worst case of little man syndrome in history. 26 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,200 We all knew not to push his buttons or we would feel his wrath. 27 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,520 We'll wrestle you. We'll embarrass you, humiliate you. 28 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,720 He really punched me, and kicked me in the face. 29 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,640 -Like a monster. -He did terrible things. To me. 30 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,320 But that was, like, a small chunk of it. 31 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,760 I can't imagine what it was like for her, having a gun at your head. 32 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:50,800 Everybody else who did way worse, they get accolades. Tom doesn't. 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,720 I can still watch his matches and enjoy them. 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,960 But, people still praise him publicly and it's like, I can't do it. 35 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:02,720 He sacrificed his body, his family, everything, for wrestling. 36 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:14,440 The Dynamite Kid's impact? Gigantic. 37 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,920 He left an unbelievable, permanent mark on the business. 38 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,880 And, for the most part, a positive one. 39 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,920 I'm Lance Storm, a pro wrestler for 30 years. 40 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,200 28-year-old Lance Storm! 41 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,800 If you're a fan of wrestling today with the faster pace, higher impact. 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:34,840 that's attributed to Dynamite. 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,080 The Dynamite Kid! 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,160 And all those guys in Stampede, you know, Bret Hart. 45 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,120 Bret Hart, there's your opponent for next week. 46 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,920 Oh, he... They're both over the top! 47 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:47,760 Wrestling and the Stampede, 48 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:50,760 those are the two things that Calgary's famous for. 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:53,920 My name's Michelle Billington. 50 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,160 I was married to the Dynamite Kid. 51 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,960 One day, when my sister Julie and I first came to Calgary, 52 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,960 Julie saw Bret and she was like, "Who's that guy? Oh, my god." 53 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,080 And it was love at first sight, for both of them. 54 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,840 I'm Julie Hart, the former wife of Bret "The Hitman" Hart. 55 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,920 And sister of Michelle Billington. I kinda took Michelle under my wing. 56 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,960 I've always been very protective of her, her whole life. 57 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,040 Julie was more like a mother to me than my mother. 58 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,200 She was my hero. 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,040 I started living with them and, 60 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,920 when I first saw Tom in the ring, it was with Bret. 61 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,280 They were incredible matches. 62 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,120 Tom was like a ping pong ball, flying around. 63 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:37,840 Oh, survivor! 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:39,480 When Tom wasn't wrestling, 65 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,280 he would talk to me, and I would just, like, 66 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,760 surreptitiously, like, "Hey, how's it going? Good match." 67 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,240 And he's like, "Yeah, thank you." 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,280 We went for a walk and it was so romantic. 69 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,720 Like, it was that big fluffy snow that was coming down, 70 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,760 and it was like a blanket of diamonds 71 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,240 and I thought he was so exotic 'cause of his English accent. 72 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,120 So, I had this big 73 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,800 romantic idea of that suave, debonair Englishman. 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,680 I was 18 when he married me. 75 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:14,720 So, let's read this one. 76 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,320 "Michelle, I can tell you a secret now because we're married. 77 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,720 I think that you will believe me. 78 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,200 The next thing on my mind is that we will have some babies." 79 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:26,760 Bronwyne! 80 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,120 "But only when you are ready. 81 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280 I wish that is soon, because when 82 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,560 I'm on the road, the babies can look after you. 83 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:42,600 I love you more than ever. Your ever-loving yard dog, Tom." 84 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,440 And he didn't hold Bronwyne until she could walk. 85 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,120 Like, he didn't pick her up 86 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:52,560 'cause he was so scared to drop her or hurt her. 87 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:55,720 I'm Bronwyne Billington. 88 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,640 Eldest daughter of the Dynamite Kid. 89 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,360 We had a ring in our backyard, so he'd be training his friends 90 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,840 or wrestling with his buddies, and we used to play in there. 91 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,520 I remember being backstage at the shows. 92 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,040 Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. They loved me for some reason. 93 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,800 I just wanted to hang out with them, really. 94 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,640 My dad was a really funny, goofy guy. 95 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,360 This woman is mean. She's lean. 96 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:27,160 She's 205 pounds of fighting fury. 17-inch biceps, 95-inch legs. 97 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,240 She's muscle, steel and sex appeal. 98 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:31,600 He had no teeth at one point. 99 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,760 He had the retainer teeth, and he'd pull them out 100 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:36,720 and do magic tricks on me. 101 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,960 If you look at the pictures with Dad and I, growing up, 102 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,760 he was always holding my hand really tight. 103 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,680 That's a sign of how much he loved his daughter. 104 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,200 When I was younger, my mom would tell me, 105 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,440 "Oh, you're so much like your dad," 106 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:52,520 because I learned how to do flips. 