1 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,220 I see people who emulate him. 2 00:00:09,940 --> 00:00:15,440 But in my mind, nobody did it better than Tommy. He was the beginning of the 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:16,440 modern style of pro wrestling. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,780 My mom told me all the time, your dad was the best. 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,240 What I was most impressed with was how explosive he was. 6 00:00:27,860 --> 00:00:33,280 With extraordinary agility and technical mastery, the Dynamite Kid took the 7 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:34,540 wrestling world by storm. 8 00:00:35,260 --> 00:00:40,280 His need to be the best was fueled by an intense desire to overcome his small 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,620 stature by pushing his body to dangerous extremes. 10 00:00:44,100 --> 00:00:48,460 When Tommy found himself in the land of giants, the way to stand out was to make 11 00:00:48,460 --> 00:00:54,120 his style more realistic, harder -hitting than anybody else's. You really 12 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,440 banged up, Dinobot. What goes around comes around. It's a dog -eat -dog 13 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:02,380 There's things that you can do that are going to destroy your body. And he did. 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:03,440 He destroyed his body young. 15 00:01:03,850 --> 00:01:07,490 And that's the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of your art, which Tommy 16 00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:08,690 took to an extreme. 17 00:01:09,890 --> 00:01:14,970 Debilitating injuries, steroid abuse, and a dependency on painkillers made 18 00:01:14,970 --> 00:01:19,070 Dynamite an increasing threat to himself and those around him. 19 00:01:19,270 --> 00:01:22,690 I'm telling you, he had a complete personality change. 20 00:01:22,990 --> 00:01:25,830 Outside the ring, there was a lot of questions about his character. 21 00:01:26,150 --> 00:01:29,830 I think he probably had the worst case of little man syndrome in the history of 22 00:01:29,830 --> 00:01:33,470 the world. Everybody knew not to push his button because... 23 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:34,800 You would feel his wrath. 24 00:01:35,340 --> 00:01:42,280 He really punched me and I ended up kicking in the face for like a 25 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:48,060 month. It was terrible things that he did to me. But that was like a small 26 00:01:48,060 --> 00:01:48,639 of it. 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,680 And I can't imagine what it would have been like for her having a gun hit your 28 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:59,320 head. Everybody else who did way worse, they get their accolades and... 29 00:01:59,630 --> 00:02:04,190 Tom doesn't. I still have the ability to watch his matches and enjoy them, but 30 00:02:04,190 --> 00:02:07,790 people still praise him publicly, and it's like I can't do it. 31 00:02:08,009 --> 00:02:12,330 He has sacrificed his body, his family, everything for wrestling. 32 00:02:21,910 --> 00:02:23,350 The Dynamite Kid's impact? 33 00:02:24,530 --> 00:02:28,910 Gigantic. I think he left in a... unbelievable permanent mark on the 34 00:02:28,910 --> 00:02:31,550 and for the most part a positive one on the business. 35 00:02:32,710 --> 00:02:35,790 I'm Lance Storm, professional wrestler for 30 years. 36 00:02:36,010 --> 00:02:42,870 I think if you're a fan of wrestling today with the faster pace, 37 00:02:42,930 --> 00:02:46,470 higher impact, I think that's attributed to Dynamite. 38 00:02:47,930 --> 00:02:51,830 And all of those guys in Stampede, you know, Bret Hart. 39 00:02:52,850 --> 00:02:54,890 There's your opponent for next week. 40 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,380 Oh, they're both over the top. 41 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,540 Stampede wrestling and the Calgary Stampede, those are the two things that 42 00:03:01,540 --> 00:03:02,880 Calgary's famous for. 43 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:05,800 My name's Michelle Billington. 44 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,240 I used to be married to the Dynamite Kid. 45 00:03:08,740 --> 00:03:14,060 One day when my sister Julie and I first came to Calgary, Julie saw Brett, and 46 00:03:14,060 --> 00:03:15,680 she was like, who's that guy? 47 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:16,819 Oh, my God. 48 00:03:16,820 --> 00:03:19,840 And it was love at first sight for both of them. 49 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,760 I'm Julie Hart. I'm the former wife of Brett the Hitman Hart and the sister of 50 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:27,760 Michelle Billington. 51 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,420 I kind of took Michelle under my wing. I've always been very protective of her 52 00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:34,420 our whole life. 53 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:39,180 Julie was more like a mother to me than my mother. She was like my hero. 54 00:03:39,460 --> 00:03:44,160 And I started living with them, and when I first saw Tom in the ring, it was 55 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:45,160 with Brett. 56 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,080 They were incredible matches, and Tom was like a ping -pong ball. 57 00:03:49,550 --> 00:03:54,990 flying around the ring so then when tom wasn't wrestling he would stand behind 58 00:03:54,990 --> 00:03:59,830 me and talk to me and i would just like surreptitiously like hey how's it going 59 00:03:59,830 --> 00:04:06,730 good match and he's like thank you thank you so we went for a walk and it was so 60 00:04:06,730 --> 00:04:11,550 romantic like the it was that big fluffy snow that was coming down and it was 61 00:04:11,550 --> 00:04:16,089 like a blanket of diamonds and i just thought he was so exotic because he had 62 00:04:16,089 --> 00:04:18,670 that english accent so i had this big 63 00:04:20,439 --> 00:04:24,120 romantic idea of that suave debonair Englishman. 64 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,120 I was 18 when you married me. 65 00:04:28,100 --> 00:04:29,540 So let's read this one. 66 00:04:30,580 --> 00:04:35,140 Michelle, I can tell you this little secret now because we're married. I 67 00:04:35,140 --> 00:04:40,760 that you will believe me. And the next thing on my mind is that we will have 68 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:41,639 some babies. 69 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:46,060 But only when you are ready. 70 00:04:47,790 --> 00:04:52,810 That is soon, because when I'm on the road, the babies can look after you. 71 00:04:53,270 --> 00:04:57,910 All for now, I love you more than ever, your ever -loving yard dog, Tom. 72 00:05:01,190 --> 00:05:04,290 And he didn't hold Bronwyn until she could walk. 73 00:05:04,510 --> 00:05:09,090 Like, he didn't actually pick her up, because he was so scared to drop her or 74 00:05:09,090 --> 00:05:10,090 hurt her. 75 00:05:11,670 --> 00:05:16,250 My name is Bronwyn Billington. I'm the eldest daughter of Tom Billington, the 76 00:05:16,250 --> 00:05:17,250 dynamite kid. 77 00:05:17,370 --> 00:05:20,830 We had a wrestling ring in our backyard, so he'd always be training his friends 78 00:05:20,830 --> 00:05:24,270 or just wrestling around with his buddies, and we used to play in there as 79 00:05:25,010 --> 00:05:27,750 I remember being backstage at the wrestling shows. 