Pure Dynamite
by Tom Billington, Alison Coleman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alison Coleman, Tom BillingtonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-10-01
ISBN: 0953709701
Number of pages: 204
Publisher: Sw Publishing Ltd
Book Reviews of Pure Dynamite
Book Review: "To me, win, lose or draw, the only thing that matters is having a good match"---Dynamite Kid
Summary: 3 Stars
When I was a kid, I really liked wrestling and The British Bulldogs (then WWF Tag Team champions) were my favorites. I had the official WWF British Bulldogs t-shirt, magazine articles and I'd tape their matches and promo clips off the TV. The Dynamite Kid was my favorite wrestler and it would bug me that he always seemed to be the one to get beat up in the ring until he tagged Davey Boy who'd save the day (the book will explain why that was). Once the Bulldogs weren't on TV as much, I lost interest in the WWF and moved on to the NWA, WCW, and then stopped caring all together. I looked forward to reading Dynamite's experiences and views in his own words.
When I started reading I wanted to call him the Trytotype Kid as there are A LOT of typos--not so much misspelled words but extra words, as if the wording was going to be one way and it was changed but the extra word wasn't removed. Sentences like "you can see for yourself from the lads he that he trained" (5) and "we were sat in the bar after the matches" (66) are frequent. The editor must have been in a sleeper hold.
Dynamite doesn't share much about his personal life and views, he sticks mainly with his wrestling experiences and the pranks he pulled on fellow wrestlers. The book reads like Billington was going down memory lane while someone dictated. He'll discuss an experience and then jump into a prank he pulled as if he was just reminded of it as he was talking. I guess there is a charm to that style. His childhood as a fighting lad in a rough wrestling-based neighborhood in Wigan, Lancashire is briefly covered. The details begin with his training by Ted Betley in England, his move to Calgary to wrestle in Stu Hart's Stampede promotion, and his first of many tours to Japan.
He seems to be the most proud of his wrestling accomplishments in Japan where he respected the wrestling style and business more (although he was jilted everywhere) and where he had some of his best matches versus Tiger Mask. He gives his opinion on many wrestlers including the Harts (as well as the famous "Dungeon") and WWF stars, some of which he did not think much of which would eventually include his cousin and former tag partner, Davey Boy Smith. The WWF years were the most interesting to me because I was familiar with the names and some of the matches discussed. Some of the many names in the wrestling business he talks about include: Harley Race, all the Harts, Jim Neidhart, Terry Funk, Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Nikolai Volkoff, the Iron Sheik, the Rougeaus (another favorite of mine--he couldn't stand them and Jacques let him have it), King Tonga, the Young Stallions Paul Roma & Jim Powers, Jesse Ventura, King Kong Bundy, Bob Orton, Ultimate Warrior, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Shawn Michaels, Sherri Martel, Elizabeth, Randy Savage, Paul Orndorff, Bam Bam Bigelow, Curt Hennig, Don Muraco, Nick Bockwinkel, Chris Benoit (who idolized Dynamite as a kid), Hercules Hernandez, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, the Honky Tonk Man, Mick Foley, Abdullah the Butcher, Kobashi, Stan Hansen, Danny Spivey, etc.
He is also proud of the many pranks he played. He states he never hurt anyone with the pranks but, giving someone ten laxative pills, putting hair remover on someone's head while they were passed out, slipping someone speed, injecting cousin Davey with milk while saying it's steroids, and setting someone on fire at a McDonald's seems pretty extreme to me--but maybe they were tame by the wrestling world standards. He is also candid about his steroid use and other drugs. He doesn't sound like he is sorry for himself that he is in a wheelchair now. He realizes that he made choices that affected his future and is grateful for the 13 years in wrestling he had. He doesn't discuss the ugly parts of his home life that his ex-wife Michelle explains and that he admits to in a video documentary I saw. He does say that steroids can make one aggressive, but that was as far as it went.
I'm not sure if I respect Dynamite more or less after reading this book. He may not have been the nicest person, but, as a wrestler, he worked hard and did everything he could to put on a good show for the fans. Davey Boy Smith was not painted in a good light at all. He was described as spineless who couldn't make decisions for himself and who was afraid of getting hurt in the ring so Dynamite had to take the pounding. Later he is shown as someone who wasn't there for his cousin during his worst times, tried to boost his own reputation by putting his cousin down to his family members, and attempting to take away Dynamite's use of the name "British Bulldog." The infighting negatively affected the Billington/Smith families. Of course, Davey Boy can no longer defend himself as the book came out just a few years before Davey Boy's sudden death in 2002, but Dynamite pulls no punches and the stories are probably true--at least from his perspective. While "Pure Dynamite" is not one of the better written books out there, if you are interested in the behind-the-scenes wrestling life during the breakthrough years of the WWF as well as pranks and jokes by one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, I recommend it.
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