107 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,120 I thought he could fly. Like, I've never seen 108 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:57,040 a wrestler that could do that. 109 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:03,000 I'm Amaris Billington. Dynamite Kid's youngest daughter. 110 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,680 I'm so proud of who he was in his career. 111 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,520 He didn't care if someone said, "You're too small." 112 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,920 He's like, "Watch me." 113 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,320 By the 1980s, The Dynamite Kid 114 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,960 is not only one of Stampede Wrestling's top performers, 115 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:25,360 he's catapulted himself to stardom around the globe. 116 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,520 Some great matches took place in front of small crowds in Japan. 117 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:32,720 My name is Mick Foley. 118 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,320 I wrestled from 1985 through 2000 and made several comebacks. 119 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:39,640 There was a series of moves that he did 120 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,120 with Satoru Sayama, the original Tiger Mask. 121 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,000 And it looked like magic. 122 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:51,040 It wasn't what they did, it was the speed with which they did it. 123 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,400 And the excellence of execution, that was amazing. 124 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,240 I perused that on VHS tape the way that most young men 125 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,360 of my generation perused the Phoebe Cates topless scene 126 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:03,960 in Ridgemont High. 127 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:09,720 I rewound it and slow-motioned it so often that it just, it broke. 128 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,280 Oh, wow! 129 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,080 The in-ring product we see today starts with him and Tiger Mask. 130 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,680 Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer. 131 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,000 I do podcasts at wrestlingobserver.com. 132 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,320 There's no Jushin Liger without Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid. 133 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,760 That opens the door for Guerrero, Benoit, and Hart, 134 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,040 and all of these different guys who came after him. 135 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,600 He had a chip on his shoulder, size-wise. 136 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,080 He wanted to be the best. At his size, you had to over-perform 137 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,240 because it was not what wrestling became years later 138 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:41,800 where size didn't matter. 139 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,640 If you were looking for illusions, Tommy was a bunch of things, 140 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,680 but not a magician. 141 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,640 If it looked like it hurt, it's probably because it did. 142 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,160 It was amazing to see. But in hindsight, 143 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,920 it's like, he just had no regard for his body. 144 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,360 In 1984, the Dynamite Kid's fearlessness in the ring pays off 145 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,920 as he signs with the WWF, joining cousin Davey Boy Smith, 146 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,320 brother-in-law Bret Hart, and Jim "The Anvil" Niedhart. 147 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,120 To compete at the top, 148 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,800 Tom continues to push the limits of his body. 149 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:26,960 Tom's physical changes came once he went to WWE. 150 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,680 You know, he'd been doing a lot of steroids at the time. 151 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,960 The Dynamite Kid! 152 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,960 Physically, describe Tommy as one big muscle. 153 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,520 He was like Mighty Mouse. This guy had striations in his butt. 154 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:44,240 Muscles just ripping out of his ass. 155 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,720 The guy was nothing but a pure muscle. 156 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,120 The name is Dan Spivey. I'm a friend of Dynamite Kid's. 157 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,120 Danny Spivey, of course... 158 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,160 People will pay to see a bunch of muscular guys beat on each other. 159 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,000 Oh, yeah, we talked about steroids and did steroids, you know. 160 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,040 Everybody was taking them. 161 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:09,600 My name's Gary Portz. I came over to America and started wrestling, 1978. 162 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,040 And I met Dynamite Kid. 163 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,520 Scott McGee! Here he comes. 164 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:19,800 We got along, Danny, myself, and Dynamite. 165 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,360 Every day was Christmas. Every day was like a party. 166 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,520 People would come to one room and give each other shots and stuff, 167 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:31,680 and throw the needles into the wall, like a dartboard. And leave 'em. 168 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,640 Me and Danny, one time we woke up, 169 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:41,760 I looked at a wall and there must have been 10 needles stuck in it. 170 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:46,560 I mean, who does that? Dumbass wrestlers, you know. 171 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,560 With his new muscular physique, 172 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,320 Dynamite's explosiveness in the ring makes him a breakout star at WWF. 173 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,480 By 1985, he and his tag partner Davey Boy Smith 174 00:09:57,640 --> 00:09:59,640 are packing arenas nationwide. 175 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,160 Here are the British Bulldogs! 176 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:04,920 Davey was his cousin, 177 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,680 who, in many ways, emulated him. Same look. 178 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,760 People went crazy because... because they were great. 179 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,760 Davey Boy and Dynamite! 180 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,280 A much harder, faster style than almost everybody else there. 181 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,040 We all wanted to be the Bulldogs. They were gods of wrestling. 182 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,640 I remember Dynamite doing that fast suplex. 183 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:27,480 Snap suplex! 184 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,840 Like, boom, you were gone. Boy, before you knew it. 185 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:32,520 My name is Jacques Rougeau. 186 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,160 For 41 years, I was a professional wrestler. 187 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,880 I was the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers with my bro. 188 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:40,040 Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. 