80 00:05:28,230 --> 00:05:32,010 Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, they loved me for some reason. 81 00:05:32,270 --> 00:05:34,070 I think I just wanted to hang out with them, really. 82 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,740 My dad was a really funny, goofy guy. 83 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:48,320 He had 84 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:53,740 no teeth at one point. He had, like, the retainer teeth, and he'd pull them out 85 00:05:53,740 --> 00:05:55,960 and, like, do tricks on me, so I thought he was magic. 86 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,810 If you look at any of the pictures of my father and I growing up... He was 87 00:05:59,810 --> 00:06:03,730 always holding my hand really tight as a little girl. I think that's a sign of, 88 00:06:03,730 --> 00:06:05,010 like, how much he loved his daughter. 89 00:06:05,590 --> 00:06:09,490 When I was younger, my mom would tell me, oh, my God, you're so much like your 90 00:06:09,490 --> 00:06:13,410 dad because I learned how to do flips all by myself. I thought he could fly. 91 00:06:13,650 --> 00:06:16,910 Like, I've never really seen a wrestler that could do all that. 92 00:06:18,190 --> 00:06:22,570 My name's Amaris Billington, and I am the Dynamite Kid's youngest daughter. 93 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,740 And I'm just so proud of him for who he was in his career. And he didn't care if 94 00:06:27,740 --> 00:06:28,860 someone said you're too small. 95 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:30,860 He's like, watch me. 96 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:37,860 By the 1980s, the Dynamite Kid is not only one of Stampede Wrestling's top 97 00:06:37,860 --> 00:06:38,860 performers. 98 00:06:40,260 --> 00:06:46,560 He's also catapulted himself to superstardom on the other side of the 99 00:06:46,780 --> 00:06:51,460 And some of the greatest matches took place in front of small crowds in Japan. 100 00:06:52,910 --> 00:06:58,330 My name is Mick Foley. I wrestled from 1985 through 2000 and made several 101 00:06:58,330 --> 00:07:03,170 comebacks. There was a series of moves that he did with Satoru Sayama, the 102 00:07:03,170 --> 00:07:04,370 original Tiger Mask. 103 00:07:04,710 --> 00:07:09,130 And it looked like magic. It wasn't what they did. 104 00:07:10,110 --> 00:07:16,810 It was the speed with which they did it and the excellence of execution that was 105 00:07:16,810 --> 00:07:23,110 amazing. I perused that on VHS tape the way that most young men of my generation 106 00:07:23,110 --> 00:07:27,150 perused the Phoebe Cates topless scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. 107 00:07:27,370 --> 00:07:32,070 I rewound it and slow motioned it so often that it just broke. 108 00:07:34,010 --> 00:07:38,070 The in -ring product that we see today starts with him in Tiger Mask. 109 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,500 My name is Dave Meltzer. I'm the editor of the Wrestling Observer newsletter. I 110 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:44,200 do podcasts at WrestlingObserver .com. 111 00:07:44,860 --> 00:07:48,040 There is no Jushin Liger without Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid. 112 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,480 You know, that opens the door for Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit and Owen Hart 113 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,680 and all of these different guys who came after and patterned themselves after 114 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,540 him. I think he always had a chip on his shoulder as far as size and, you know, 115 00:07:58,540 --> 00:08:02,560 he wanted to be the best. And at his size, you had to overperform because it 116 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,240 not what wrestling turned into years later where a guy his size was 117 00:08:08,780 --> 00:08:13,460 If you were looking for illusions, Tommy was a bunch of things, but a magician 118 00:08:13,460 --> 00:08:17,560 was not one of them. If it looked good and it looked like it hurt, it's 119 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:18,660 because it did. 120 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:20,300 It was amazing to see. 121 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,700 In hindsight, when you think about it, it's like, oh yeah, he just had no 122 00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:24,700 for his body. 123 00:08:28,700 --> 00:08:35,400 In 1984, the Dynamite Kid's fearlessness in the ring pays off as he signs with 124 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:36,520 the WWF. 125 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,679 joining cousin Davey Boy Smith, brother -in -law Bret Hart, and Jim the Anvil 126 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,620 Neidhart. In order to compete at the top, Tom continues to push the limits of 127 00:08:46,620 --> 00:08:47,459 his body. 128 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:53,040 Tom's physical changes came once he went to WWE. 129 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,300 You know, he'd been doing a lot of steroids at the time. 130 00:08:57,620 --> 00:08:59,480 The Dynamite Kid! 131 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,640 Physically, he described Tom as one big muscle. 132 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:05,140 He's like Mighty Mouse. 133 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:11,780 This guy had striations in his butt, muscles just ripping out of his ass. I 134 00:09:11,780 --> 00:09:13,920 mean, the guy was just nothing but a pure muscle. 135 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:18,060 My name is Dan Spivey. I'm a friend of Dynamite Kids. 136 00:09:19,940 --> 00:09:25,080 People paid money to come see a bunch of muscular guys beat on each other. 137 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,660 Oh, yeah, we talked about steroids and did steroids, you know. 138 00:09:29,460 --> 00:09:30,460 Everybody was picking. 139 00:09:32,260 --> 00:09:33,460 My name's Gary Port. 140 00:09:33,950 --> 00:09:40,270 I came over to America, started wrestling in 1978, and I'm a Dynamite 141 00:09:40,690 --> 00:09:42,090 Scott McGee! 142 00:09:42,430 --> 00:09:43,430 Here he comes! 143 00:09:43,810 --> 00:09:48,290 We got along, Danny, myself, and Dynamite. 144 00:09:48,530 --> 00:09:49,810 Every day was Christmas. 145 00:09:50,290 --> 00:09:52,330 Every day was like a party. 146 00:09:52,610 --> 00:09:57,070 People would come to one room and give each other shots and stuff and throw the 147 00:09:57,070 --> 00:10:01,010 needles into the wall like a dartboard and leave them there. 148 00:10:02,060 --> 00:10:07,140 Me and Danny, one time we woke up, I looked at a wall, and there must have 149 00:10:07,140 --> 00:10:10,600 ten needles stuck in the wall. 150 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:13,000 I mean, who does that? 151 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,120 Dumbass wrestler, you know? 152 00:10:16,580 --> 00:10:21,720 With his new muscular physique, Dynamite's explosiveness in the ring 153 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,160 breakout star in the WWF. By 1985... 