Tributes paid after death of wrestling star

TRIBUTES are being paid to The Dynamite Kid – one half of tag team duo the British Bulldogs – after his death, aged 60, reportedly on his birthday.

It is understood the Wiganborn father-of-three had been in ill health.

Wrestling fans in the eighties and nineties will remember his name well.

The Kid, real-name Thomas Billington, is widely considered within wrestling circles as one of the entertainment sport’s most influential performers and innovators.

His cousin, Wigan-born Davey Boy Smith, better known as The British Bulldog, died in Canada aged 39 in May 2002. His son, Davey Boy Smith Jr, writing on Twitter said: “Dynamite was certainly an inspiration to myself and many others and really revolutionized Professional Wrestling as we know it today.”

Former champion wrestler Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart described him on Facebook as pound-for-pound, ‘the best wrestler ever’. He said: “My thoughts are with his children Browyne, Marek, and Amaris, and the entire Billington family.”

As a singles competitor, he wrestled in Canada and Japan before joining his cousin the British Bulldog and WWE in 1984.