189 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,160 The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. 190 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,400 I remember Dynamite Kid walking in the dressing room 191 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:47,840 with a needle in his butt. 192 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,480 Needle's going like this, and he'd go, 193 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,880 "I'm gonna have a good fucking match!" 194 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:58,600 And you know, he was like a beast. And so, I was afraid of him. 195 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,880 I was afraid of those kind of guys. 196 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:02,360 Look out! 197 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,080 After years of self-sacrifice and physical strain, 198 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:10,720 Tom earns a championship victory with Davey Boy at WrestleMania II. 199 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,960 Tag team champions! The British Bulldogs! 200 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:16,880 At the top of the pecking order, 201 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,040 Tom is hell-bent on putting up and coming wrestlers 202 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,840 through the same hard knocks he was once forced to endure. 203 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,320 He was a product of Wigan's Snake Pit. 204 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,400 Guys who knew how to hurt you. 205 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,720 And, I don't know but I'm assuming, 206 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:34,440 Tommy took a beating. 207 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:39,240 And I think it created in him a resiliency, and also, maybe, 208 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,760 a bit of bitterness to people who hadn't endured what he had 209 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,680 to make it through. And I found that out firsthand. 210 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:48,760 From Bloomington, Indiana... 211 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,520 I showed up in Providence with all of one match to my credit. 212 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:55,120 Jack Foley! 213 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,240 Me and Les against The British Bulldogs. 214 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,880 I was excited. I'm in the ring with, you know, one of my heroes, Tommy. 215 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:06,640 Tremendous affection! 216 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:09,840 I came in and I got a very, very quick education. 217 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,560 Dynamite shook the ropes like he couldn't wait to get in. 218 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,800 And when he was tagged in, he sent me into the ropes, 219 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:23,520 and he didn't so much clothesline me as club me with his bicep. 220 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:25,440 Oh, wow! 221 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:30,360 And that was the last time I ate solid food for three weeks. 222 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,480 I didn't know it, but he had dislocated my jaw. 223 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,760 Almost lost my career because of that. 224 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:39,560 No hard feelings. 225 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,040 I said, "It was such an honor." 226 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,040 Shook their hands, 227 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,800 went back to my hotel room and threw up. 228 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:52,000 Tom's appetite for violence soon spreads into the locker room, 229 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,840 and eventually, into his home life, 230 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,760 setting off events that shatter his career, 231 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,400 his marriage, and ultimately, his legacy. 232 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,600 So, this is the matching cape and vest 233 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:11,800 my dad wore in WWF in the British Bulldogs tag team. 234 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,360 It has his name on the inside. Well, it says, "Kid". 235 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,960 These were the original Bulldogs from when I was little. 236 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,240 -I played Barbies with those. -These were our Ken dolls. 237 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:26,520 From England, The British Bulldogs! 238 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:31,760 I really loved the Bulldogs. But I saw a few things happen that... 239 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,520 Changed my opinion. 240 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:41,720 He was a ribber. He gave people a hard time, you know, jokingly. 241 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,200 Some people wouldn't think it was jokingly. 242 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,440 Some of the stuff was pretty stiff. 243 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,360 He used to love to Halcion people. 244 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:53,160 One time, he Halcion'd on my mother. 245 00:13:55,120 --> 00:14:00,560 Put a sleeping drug in their drinks. There was a guy called Mitch. 246 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,200 Snow. 247 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,120 Our first look at Mitch Snow. 248 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,080 And the kid had a big mouth. He'd just talk shit. 249 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,880 So, Tommy gave him the Halcion gimmick. 250 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,600 Dynamite and Davey Boy went on the balcony... 251 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,000 to get into his room. 252 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,080 And they crapped in his bag. 253 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,080 Shaved his eyebrows. They shaved his head. 254 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,360 The kid went back to his home in South Carolina somewhere, 255 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,160 in fear of his life. 256 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,000 I think he almost had a nervous breakdown. 257 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,040 It's supposed to be a joke and it's supposed to make people laugh. 258 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,840 It's funny now, but not when you're 23 days on the road. 259 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,160 When you lost your bags that week. 260 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,480 When you haven't seen your kid in weeks. 261 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,160 It's not funny, or easy. 262 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,640 He wasn't like that when I started going out with him. 263 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,120 Or in our first five years in our marriage. 264 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,560 There was none of that sadistic behavior. 265 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,720 It started happening after his back operation. 266 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,400 During a non-televised match in 1986, 267 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,240 Dynamite does a seemingly harmless drop down. 268 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:14,880 After years of being pushed past its limits, 269 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,320 Dynamite's body finally breaks down. 270 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,320 Tom is rushed to the hospital with a severe back injury 271 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,360 requiring immediate emergency surgery. 