154 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,000 He and his tag team partner, Davey Boy Smith, are packing arenas around the 155 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:36,300 country. Here are the British Bulldogs. Davey Boy Smith was his cousin. You 156 00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:40,040 know, in many ways, emulated him. Kind of same look. People went crazy because 157 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,520 they were great. 158 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:49,480 Davey Boy and Dynamite. A much harder, faster style than almost everybody else 159 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,380 there. We all wanted to be the Bulldogs. 160 00:10:52,660 --> 00:10:53,980 They were gods of wrestling. 161 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:57,180 I remember Dynamite doing that fat suplex. 162 00:10:58,440 --> 00:10:59,440 Boom, 163 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:01,300 you were gone, boy, before you knew it. 164 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,620 My name is Jacques Rougeau. For 41 years, I was a professional wrestler. 165 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:09,860 I was the fabulous Rougeau brothers of my brother Raymond. 166 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:12,380 The Rougeau brothers. The fabulous Rougeau brothers. 167 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:14,080 The fabulous Rougeau brothers. 168 00:11:14,340 --> 00:11:19,540 I remember Dynamite Kid one night walking in the dressing room with a 169 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:20,539 his butt. 170 00:11:20,540 --> 00:11:23,520 Needle thick and going like this, and he'd go... 171 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,580 I will have a good match tonight. 172 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:28,080 And, you know, he's like a beef. 173 00:11:28,300 --> 00:11:33,580 And so I was afraid of him. I was afraid of those kind of guys. 174 00:11:34,140 --> 00:11:40,940 After years of self -sacrifice and physical strain, Tom finally earns a 175 00:11:40,940 --> 00:11:44,340 championship victory with Davey Boy at WrestleMania II. 176 00:11:44,660 --> 00:11:48,420 The new Grand Prix champion, the British Bulldogs. 177 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,320 Now at the top of the pecking order, Tom is hell -bent on putting up -and 178 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,820 -coming wrestlers through the same hard knock he was once forced to endure. 179 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:04,400 He was a product of the snake pit in Wigan, guys who really knew how to hurt 180 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,280 in a hurry, and I don't know for a fact, but I'm assuming that Tommy had the 181 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:09,280 crap beat out of him. 182 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,540 And I think it created in him a resiliency and also maybe a little bit 183 00:12:14,540 --> 00:12:19,560 bitterness to people who hadn't endured what he had to make it through. And I 184 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:21,360 found that out firsthand. 185 00:12:22,340 --> 00:12:28,900 I showed up in Providence, Rhode Island with all of one match to my credit. 186 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:34,940 It's me and Les Thornton against the British Bulldogs. 187 00:12:36,330 --> 00:12:40,750 I was excited. I'm in the ring with, you know, one of my heroes, Tommy. 188 00:12:41,370 --> 00:12:45,850 I came in and I got a very, very quick education. 189 00:12:47,490 --> 00:12:51,650 Dynamite starts shaking the ropes like he couldn't wait to get in. And when he 190 00:12:51,650 --> 00:12:54,130 was tagged in, he sent me into the ropes. 191 00:12:54,390 --> 00:12:59,910 And he didn't so much clothesline me as he clubbed me with his bicep in the jaw. 192 00:13:01,310 --> 00:13:05,070 And that was the last time I... 193 00:13:05,340 --> 00:13:09,620 ate solid food for three weeks. I didn't know it at the time, but he had 194 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:10,760 dislocated my jaw. 195 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,160 I almost lost my career because of that. 196 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:16,800 There were no hard feelings. 197 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:21,240 I said it was such an honor being there with you guys, shook their hands, went 198 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,200 back to my hotel room and threw up in the toilet. 199 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:30,160 Tom's appetite for violence soon spreads beyond the ring into the locker room 200 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,400 and eventually into his home life. 201 00:13:32,780 --> 00:13:37,540 setting off a chain of events that shatters his career, his marriage, and 202 00:13:37,540 --> 00:13:39,060 ultimately his legacy. 203 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:50,980 This is the matching cape and vest my dad wore in 204 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:54,520 WWF in the British Bulldogs tag team. 205 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,520 It has his name on the inside while it says kid. 206 00:13:59,180 --> 00:14:02,500 These were the original British Bulldogs from when I was little. 207 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:04,500 I used to play Barbies with those. 208 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:05,760 That was to be our Ken doll. 209 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:13,220 I really loved the Bulldogs. 210 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:19,360 But I saw a few things happen that changed my opinion. 211 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,100 He was a river. He loved... 212 00:14:23,740 --> 00:14:28,080 Giving people a hard time, you know, jokingly, which some people wouldn't 213 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,260 was jokingly. Some of the stuff was pretty stiff that he did. 214 00:14:31,940 --> 00:14:34,140 He used to love to oust young people. 215 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:38,500 One time, he ousted my mother. 216 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,420 Putting a sleeping drug into their drinks. 217 00:14:43,780 --> 00:14:47,020 There was a guy called Mitch Snow. 218 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,300 It's our first look at Mitch Snow. 219 00:14:49,980 --> 00:14:53,040 And the kid had a big mouth on him. He just talked shit. 220 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,260 So Tommy gave him the Halcyon gimmick. 221 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:06,540 Dynamite and Davy Boy went on the balcony to get into his room. 222 00:15:09,140 --> 00:15:11,780 And he crapped in his bag. 223 00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:14,800 Shaved his eyebrows. 224 00:15:15,540 --> 00:15:20,300 Shaved his head. The kid went back to his home in South Carolina somewhere 225 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:22,000 because he was in fear of his life. 226 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,920 I think you almost thought I'd never sprang down a soldier. 227 00:15:25,620 --> 00:15:29,140 It's supposed to be a joke, and it's supposed to make people laugh. 