In Leviathan, philosopher Thomas Hobbes refers to the nature of man as poor, solitary, nasty, brutish and short. In also being an apt description of one-time legendary member of The British Bulldogs Tom "Dynamite Kid" Billington, it makes sense. The key to understanding Billington actually comes best from understanding the junior heavyweight wrestlers that he most obviously inspired, those being Chris Benoit and Daniel Bryan. Similar to Billington, Benoit and Bryan reached their greatest career success after many years of travelling worldwide and engaging in matches that on the surface appear intense and exciting. However, when considering the notion of a human body being bounced hither and fro like a ping-pong ball, they instead appear as violent and brutal as any "Exploding Death Match" in Mick Foley's career. Also, consider the notion that pro wrestling is not an industry that is particularly kind to smaller wrestlers. Thus, a thick outer skin must be developed in order to handle the constant ribbing and derision. Of course, Bryan doesn't appear to be as ill-tempered as the Dynamite Kid was during his career or Benoit became in his murderous last hours on Earth, but the idea that the job of wrestling when a smaller performer is fraught with that level of personal stress, it certainly would make someone want to leave wrestling forever, and sulk in angst (as many believe Dynamite Kid has). A perfect example of wrestling's not-so-glamorous life truly being not-so-glamorous, Dynamite Kid being 55 and wheelchair bound in a flat in England after a hardscrabble 20-year career of top-shelf wrestling and inspiring a generation of tough-as-nails top-shelf wrestlers is one of those times when if you can't understand why someone would be a recluse and disappear into an enigmatic state in the business, this case ultimately makes perfect sense.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