272 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,600 When they opened him, his fourth and fifth lumbar was shredded. 273 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,200 And his discs were all tangled in his spinal cord. 274 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,120 -So they removed the discs, right? -Two discs. 275 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:41,040 He wasn't supposed to work anymore, you know, after the surgery. 276 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,680 And he was back in the ring two weeks later. 277 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,640 Vince needed to take the titles off of him. He could not wrestle. 278 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,040 Davey carried him to the ring, off-camera. 279 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,240 The television audience never saw this. 280 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,600 I think he gets hit by the megaphone, taken out right away. 281 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,560 Jimmy Hart on the other side, 282 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:02,840 just striking Dynamite Kid from behind! 283 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000 Davey worked the belts off of 'em. 284 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,000 -No, no, no! -One, two, three! 285 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,600 New tag team champions! 286 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,840 He got carried back to my car. 287 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,200 At my house, he went in the wheelchair 288 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,000 and stayed with me for a couple of days. 289 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:23,920 He'd sleep on the floor, not because I had no bed, 290 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,800 but because that was the most comfortable place for him. 291 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:33,880 My wife used to hear him crying, crying, in the middle of the night. 292 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,720 It was like a, a whimper. 293 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,480 I can't imagine how much pain he was in. 294 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,200 Contrary to doctor's orders, 295 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,440 Dynamite rushes a return to the ring just months after the surgery. 296 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:53,520 Wrestling in agony, his temper begins to spiral out of control, 297 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,480 creating chaos at home. 298 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,120 When times were good with Michelle and Tom, that was good. 299 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,560 But did you ever see times when they were bad between them? 300 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:12,440 Yeah. I seen it. 301 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,280 One night, he took me out to show me a nice time. 302 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,360 I didn't want to drink, so instead of saying, "I'm not drinking," 303 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,880 because that would have been like a diss, 304 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:28,560 I ordered a tonic water and put lemon in it like it was a vodka tonic. 305 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,320 He grabbed it, drank it, 306 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,120 and he just spit it out, as if it was poison. 307 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,280 "What the fuck is this?" I was like, "Tonic water." 308 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,920 And he was like, "Tonic water! You're drinking tonic water?" 309 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,560 He just wouldn't let it go. Like, he was so mad. 310 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,040 And all the way home, he was playing chicken on the road. 311 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,680 A car would be coming and he'd act like he's gonna hit the car. 312 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:53,200 "How could you lie to me?" And I was like, 313 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,280 "I just didn't want to drink? What's the big deal?" 314 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,240 When we got home, I'm about to go to sleep and he's like, 315 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,000 "Fucking get up!" And I was like, "What, what?" 316 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,840 He's like, "Get up, get up!" 317 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,560 Then he shoved me in a closet. 318 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,600 "You fucking stay in there, you little yard dog." 319 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,080 I just, I slept on the floor in there. 320 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,600 And I was glad he wasn't bugging me. Like, "I'll sleep in the closet." 321 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:28,040 Anyway, I find out I'm pregnant with our son. 322 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:33,120 So, after Marek was born, he was, you know, going to great lengths 323 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,880 for what he did in the closet incident. 324 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:41,680 And Marek was such a difficult child. Like, he was really high maintenance. 325 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,560 But Tom was so patient. 326 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:48,280 I think he really wanted to make up for that with Marek. 327 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,120 But that didn't last. 328 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,960 Dynamite Kid's home and work life have become increasingly volatile. 329 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:57,720 After being forced to surrender the championship, 330 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:02,440 Tom vents his rage on another rising tag team in the WWF. 331 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,680 Vince called the Bulldogs and Rougeaus. 332 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,800 "Guys, I'd like to go ahead and have a great match with you 333 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,280 and I'd like to have a 20-minute Broadway." 334 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,840 The time event has expired. This contest is ruled a draw. 335 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,120 It was a draw. So, for me, that was a victory. 336 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,960 As if we were in their league, which we were not. 337 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,400 After that match, I was so happy and everything was good, 338 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,640 and I never thought I'd encounter problems with the Bulldogs. 339 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,840 Can you just tell us 340 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,680 what your understanding of the incident was? 341 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:42,120 The Rougeau thing? I'm tired of it. I don't want to hear about it. 342 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,920 Like, is that the only thing that ever happened to him? 343 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,320 When the Rougeaus came to WWF, 344 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,560 they had this prestige right away. Tom had the old school way. 345 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,600 You earn your right to have privilege. 346 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:01,480 I've always had an arrogance in me that made me succeed. 347 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,320 Never was a mean person, but I talked and joked a lot, 348 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,120 and not everybody liked to hear jokes, you know? 349 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,440 And that may not have helped my cause. 