228 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:33,840 Okay, it's funny now, but it's not funny when you're 23 days on the road. It's 229 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,700 not funny when you lost your bags earlier that week. It's not funny when 230 00:15:36,700 --> 00:15:38,640 haven't seen your kids in 20 days. It's not funny. 231 00:15:38,860 --> 00:15:39,860 It's not easy. 232 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,880 Well, he wasn't like that when I first started going out with him in our first 233 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,520 five years of our marriage. There was none of that sadistic behavior. 234 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,880 It started happening after his back operation. 235 00:15:53,340 --> 00:15:56,380 During a non -televised match in 1986, 236 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,640 Dynamite does a seemingly harmless drop -down with his opponent. 237 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:06,360 After years of being pushed past its limit, Dynamite's body finally breaks 238 00:16:07,380 --> 00:16:12,360 Tom is rushed to the hospital with a severe back injury requiring immediate 239 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:13,820 emergency surgery. 240 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,320 The discs were all tangled in the spinal cord. 241 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,320 So they removed the discs, right? Two discs. 242 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,620 He wasn't supposed to work anymore, you know, after the surgery. 243 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,380 And I think he was back in the ring two weeks later. 244 00:16:34,020 --> 00:16:37,880 Vince, you know, needed to take the titles off of him. He could not wrestle. 245 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,240 Davey carried him to the ring. This is off camera. 246 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:44,920 The television audience never saw this. 247 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,200 I think he gets hit by the megaphone or something. He got taken out right away. 248 00:16:49,690 --> 00:16:53,490 Jimmy Hart on the other side of the ring, just striking Dynamite 10 from 249 00:16:53,830 --> 00:16:56,030 Davey worked the match, got pinned, they got the belts off him. 250 00:16:56,530 --> 00:16:57,810 No, no, no! 251 00:17:00,170 --> 00:17:04,849 He got carried back to my car. 252 00:17:05,329 --> 00:17:10,810 When he got to my house, he went back in the wheelchair and stayed with me for a 253 00:17:10,810 --> 00:17:11,810 couple of days. 254 00:17:12,050 --> 00:17:16,550 He'd sleep on the floor, not because they didn't have a bed, but because that 255 00:17:16,550 --> 00:17:18,390 was the most comfortable place for him. 256 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:24,160 My wife used to hear him crying, crying. 257 00:17:24,619 --> 00:17:28,700 In the middle of the night, it was like a whimper. 258 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,180 I can't imagine how much pain he was in. 259 00:17:35,180 --> 00:17:40,060 Contrary to doctor's orders, Dynamite rushes a return to the ring just months 260 00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:41,140 after the surgery. 261 00:17:41,740 --> 00:17:46,380 Wrestling in constant agony, his temper begins to spiral out of control, 262 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,460 creating chaos at home. 263 00:17:49,370 --> 00:17:53,550 When the times were good with Michelle and Tom, that was good. But did you ever 264 00:17:53,550 --> 00:17:55,070 see times when they were bad between them? 265 00:18:00,710 --> 00:18:01,710 Yeah. 266 00:18:04,550 --> 00:18:05,550 I've seen it. 267 00:18:07,750 --> 00:18:12,090 There was one night when he was taking me out to show me a nice time. I didn't 268 00:18:12,090 --> 00:18:13,090 want to drink alcohol. 269 00:18:13,190 --> 00:18:17,530 So instead of saying I'm not drinking, because that would have been like a diss 270 00:18:17,530 --> 00:18:18,530 to Tom. 271 00:18:18,590 --> 00:18:22,690 I ordered a tonic water and put lemon in it, and he'll think it's a vodka tonic. 272 00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:27,010 He grabbed my drink, and he drank it, and he spit it out like as if it was 273 00:18:27,010 --> 00:18:31,330 poison. He said, what the f*** is this? And I was like, tonic water. 274 00:18:31,530 --> 00:18:33,030 And he's like, tonic water? 275 00:18:33,430 --> 00:18:35,050 How come you're drinking tonic water? 276 00:18:35,370 --> 00:18:38,590 He just wouldn't let it go. Like, he was so mad. 277 00:18:39,250 --> 00:18:42,270 And then all the way home, he was playing chicken on the road. 278 00:18:42,530 --> 00:18:45,890 A car would be coming, and he'd act like he's going to hit the car. 279 00:18:46,110 --> 00:18:49,480 And he's like, how could you f***? He lied to me, and I was like, sorry, I 280 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,920 didn't want to, like, drink. What's the big deal? 281 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:57,700 When we got home, I'm just about to go to sleep, and he's like, get up. And I 282 00:18:57,700 --> 00:18:58,700 was like, what? 283 00:18:58,980 --> 00:19:01,040 What? He's like, get up, get up. 284 00:19:03,780 --> 00:19:05,680 And he shoved me in a closet. 285 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,000 And he goes, stay in there, you little yard dog. 286 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,320 I just, I slept on the floor in there. 287 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,760 And I was glad that he wasn't bugging me. I said, I'll sleep in the closet. 288 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:24,700 Anyway, I find out I'm pregnant with our son. 289 00:19:25,060 --> 00:19:30,820 So after Merrick was born, he was, you know, going to great lengths to make up 290 00:19:30,820 --> 00:19:33,140 for what he did, the closet incident. 291 00:19:33,700 --> 00:19:38,340 And Merrick was such a difficult child. Like, he was just really high 292 00:19:38,340 --> 00:19:41,340 maintenance. But Tom was so patient with him. 293 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,040 So I think he really wanted to make up for that with Merrick. 294 00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:47,980 But, you know, that didn't last. 295 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,740 The Dynamite kids' home and work life have become increasingly volatile. 296 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:58,060 After being forced to surrender the championship, Tom takes out his rage on 297 00:19:58,060 --> 00:20:00,940 another rising tag team in the WWF. 298 00:20:01,180 --> 00:20:03,000 Vince called the Bulldogs and the Rouges. 299 00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:07,720 He said, guys, I'd like to go out and have a great match with you four guys, 300 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,100 I'd like to have a 20 -minute Broadway. 301 00:20:10,330 --> 00:20:15,330 The tournament has expired. This contest is ruled a draw. 302 00:20:16,130 --> 00:20:17,130 It was a draw. 303 00:20:17,430 --> 00:20:20,630 So for me, that was a victory because, you know, it's like putting us in the 304 00:20:20,630 --> 00:20:22,270 same league as them, which we were not. 305 00:20:23,350 --> 00:20:28,570 The Lord knows after that match, I was so happy and everything was good. And I 306 00:20:28,570 --> 00:20:30,650 never, I never thought I'd. 307 00:20:30,890 --> 00:20:32,370 Encounter problems with the Bulldogs. 308 00:20:32,630 --> 00:20:36,030 You can tell us, since we're talking about this, what your understanding of 309 00:20:36,030 --> 00:20:37,730 incident with the Rujos was. 310 00:20:38,090 --> 00:20:41,130 So the Rujo thing, I'm tired of it. I don't want to hear about it anymore. 311 00:20:42,450 --> 00:20:44,750 Like, is that the only thing that ever happened to him? 312 00:20:47,110 --> 00:20:52,530 When the Rujos came to WWF, they seemed to have this prestige right away. 313 00:20:52,770 --> 00:20:57,110 Tom had the old school way. You earn your right to have privilege. 314 00:20:57,850 --> 00:21:02,590 I've always had an arrogance in me that made me succeed in the business. 315 00:21:02,790 --> 00:21:07,370 I never was a mean person, but I was a person who talked a lot and joked a lot, 316 00:21:07,450 --> 00:21:11,350 and not everybody liked to hear jokes, you know, and that may not have helped 317 00:21:11,350 --> 00:21:12,350 cause either. 318 00:21:14,930 --> 00:21:18,690 And I came in, I walked in the dressing room, and Perfect was sitting completely 319 00:21:18,690 --> 00:21:21,290 at the other end of the dressing room against the wall. 320 00:21:22,950 --> 00:21:25,610 As soon as I walked in, hey, Jacques, Jacques, let's play cards. 321 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,500 And he knew he got me because I'm a card player. 322 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,560 The next thing you know, it's like, pow! 323 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,120 And I fell down. 324 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,220 And then I got back up, and then he really punched me in the face. 325 00:21:43,180 --> 00:21:44,860 And then he ended up kicking me in the face. 326 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,800 I was swollen up like the elephant man. 327 00:21:54,860 --> 00:21:58,740 Made him look bad in front of the guys to the point where he told Mr. McMahon, 328 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,580 after the fact, like he could no longer shave because he couldn't look himself 329 00:22:03,580 --> 00:22:04,580 in the mirror. 330 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,440 I was in bad shape mentally much more than physically. 331 00:22:07,700 --> 00:22:10,640 I didn't want to do what was coming. I just knew I had to. 332 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,000 What do you mean? 333 00:22:12,860 --> 00:22:13,860 Get revenge. 334 00:22:19,620 --> 00:22:24,670 In the days following Tom's brutal locker room assault, Jacques Rougeau 335 00:22:24,670 --> 00:22:29,710 anxiously plans his retaliation. I had lost 10 pounds during that week since 336 00:22:29,710 --> 00:22:32,690 Wednesday to Sunday because I couldn't eat anymore. I was throwing up every 337 00:22:32,690 --> 00:22:33,770 time. I think I had to fight. 338 00:22:34,310 --> 00:22:36,750 I wasn't sleeping well. 339 00:22:37,070 --> 00:22:38,810 I was afraid of what was coming. 340 00:22:39,350 --> 00:22:41,530 Jacques was not a tough street fighter or anything. 341 00:22:42,190 --> 00:22:45,190 He just felt that he needed to get his respect back. 342 00:22:45,870 --> 00:22:47,270 And you know what my father said? 343 00:22:47,630 --> 00:22:51,530 Before going to the building tomorrow, go to the bank. 344 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,000 And get yourself a roll of quarters. 345 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:02,000 Just hours before a television taping, Jacques lies in wait for Dynamite's 346 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:03,000 arrival at the arena. 347 00:23:03,380 --> 00:23:04,600 I saw that curtain open. 348 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:08,300 And I know Dynamite's coming. 349 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:12,540 For the first time in a week, I looked at him in the eyes. 350 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,040 And I said, hey, how you doing? 351 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,400 He had a coffee in his hand and he went. 352 00:23:22,380 --> 00:23:25,320 And I went, pow! 353 00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:30,620 You know when you're young and you see those monster movies where the blood is 354 00:23:30,620 --> 00:23:33,540 flowing out like a river? 355 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:35,320 It's true. 356 00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:38,820 Four teeth came out. 357 00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:44,600 And then I remember a dynamite kid. 358 00:23:45,940 --> 00:23:52,850 And then I said, The next time I'm going to put you in a 359 00:23:52,850 --> 00:23:53,850 wheelchair! 360 00:23:58,830 --> 00:24:01,190 Was it a roller coaster? I don't think so. 361 00:24:01,410 --> 00:24:03,410 I think it was a pair of brass knuckles. 362 00:24:03,790 --> 00:24:10,190 I just didn't think what Tom had done deserved getting his teeth knocked out. 363 00:24:10,630 --> 00:24:13,210 Tommy couldn't handle it. It bothered Tommy. 364 00:24:13,770 --> 00:24:17,890 His reputation had been damaged. I mean, here you got the guy that's tougher 365 00:24:17,890 --> 00:24:18,890 than nails. 366 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:21,080 physically abused like that. 367 00:24:21,300 --> 00:24:25,000 You know, he wanted to beat the shit out of them. And then some, probably. 368 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,020 Tom's plan for revenge comes to a halt. 369 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:36,900 As Dino Bravo, a wrestler with alleged ties to organized crime, gives him a 370 00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:37,920 cautionary warning. 371 00:24:39,420 --> 00:24:43,080 Tom bought a 9mm handgun with a clip for me. 372 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:47,400 I was like, I don't want that gun. Like, I was so scared of it. 373 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:52,660 He goes, look, I don't want to scare you. I talked to Dino Bravo, and he said 374 00:24:52,660 --> 00:24:59,400 saw an envelope with Tom's name, our address, and inside of it had a picture 375 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:04,740 our house, me and the kids. Like, if there's any retaliation, like anything, 376 00:25:05,100 --> 00:25:07,260 your family's going to be dead. 377 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:16,200 We sold our house because we were worried that the mafia, they knew where 378 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:17,200 lived and everything. 379 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,000 Jacques got his respect back. Dynamite never was allowed to get his respect 380 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,680 back, I suppose you could say. 381 00:25:23,900 --> 00:25:25,520 His life was never the same. 382 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,840 He was never the same guy. 383 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:34,260 Dynamite's ex -wife said that Dynamite didn't get revenge on you because the 384 00:25:34,260 --> 00:25:35,680 would come after them. Is this true? 385 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:41,080 That is funny. 386 00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:45,840 But there's something I got to tell you guys. I forgot about that. Now you're 387 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:46,840 bringing it back. 388 00:25:49,580 --> 00:25:52,660 I didn't like Dino Bravo, but I knew he was a stooge. 