350 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,440 I walked in the dressing room. 351 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,400 Perfect was sitting at the other end of the room, 352 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,880 against the wall. 353 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,720 As soon as I walked in, "Hey, let's play cards!" 354 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,400 And he knew he got me because I'm a card player. 355 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,320 Next thing you know, it's like, pow! 356 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,480 And I fell down. 357 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,600 I got back up and then he really punched me in the face. 358 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,000 Then he kicked me in the face. 359 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,760 I looked like the Elephant Man. 360 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,800 Made him look bad in front of the guys. He told Mr. McMahon 361 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,560 after the fact. Like, he could no longer shave 362 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,960 because he couldn't look at himself. 363 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,000 I was in bad shape, mentally more than physically. 364 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,160 I didn't want to do what was coming. I knew I had to. 365 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:09,960 -What do you mean? -Get revenge. 366 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:14,120 In the days following Tom's brutal locker room assault, 367 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,520 Jacques Rougeau anxiously plans his retaliation. 368 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,640 I lost 10 pounds during that week, 369 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,080 Wednesday to Sunday. I couldn't eat. 370 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,680 I was throwing up every time I had to fight. 371 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,840 I wasn't sleeping well. I was afraid of what was coming. 372 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,360 Jacques was not a tough street fighter or anything. 373 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,680 He just felt that he needed to get his respect back. 374 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,400 Know what my father said? 375 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,520 "Before going to the building tomorrow, go to the bank. 376 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,400 And get yourself a roll of quarters." 377 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,400 Just hours before a television taping, 378 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,480 Jacques lies in wait for Dynamite's arrival at the arena. 379 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:54,480 I saw that curtain open. 380 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,240 I know Dynamite's coming. 381 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,320 For the first time in a week, I looked at him. 382 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,480 And I said, "Hey, how ya doing?" 383 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,920 He had a coffee in his hand and he went... 384 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,600 And I went. 385 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,760 When you're young and you see monster movies, 386 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:23,080 where the blood is throwing out, like a river? It's true. 387 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,240 Four teeth came out. 388 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,520 And then I remember Dynamite Kid, 389 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,280 "I'm gonna fuck you! I'm gonna fuck you up!" 390 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,800 Then I said, "The next time I'm gonna put you in a fucking wheelchair!" 391 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,200 Was it a roll of quarters? Don't think so. 392 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:50,520 I think it was a pair of brass knuckles. 393 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,960 I just didn't think what Tom had done 394 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:56,960 deserved getting his teeth knocked out. 395 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,120 Tommy couldn't handle it. It bothered Tommy. 396 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:01,880 His reputation was damaged. 397 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,480 I mean, the guy that's tougher than nails 398 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,120 get physically abused like that. 399 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:12,480 He wanted to beat the shit out of him, and then some, probably. 400 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,640 Tom's plan for revenge comes to a halt. 401 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,520 Well, there's Dino! 402 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,240 As Dino Bravo, a wrestler with alleged ties to organized crime 403 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,200 gives him a cautionary warning. 404 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,840 Tom bought a 9mm handgun with a clip for me. 405 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,520 I was like, "I don't want that gun." Like, I was so scared of it. 406 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,880 He goes, "I don't want to scare you. 407 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:40,360 I talked to Dino Bravo." He said he saw an envelope with Tom's name, 408 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,640 our address, and inside of it had a picture of our house, 409 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,880 me and the kids, like, "If there's any retaliation, 410 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,880 like, anything, your family's gonna be dead." 411 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,880 We sold our house 'cause we were worried that the mafia, 412 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,520 they knew where we lived and everything. 413 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,440 Jacques got his respect back. 414 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,360 Dynamite never was allowed to get his respect back, I suppose. 415 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:12,120 His life was never the same. He was never the same guy. 416 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,440 Dynamite's ex-wife says 417 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,000 Dynamite didn't get revenge because they feared the mob. 418 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:22,280 Is this... have you heard this before? Is that true? 419 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,640 That is funny. But there's something I gotta tell you guys. 420 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,720 I forgot about that. Now you're bringing it back. 421 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,480 I didn't like Dino Bravo, but I knew he was a stooge. 422 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,360 A stooge for the Bulldogs. 423 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,680 That whatever I said to him, he'd bring to them. 424 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,120 I took a piece of paper and I wrote a name down. 425 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,760 I wrote a fictive name, an invented name. 426 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,080 And I told Dino, I said, 427 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,400 "You see this name here? I gotta call him every night. 428 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:58,680 If I don't call him one night, things will be taken care of." 429 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,400 And I'm glad to hear that it worked. 430 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,320 Finding out about the mafia possibly coming to kill his wife, 431 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,800 that really made him not want to be a part of that company anymore. 