389 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,460 I knew he was a stooge for the Bulldogs. 390 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,580 And whatever I said to him, he was going to bring it back to the Bulldogs. 391 00:25:59,140 --> 00:26:02,060 I took a piece of paper, and I wrote a name down. 392 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,900 I wrote a fictive name, an inventive name. 393 00:26:06,780 --> 00:26:10,040 And I told Dino, I said, do you see this name here? 394 00:26:10,340 --> 00:26:11,680 I've got to call him every night. 395 00:26:12,060 --> 00:26:16,360 And I said, if I don't call him one night, things will be taken care of. 396 00:26:18,700 --> 00:26:20,620 And I'm glad to hear that it worked. 397 00:26:25,660 --> 00:26:31,840 Finding out about the mafia possibly coming to kill his wife, that really 398 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,420 him not want to be a part of that company anymore. 399 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:42,440 At the 1988 Survivor Series pay -per -view event, Tom decides to end his 400 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:43,920 in the WWF. 401 00:26:44,220 --> 00:26:47,960 I don't think Dynamite was ever happy in WWF. He liked the respect he had in 402 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:52,040 Japan. So it was like, we can cut a deal in Japan. We can get away from this 403 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:53,040 thing. 404 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,380 Tommy was really hurting on that tour in Japan. 405 00:26:57,740 --> 00:27:00,060 But you would not have known it if you were a fan. 406 00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:07,120 Because he was still giving 100%. He started to 407 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:10,200 say his arm was bothering him. 408 00:27:11,260 --> 00:27:12,900 But later I found out. 409 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,600 His ligaments weren't even on the bones. 410 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,040 He got his shoulder operated on. It was terrible. 411 00:27:21,420 --> 00:27:26,800 About a week later, he was upset with me because my girlfriend came over and he 412 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,560 was like, you're just talking to Sandra. You don't even care about me. And I was 413 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:32,880 like, yes, I do, Tom. 414 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:38,920 And he starts going... He takes his... 415 00:27:39,230 --> 00:27:45,090 putting arm band thing off i was like stop it and he's like i was like stop it 416 00:27:45,090 --> 00:27:51,850 all the shit we've been through and you're like trying to set us back and 417 00:27:51,850 --> 00:27:57,590 wreck your arm i didn't understand like what the hell 418 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:12,740 With countless injuries from years of self -inflicted abuse in the ring, Tom's 419 00:28:12,740 --> 00:28:14,740 best days are now behind him. 420 00:28:14,940 --> 00:28:20,380 Tom was slipping deeper and deeper, I'd say, into pills and drinking. 421 00:28:21,140 --> 00:28:24,940 This one night, he invited me to come watch wrestling. 422 00:28:27,620 --> 00:28:32,040 It was hours watching him and Tiger Mask. 423 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:34,220 He said, watch this. 424 00:28:34,460 --> 00:28:36,340 Took an F of a bump. 425 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,380 Him and Tiger Mouse all night long. 426 00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:43,960 That's my last memory of Tom. 427 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,200 Being with him and watching the end of greatness. 428 00:28:55,260 --> 00:29:01,220 Do you think after the incident with Jacques that something changed 429 00:29:01,220 --> 00:29:02,220 for Tom? 430 00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:04,820 Well, after that, you hear quite a few people. 431 00:29:08,030 --> 00:29:09,690 He broke a few jaws. 432 00:29:12,370 --> 00:29:13,690 It was New Year's Eve. 433 00:29:14,010 --> 00:29:18,270 It was about 10 o 'clock, and Tom came in with his brother and a couple of 434 00:29:18,270 --> 00:29:19,970 friends that he went out with. 435 00:29:21,910 --> 00:29:26,310 And he had this white sweatshirt on, and it was just full of blood. 436 00:29:26,990 --> 00:29:32,010 And his cheek is, like, cut, and it's just a flap that's just open, like you 437 00:29:32,010 --> 00:29:33,010 his cheekbone. 438 00:29:33,150 --> 00:29:35,030 And he's got his sunglasses on. 439 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,500 And Bronwyn's crying, Daddy, Daddy, what happened? 440 00:29:38,740 --> 00:29:41,840 I remember I was scared. I was like, what happened to Daddy? 441 00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:45,180 He's like, I fell down, little girl. 442 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:46,880 Daddy's going to be okay. 443 00:29:47,860 --> 00:29:52,980 Bronwyn never saw this stuff, but she was seeing it. And I was like, oh, my 444 00:29:53,060 --> 00:29:56,040 I'm feeling like such a failure as a mother. 445 00:29:56,300 --> 00:29:59,660 And now I'm pregnant, and I'm going to bring another child into this horrible 446 00:29:59,660 --> 00:30:01,900 life. I just couldn't take it anymore. 447 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:03,520 And that's when... 448 00:30:03,770 --> 00:30:08,370 I got, like, suicidal, and I'm walking around going, like, I just can't live 449 00:30:08,370 --> 00:30:10,950 another frickin' minute like this. 450 00:30:15,090 --> 00:30:21,070 And I finally decided that was it. And I gave Tom a one -way ticket to England. 451 00:30:22,230 --> 00:30:24,570 And I said, Tom, I would like you to leave now. 452 00:30:25,470 --> 00:30:27,650 Take whatever you need and just go. 453 00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:32,170 And then that's when the shit went down. 454 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:38,140 And my dad dragged my mom by the hair across the floor. 455 00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:50,160 He lost his mind. He was like, he had me in some kind of hold and my jaw went 456 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:55,220 out. He let me go and I was like, I put my jaw back. 457 00:30:56,209 --> 00:30:59,690 The kids were there. They had never seen anything like this. And they were 458 00:30:59,690 --> 00:31:02,170 crying. I'm trying to act like, you know, Daddy's having a moment. 459 00:31:02,530 --> 00:31:04,290 It's going to be fine. He's going to leave. 460 00:31:04,510 --> 00:31:06,870 He goes, no, I think you should go. 461 00:31:07,310 --> 00:31:12,870 And I was like, I'm the one pregnant. I'm the one with a toddler. Merrick was 462 00:31:12,870 --> 00:31:13,870 still in diapers. 463 00:31:14,130 --> 00:31:16,890 You know, all my stuff is here. All their clothes are here. 464 00:31:19,030 --> 00:31:23,030 And he went downstairs and he got a gun. 465 00:31:27,980 --> 00:31:33,980 And he said, if you're not out in 15 minutes, I'm going to blow your head 466 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:40,140 And I was like, 467 00:31:41,540 --> 00:31:42,540 no, you're not. 468 00:31:44,740 --> 00:31:45,740 He's like, well. 469 00:31:46,420 --> 00:31:50,220 And my dad then put a shotgun up to my mom's head. 470 00:31:51,260 --> 00:31:55,120 And I was holding my little brother, screaming, daddy, no, daddy, no. 471 00:31:55,420 --> 00:31:57,000 They're hysterical. 472 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,840 I'm not, though, because I'm, like, calling his bluff. And I'm like, no, 473 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,780 not blowing my head off. If you're not going to leave, I'm calling the police. 474 00:32:04,900 --> 00:32:09,460 So I called the police, and I said, my husband's threatening to blow my head 475 00:32:09,460 --> 00:32:12,220 off, and I'm pregnant, and I have children. 476 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:17,380 And she goes, well, honey, if he said you could leave, just leave. 477 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:23,660 Oh, God. I was like, not again. Like, I didn't want to go to Brett and Julie's 478 00:32:23,660 --> 00:32:27,140 because I just didn't want to bring our bullshit over there. 479 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,460 Again, but I did. I packed up my little bag and I left. 480 00:32:33,860 --> 00:32:40,680 He was terrified that he was going to come and who 481 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,080 knows to what, to her or any of us, you know. 482 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:50,500 His headspace was not good, not good at that time. 483 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,640 Michelle's harrowing experiences would stay a family secret for years. 484 00:32:56,220 --> 00:33:00,900 until they were eventually exposed to the world, forever altering the legacy 485 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:01,900 the Dynamite Kid. 486 00:33:07,940 --> 00:33:13,840 In a final act of violence after holding his wife at gunpoint, Tom leaves his 487 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,960 family behind in Calgary and returns to England. 488 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,300 He moved back to England in 1991. 489 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,760 My mom was about eight months, seven months pregnant with me. 490 00:33:24,490 --> 00:33:27,050 I wanted a girl because I had the perfect name. 491 00:33:28,110 --> 00:33:29,710 I had the name Amaris. 492 00:33:30,590 --> 00:33:32,610 And it means gift from God. 493 00:33:33,050 --> 00:33:35,630 And I believe Amaris saved my life. 494 00:33:37,690 --> 00:33:40,070 I believe she saved all our lives. 495 00:33:40,870 --> 00:33:44,430 That kid has been a blessing since the day she was born. 496 00:33:49,470 --> 00:33:52,890 He just had his retirement match in Japan. 497 00:33:53,840 --> 00:34:00,500 Now he'd wrote a letter to Michelle saying that he was going to come 498 00:34:00,500 --> 00:34:02,140 to Calgary. 499 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,980 I really believe that Tom would come and see his baby. 500 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:11,840 And thank God he didn't, because in the end, I think he did the, you know, like 501 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,040 he manned up and let us be. 502 00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:17,219 I think he knew there was something wrong with him. 503 00:34:18,730 --> 00:34:22,929 He wasn't the same person. Like, this violence was out of control. I don't 504 00:34:22,929 --> 00:34:24,530 he had control of it anymore. 505 00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:30,010 After he finished wrestling, he was fighting in garages. 506 00:34:30,469 --> 00:34:33,969 You know, just like a dog, like a pit bull. 507 00:34:34,530 --> 00:34:39,730 It was just cars parked in a circle with lights on, and it was just better not 508 00:34:39,730 --> 00:34:40,730 fight. 509 00:34:41,070 --> 00:34:42,750 And he was doing those to survive. 510 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:45,679 Did he talk much about his family? 511 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:51,139 I knew you were going to ask me that. No, he didn't because I was just Tommy. 512 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,460 His personal stuff was he wouldn't let people in. 513 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:59,100 No, he didn't let me in because he didn't want to show me any sign of 514 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:06,820 It's a macho thing, I know, but I had to keep that reputation of not being a 515 00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:07,820 wimp. 516 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:17,040 Five years after his retirement, Tom returns to Japan for a comeback match. 517 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,820 The comeback match was real sad. 518 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,080 He looked like a shell of the Dynamite Kid. 519 00:35:23,780 --> 00:35:30,300 I think all of us kind of willingly suspend that state of belief in order to 520 00:35:30,300 --> 00:35:36,280 believe in a different reality, that we are who we're portrayed as being, and 521 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,440 that we are that tough, and that we are immortal in some way. 522 00:35:41,770 --> 00:35:46,930 One time he went to ambulate and he just hit the deck. 523 00:35:47,510 --> 00:35:54,430 Went to hospital and he said, and they told him he 524 00:35:54,430 --> 00:35:56,590 had too much scar tissue. 525 00:35:57,730 --> 00:36:00,530 Too much scar tissue to operate. 526 00:36:01,890 --> 00:36:08,290 You know, guys came to see him and 527 00:36:08,290 --> 00:36:10,730 for the most part he didn't want anyone to see him. 528 00:36:11,370 --> 00:36:15,150 the greatest wrestler who changed the business and everything like that, and 529 00:36:15,150 --> 00:36:19,790 guy who at times could be an absolute monster, and then the absolute tragic 530 00:36:19,790 --> 00:36:23,090 ending. Way too young, you know, in your 40s in a wheelchair. 531 00:36:23,590 --> 00:36:29,210 It's just a sad thing from being this incredible athlete. 532 00:36:30,630 --> 00:36:32,810 I just, I felt so sad for him. 533 00:36:33,690 --> 00:36:38,490 Of course, I still loved him. I mean, God, like, you don't get married and 534 00:36:38,490 --> 00:36:40,270 children. No, I still love him. 535 00:36:43,210 --> 00:36:45,150 Just didn't love what was going on. 536 00:36:46,510 --> 00:36:51,650 She always talked about him like he was like a Prince Charming. She never said 537 00:36:51,650 --> 00:36:54,690 anything negative about him. It was always positive. 538 00:36:55,350 --> 00:37:00,970 And then the Chris Benoit documentary came out. I think I was about 16 years 539 00:37:00,970 --> 00:37:07,290 old. And that was the first time my mom talked about any kind of abuse in the 540 00:37:07,290 --> 00:37:08,290 relationship. 541 00:37:08,810 --> 00:37:15,770 As part of a media frenzy sparked by the 2007 Chris Benoit tragedy, a CNN expose 542 00:37:15,770 --> 00:37:20,070 airs with focus on domestic violence perpetrated by wrestlers. 543 00:37:20,390 --> 00:37:25,010 Michelle is interviewed, and for the first time ever, details her stories of 544 00:37:25,010 --> 00:37:26,930 abuse at the hands of Tom Billington. 545 00:37:27,310 --> 00:37:33,490 Michelle says at home the kid was out of control, at one time dragging her by 546 00:37:33,490 --> 00:37:35,790 the hair, holding a gun to her face. 547 00:37:36,190 --> 00:37:38,530 He certainly wasn't the guy you fell in love with. 548 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:39,800 No. 549 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,660 The night before her interview, Michelle revealed to her children the 550 00:37:44,660 --> 00:37:46,980 complicated truth about their father. 