432 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,840 At the 1988 Survivor Series Pay Per View event, 433 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,960 Tom decides to end his career in the WWF. 434 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,600 Don't think Dynamite was ever happy in WWF. 435 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,240 He liked the respect in Japan, so it was like, 436 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,880 we can cut a deal there, get away from this. 437 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,160 Tommy was really hurting on that tour in Japan. 438 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:39,680 But you'd never have known, 439 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:42,640 because he was still giving 100 percent. 440 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,280 Yeah, he started to say his, his arm was "bothering him". 441 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:54,520 But later I found out his ligaments weren't even on the bone. 442 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,920 He got his shoulder operated on. It was terrible. 443 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,760 About a week later, 444 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,680 he was upset with me 'cause my girlfriend came over and he was like, 445 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,920 "You're just talking to Sandra. You don't care about me." 446 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:10,880 And I was like, "Yes, I do, Tom." 447 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,560 He starts going... 448 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,400 He takes his supporting arm band thing off. 449 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,800 I was like, "Stop it!" He's like... I was like, "Stop it! 450 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,160 All the shit we've been through and you're like 451 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,600 trying to set us back and wreck your arm?" 452 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,320 I didn't understand, like, what the hell? 453 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:43,200 With countless injuries from years of self-inflicted abuse in the ring, 454 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,800 Tom's best days are now behind him. 455 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:51,560 Tom was slipping deeper and deeper, I'd say, into pills and drinking. 456 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,040 This one night, he invited me to come and watch wrestling. 457 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,000 It was hours watching him and Tiger Mask. 458 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,600 He said, "Watch this. Took a 'F' of a bump." 459 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,360 Just him and Tiger Mask, all night long. 460 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:16,480 That's my last memory of Tom, being with him and watching... 461 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:20,680 the end of greatness. 462 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,680 Do you think, after the incident, 463 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,800 something changed emotionally for Tom? 464 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,400 Well, after that, he hit quite a few other people. 465 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,080 He... They broke a few jaws. 466 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:42,920 It was New Year's Eve. 467 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,120 It was about 10 o'clock, and Tom came in with his brother 468 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,080 and a couple of friends that he went out with. 469 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:55,160 And he had this white sweatshirt on, and it was just full of blood. 470 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,120 And his cheek is cut, and it's just the flap, it's open. 471 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:00,760 You see his cheekbone. 472 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,720 And he's got his sunglasses on. 473 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,720 Like, Bronwyne's crying, "Daddy, what happened?" 474 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,480 I was scared. "What happened to Daddy?" 475 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:14,960 He's like, "I fucking fell down, little girl. Daddy's gonna be okay." 476 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:18,680 Bronwyne never saw this stuff, but she was seeing it. 477 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,360 And I was like, oh, my God. 478 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,920 I felt like such a failure, as a mother. 479 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:26,920 Now I'm pregnant, bringing another child into this horrible life. 480 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:28,800 I couldn't take it anymore. 481 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,160 And that's when I got, like, suicidal, 482 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,720 and I'm walking around going like, I just can't live another 483 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,160 fricking minute like this. 484 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:44,360 And I finally decided that was it. 485 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,240 And I gave Tom a one-way ticket to England. 486 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,400 And I said, "Tom, I would like you to leave now. 487 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,600 Take whatever you need and just go." 488 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,840 And that's when the shit went down. 489 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,120 And my dad dragged my mom by the hair across the floor. 490 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,400 He lost his mind. 491 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,440 He had me in some kind of hold on my jaw, my mouth. 492 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,720 He let me go and I was like... I put my jaw back. 493 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,360 The kids had never seen anything like this. 494 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,800 And they were crying. I go, "Daddy's having a moment. 495 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,520 It'll be fine. He'll leave." 496 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,480 He goes, "No, I think you should fucking go." And I was like, 497 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:37,880 "I'm the one pregnant. The one with a toddler." Marek was still in diapers. 498 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:41,680 "You know, all my stuff is here, all their clothes are here." 499 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,720 And he went downstairs and he got a gun. 500 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,400 And he said, "If you're not out in 15 fucking minutes, 501 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,480 I'll blow your fuckin' head off." 502 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,880 And I was like, "No, you won't." 503 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:08,960 He was like, "I fucking will." 504 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:13,520 And my dad then put a shotgun up to my mom's head. 505 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,760 And I was holding my little brother, screaming, "Daddy, no! Daddy, no!" 506 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:22,960 They're hysterical. I'm not, 'cause I'm calling his bluff. 507 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:24,880 "You're not blowing my head off. 508 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,000 Leave or I'll call the police." So, I called them. 509 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,120 "My husband's threatening to blow my head off 510 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,880 and I'm pregnant and I have children." 511 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:38,680 She goes, "Well, honey, if he said you could leave, just leave!" 