551 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:48,580 I was just so mad. 552 00:37:50,100 --> 00:37:56,300 I was mad at my dad for hurting my mom 553 00:37:56,300 --> 00:38:01,420 because she's like the best woman ever. 554 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:06,860 And I was mad at my mom because I felt like she lied to me about who my dad 555 00:38:10,250 --> 00:38:15,370 So when I found that there was actually abuse and a gun, she was pregnant with 556 00:38:15,370 --> 00:38:16,830 me at that time. 557 00:38:17,470 --> 00:38:24,470 That was the beginning of a very dark time in my life. 558 00:38:29,010 --> 00:38:34,430 Despite promising Michelle he would visit his family, Tom would never return 559 00:38:34,430 --> 00:38:40,820 Canada. When I had my first child, I finally felt whole. I thought that she 560 00:38:40,820 --> 00:38:42,560 everything that I was looking for. 561 00:38:42,900 --> 00:38:47,520 And eventually, that started to change again, and I didn't feel whole again. 562 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,740 And I knew that it was my dad that I was missing. 563 00:38:51,500 --> 00:38:53,040 She was like, flight's booked. 564 00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:54,940 I'm going. Are you coming with me? 565 00:38:56,020 --> 00:38:57,060 And I said no. 566 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:02,040 I decided I was just going to go see my dad without him knowing. 567 00:39:10,100 --> 00:39:15,620 Fifteen years after Tom last saw his eldest daughter, Bronwyn travels to 568 00:39:15,620 --> 00:39:17,540 to pay him a surprise visit. 569 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,520 I walked into the living room, that's where my dad was sitting, in his 570 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:22,780 wheelchair, and that was the first time I'd ever seen him in a wheelchair. 571 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,660 And I immediately just broke down crying. 572 00:39:28,020 --> 00:39:31,100 He acted like no time had passed, and he said, why are you crying? 573 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,300 I said, because I haven't seen you in 15 years. 574 00:39:35,140 --> 00:39:37,980 By the third day, it was just my dad and I. 575 00:39:38,460 --> 00:39:41,480 And I'm sitting on the couch and my dad's in his wheelchair and I was just 576 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,220 looking at him like I want to be close to him. 577 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:47,120 So I took a chair and moved it and just sat right next to him. 578 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,900 We held hands and we started crying and he said, I'm sorry. 579 00:39:55,660 --> 00:39:59,740 And that was the only time he'd ever apologized for anything. 580 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:03,460 I knew in that moment what it meant. 581 00:40:03,940 --> 00:40:06,480 He didn't have to say anything else and I just felt it. 582 00:40:08,140 --> 00:40:12,540 And it was a really beautiful moment that we shared, and I'm so happy that I 583 00:40:12,540 --> 00:40:13,540 went. 584 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,700 At the end there, I understand that, you know, he was very sick. 585 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:22,860 He had a stroke too, right? Yeah. 586 00:40:23,180 --> 00:40:24,640 I just know it was bad. 587 00:40:25,740 --> 00:40:29,320 Do you remember when you heard the news that he had passed? 588 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:31,640 Yeah. Tell me that story. 589 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,900 Okay, would you want me to sit here and cry? 590 00:40:47,900 --> 00:40:53,880 You know, he was a great friend and somebody I cared about a lot. 591 00:40:54,980 --> 00:40:57,260 And I miss him. 592 00:41:00,660 --> 00:41:03,060 He loved his friends and he loved his kids. 593 00:41:05,180 --> 00:41:07,800 And I love the dynamite kid. 594 00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:15,440 I knew it was coming, but I didn't cry for like a week. I was in shock. 595 00:41:16,300 --> 00:41:17,740 I got a call from my mom. 596 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,740 I think I was consoling her more. 597 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:26,220 And then right before we hung up, she said to me, well, now you know that he's 598 00:41:26,220 --> 00:41:27,220 right beside you. 599 00:41:28,580 --> 00:41:30,500 And I hung up the phone and I just started. 600 00:41:38,830 --> 00:41:41,790 Because that's all I ever wanted was for him to be beside me. 601 00:41:42,550 --> 00:41:47,570 The week before, Danny had tried to talk with him. 602 00:41:48,610 --> 00:41:51,590 And Danny said, I love you. 603 00:41:54,810 --> 00:41:57,950 And Dynamite said, why? 604 00:42:00,850 --> 00:42:06,510 It brought home a lot of memories when he died of what an integral figure he 605 00:42:06,510 --> 00:42:10,890 in the history of wrestling that probably, He'll never get the full 606 00:42:10,890 --> 00:42:16,970 because telling that story is a sad story, not a happy story. 607 00:42:20,490 --> 00:42:22,130 You don't have that happy ending story. 608 00:42:25,730 --> 00:42:26,730 Let it go. 609 00:42:27,350 --> 00:42:30,890 Let my kids heal. My kids can't heal with this kind of stuff. 610 00:42:31,170 --> 00:42:34,170 You know, and if you do talk about the violence, talk about the PTE. 611 00:42:34,730 --> 00:42:36,270 Talk about the signs of depression. 612 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:43,960 don't knock him like he could have came back we could have perpetuated it but we 613 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:49,400 ended it we did the right thing and my kids did better without you know him 614 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:55,920 around even though it pissed me off that he said I hope my children are so proud 615 00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:01,200 of my body of work and I said in my head why don't you be a father they don't 616 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,660 need a wrestler but 617 00:43:05,390 --> 00:43:10,810 Now that I'm older, I understand that that's what he wanted to give the kids. 618 00:43:13,770 --> 00:43:18,410 You know, he's largely been forgotten by the hands of time, but those who 619 00:43:18,410 --> 00:43:20,730 witnessed him in his prime, they'll never forget it. 620 00:43:21,450 --> 00:43:28,250 I remember Bruce Springsteen saying, trust the art, 621 00:43:28,330 --> 00:43:29,450 not the artist. 622 00:43:29,890 --> 00:43:33,870 And Tommy had a canvas, and he was brilliant. 623 00:43:37,870 --> 00:43:41,690 He's not the first, nor will he be the last to suffer for the sake of his art. 624 00:43:42,250 --> 00:43:46,650 And there's a sense that a lot of people who are great at something are not 625 00:43:46,650 --> 00:43:51,330 necessarily great at all aspects of their life, and they find solace in 626 00:43:51,330 --> 00:43:52,330 what they do. 627 00:43:52,670 --> 00:43:57,870 But they pay for that brief time. You become a bigger star than you ever 628 00:43:57,870 --> 00:44:01,470 imagined, and then you pay for it every day for the rest of your life.