512 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,360 Oh, God. I was like, "not again." 513 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,680 I didn't want to go to Bret and Julie's. 514 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:49,320 I didn't want to bring our bullshit over there, again. 515 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:53,440 But I did. I packed up my little bags and I left. 516 00:30:54,640 --> 00:31:00,040 She was terrified that he was gonna come 517 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:05,240 and, who knows, do what, to her or any of us, you know. 518 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:10,800 His headspace was not good. Not good at that time. 519 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,440 Michelle's harrowing experiences would stay a secret for years, 520 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,200 until they were eventually exposed to the world, 521 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,400 forever altering the legacy of the Dynamite Kid. 522 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,080 In a final act of violence after holding his wife at gunpoint, 523 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,880 Tom leaves his family behind in Calgary and returns to England. 524 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,640 He moved back to England in 1991. 525 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:37,080 My mom was about eight months, seven months pregnant with me. 526 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,720 I wanted a girl because I had the perfect name. 527 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:45,240 I had the name Amaris. And it means, "Gift from God," 528 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,040 and I believe Amaris saved my life. 529 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,880 I believe she saved all our lives. 530 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:57,400 That kid has been a blessing since the day she was born. 531 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,680 He just had his retirement match in Japan. 532 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,000 Now he'd wrote a letter to Michelle 533 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:13,560 saying that he was gonna come to Calgary. 534 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,440 I really believed that Tom would come and see his baby. 535 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,560 And thank god he didn't, because in the end, I think he did the, 536 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:25,080 like, he manned up and let us be. 537 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,040 I think he knew there was something wrong with him, like, 538 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,480 he wasn't the same person. This violence was out of control. 539 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,720 I don't think he had control of it anymore. 540 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,720 After he finished wrestling, he was fighting in garages. 541 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,960 You know, he was like a, like a dog. Like a pit bull. 542 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,080 There was cars parked in a circle with lights on. 543 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:49,960 And it was bare knuck fights. 544 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,440 And he was doing those to survive. 545 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,280 Did he talk about his family? 546 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:56,880 I knew you'd ask that. 547 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,800 He didn't, because that was Tommy, you know? 548 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,400 He wouldn't let people in. 549 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:08,000 He didn't let me in. He didn't want to show me any sign of weakness. 550 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,800 It's a macho thing, I know, but, you know, 551 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:15,600 you had to keep that reputation, you know, not being a wimp. 552 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:25,480 Years after retirement, Tom returns to Japan for a comeback match. 553 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,760 The comeback match was real sad. 554 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:37,280 I think all of us willingly suspend that state of belief 555 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,840 to believe in a different reality, 556 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,080 that we are who we're portrayed as being. 557 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,680 And that we are that tough, and we are immortal in some way. 558 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:54,240 One time, he went to ambulate and he just hit the deck. 559 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:58,680 Went to hospital and he said, "What about my fucking legs?" 560 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:04,120 And they told him he had too much scar tissue. 561 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:08,960 Too much scar tissue to operate. So... 562 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,480 You know, guys came to see him and he didn't want them to. 563 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:20,160 The greatest wrestler, who changed the business, 564 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,320 and this guy who could be an absolute monster, 565 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:25,640 and then, the absolute tragic ending. 566 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,680 Way too young, you know, in your 40s in a wheelchair. 567 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:35,520 It's just a sad thing from being this incredible athlete. 568 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:40,520 I just, I felt so sad for him. Of course, I still loved him. 569 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:45,800 I mean, God, you don't get married and have kids and not still love him. 570 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,800 Just didn't love what was going on. 571 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,800 She always talked about him like he was like a prince charming. 572 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:56,960 She never said anything negative. 573 00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,480 It was always positive. 574 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,400 And then, the Chris Benoit documentary came out. 575 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,320 I was about 16 years old. 576 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,280 And, that was the first time my mom talked about 577 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,240 any kind of abuse in the relationship. 578 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:17,480 As part of a media frenzy sparked by the 2007 Chris Benoit tragedies, 579 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:22,640 a CNN exposé airs on domestic violence perpetrated by wrestlers. 580 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,280 Michelle is interviewed, and for the first time ever, 581 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,840 details her stories of abuse at the hands of Tom Billington. 582 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,000 Michelle says at home, the Kid was out of control. 583 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:38,680 At one time, dragging her by the hair, holding a gun to her face. 584 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,160 -He wasn't the guy you loved. -No. 585 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,320 The night before her interview, 586 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:49,280 Michelle tells her children the complex truth about their father. 587 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:52,280 I was just so mad. 588 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:56,560 I was, I was mad at my dad 589 00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:03,440 for hurting my mom, because she is... the best woman ever. 590 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,640 And I was mad at Mom because I felt like she lied to me 591 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,600 about who my dad was. 592 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,960 So, when I found that there was actually abuse and a gun, 593 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,280 she was pregnant with me at that time. 594 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:25,160 That was the beginning of a very dark time in my life. 595 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,520 Despite promising Michelle he would visit his family, 596 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,800 Tom would never return to Canada. 597 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,440 When I had my first child, I finally felt whole. 598 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,480 I thought she was everything that I was looking for. 599 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:47,240 Eventually, that started to change again and I didn't feel whole again. 600 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,640 And I knew that it was my dad that I was missing. 601 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:55,120 She went, "Flight's booked. I'm off. Are you coming with me?" 602 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:57,000 And I said, "No." 603 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,360 I decided I was gonna go see my dad, without him knowing. 604 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:06,480 Fifteen years after Tom last saw his eldest daughter, 605 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,520 Bronwyne travels to England to pay him a surprise visit. 606 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,720 Entered the living room, my dad was in his wheelchair. 607 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,240 The first time I'd ever seen him in it. 608 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:19,320 And I immediately broke down crying. 609 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,240 He was like no time had passed. "Why are you crying?" 610 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:27,000 I said, "'Cause I haven't seen you in 15 years." 611 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,280 By the third day, it was just my dad and I. 612 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,760 I'm on the couch, he's in his wheelchair. 613 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,680 And I wanted to be close to him. 614 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:39,840 So, I took a chair and moved it and just sat right next to him. 615 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,080 We held hands and we cried, and he said, "I'm sorry." 616 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:51,280 And that was the only time he'd ever apologized for anything. 617 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:54,720 I knew in that moment what it meant. 618 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,080 He didn't have to say anything else and I just felt it. 619 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:04,080 We shared a beautiful moment, and I'm so happy that I went. 620 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:10,120 At the end, I understand that, you know, he was very sick. 621 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:15,440 -He had a stroke too, right? -Yeah, I just know it was bad. 622 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:18,840 Do you remember when you heard the news that he had passed? 623 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,280 -Yeah. -Tell me that story. 624 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:35,160 I can't. What do you want me... Sit here and cry? 625 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,640 You know, he was a great friend, and... 626 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:46,640 Somebody I cared about a lot. And I miss him. 627 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:52,320 He loved his friends and he loved his kids. 628 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,320 And I love the Dynamite Kid. 629 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:02,240 I knew it was coming, but I didn't cry for like a week. 630 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,680 I was in shock. I got a call from my mom. 631 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,920 I think I was consoling her more. 632 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,240 And then, right before we hung up, she said to me, 633 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:15,840 "Well, now you know that he's right beside you." 634 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,480 And I hung up the phone and I just started... 635 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:29,360 'Cause that's all I ever wanted, was for him to be beside me. 636 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:35,040 The week before, Danny had tried to talk with him. 637 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,840 And, Danny said, "I love ya." 638 00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:45,120 And Dynamite said, "Why?" 639 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:50,280 It brought home a lot of memories, when he died, 640 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,920 of what an integral figure he was in wrestling, that probably 641 00:39:54,080 --> 00:40:00,600 he'll never get the full credit for, because telling that story is a, 642 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,400 is a sad story, not a happy story. 643 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,000 You don't have that happy ending story. 644 00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:15,800 Let it go. Let my kids heal. They can't heal with this stuff. 645 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,040 And if you talk about the violence, talk about the CTE, 646 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:23,520 talk about the signs of depression. Don't knock him. 647 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,000 Like, he coulda' came back. 648 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:30,120 We could have perpetuated it. But we ended it, did the right thing. 649 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:34,800 And my kids did better without, you know, him around. 650 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,560 Even though it pissed me off that he said, 651 00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:40,400 "I hope my children are so proud of my work," 652 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,880 and I said, in my head, "Why don't you be a father? 653 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,640 They don't need a wrestler." 654 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:53,480 But now I'm older, I understand that's what he wanted to give them. 655 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,600 He's largely been forgotten by time, 656 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:04,400 but those who saw him in his prime, they'll never forget it. 657 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,120 Never seen this, both men on the top! 658 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,880 Bruce Springsteen said, "Trust the art, not the artist." 659 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,960 Tommy had a canvas, and he was brilliant. 660 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:20,040 They love it! The Dynamite Kid! 661 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:23,640 He's not the first or the last to suffer for his art. 662 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,680 There's a sense that a lot of people who are great at something 663 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,480 are not great at all aspects of their life 664 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,920 and they find solace in doing what they do. 665 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,040 But they pay for that brief time. 666 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,640 You become a bigger star than you imagined, 667 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:43,480 and then you pay for it every day for the rest of your life. 668 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:47,640 Subtitles translated by: Paul lyuno-SDI Group