Dynamite & Davey

New book on two legends of British wrestling, out now from Pitch Publishing

Out in April comes the new book from Steve Bell, via Pitch Publishing, and he tells the story about perhaps the two most influential British wrestlers of all time - Tom Billington and David Smith, universally known as the British Bulldogs.

Bell splits the book into three portions compromising of the Dynamite Kid, the elder of the partnership whose unique brand of gymnastic flair and wrestling prowess toom the world by storm across all countries from the native World of Sport on ITV to the hallowed turf of Japan before settling at Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Canada. 

The second part shows Davey Boy Smith's equal rise to fame as four years younger than Tom, and then following his fellow Lancastrian to Calgary where they took the territory by storm before coming to the attention of Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation.

The third act of the book deals with the many setbacks suffered by both men, from poverty to rehab to the untimely death of Davey Boy from cardiac arrest in 2002 and Tom's death on his 60th birthday in 2018.

The British Bulldogs arrived in the WWF as a tag-team entity, shortly after the inaugural Wrestlemania in 1985, they were skyrocketed up the rankings as they became firm fan favourites culminating in a successful title claim at Wrestlemania 2 versus the Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake).

Yet due to Dynamite's first serious injury, their reign had to be curtailed dropping the belts to the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) in January 1987, something Dynamite clamoured for and promised despite his serious injury. The attempts to return to the mountain top were seemingly thwarted by backstage politics and the ambition to work with better quality opponent, the Bulldogs wanted more flexibility to work in Japan yet tied to an exclusive WWF contract their movements were restricted and earning power, Tom especially felt hamstrung and displeased. Their eventual departure in late 1988 after an altercation with the Rougeau brothers ended with Jacques knocking several of Tom's teeth out with a sucker punch, this chapter of the book is enlightening to show the high esteem the Bulldogs were held backstage while the Rougeaus were not so.

Bell writes with such clarity from the multitude of sources at his disposal and he is clear to paint the double act as pioneers in the field of tag team wrestling, admired by many with their use of double teaming in their move set from Davey Boy gorilla pressing Dynamite and dropping him onto a prone opponent. 

Cleverly, Bell also writes at length on the long period of development for the Bulldogs and especially Dynamite in Stampede Wrestling and the overall influence of the Hart family upon them from ring psychology to gaining respect from the Canadians as outsiders with Billington practically being adopted as one of their own. Markedly, you are reminded that the Bulldogs firmly belonged in the tradition of kayfabe, that facet of wrestling is real and that storylines should be incorporated into the wrestlers life off screen, for example, you do not talk to heels or interact. Dynamite thought valiantly but sometimes lines can be blurred especially when injuries are suffered and self-prescribing pain relief is used.

For the lay fan, the Bulldogs were fan favourites and Davey Boy's run in 1991-93 as a babyface culminating in headlining Summerslam at Wembley stadium opposite Bret Hart, yet one of the most fascinating aspect of the book is the delving into Dynamite's heel run in Stampede, a facet of their ring personality they wanted to adopt in WWF but to no avail. Yet interestingly, Davey Boy's return to the WWF in 1991 led to him trademarking the British Bulldog name, leaving Dynamite in the cold somewhat and causing friction between the two.

Their influence being smaller in stature to say the behemoths of Hulk Hogan the World Champion always caused a taste of resentment for Dynamite, and when he was out of the loop he would not watch WWF programming. So when Davey Boy offered an olive branch in 1992, one of the first things he told him was that Bret Hart was the champion, Dynamite's response was 'North American champion right', he could not believe Bret was the main man now. It was due to Bret's expert storytelling in the ring that led to him being given the brass ring and the figurehead of the company, something unheard of in the steroid heyday of the company. Following the steroid saga in 1991, WWF needed a new face and Bret was that, yet the Hitman would not be where he was if not for the diligence and work he put in Calgary with Tom Billington. 

Sadly, both of the Bulldogs' lives were tainted by the tar of tragedy as the workload of wrestling day-in, day-out with little respite for the body and mind leads to substance abuse of pain medication both prescription and recreational as well as copious alcohol consumption. Dynamite suffered a back injury that ultimately led to him being confined to a wheelchair, while Davey Boy sustained a cardiac arrest, an autopsy showing an enlarged heart.

For two dynamic and athletic personas, whose ability became forebearers and influential to many wrestlers such as Owen Hart and Chris Benoit (two men's whose tragic early departures are touched upon in the book), it is a shame that their lives were so tragic in their conclusion when their influence and performances brought such joy to many.

The British Bulldogs remain one of the most influential tag teams in wrestling history, duos of today such as Young Bucks and FTR use tandem offense to devastating effect, the Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation were there at the start of it for those teams to stand upon their shoulders.

This is a book this reader can heartily recommend for wrestling fans old and new, a treasure trove of back stage gossip, some stories you know and some you might not, you will come away with a greater understanding of the psyche of a professional wrestler and how quickly the pot of gold that can fall in your lap can so cruelly be taken away just as quickly.

Dynamite and Davey is out now from all book providers here 

My thanks to the author Steve Bell for the opportunity to preview this book for an honest review.

 

The WWE just got un-fiendly

Hell in the Cell is one of WWE's marquee pay-per-view's of the calendar year; a novelty gimmick match originally constructed to settle scores once and for all, a larger than life steel cage match than envelopes the ring and is meant to keep people who run away within arm's length of an opponent; outside interference was dismissed though matches regularly end up outside on the side or atop the steel structure.

Yet the Hell in the Cell has now become a reason for a pay-per-view rather than a reason to watch a PPV, with four matches perhaps taking place within the steel structure. Much like TLC has four matches decided by one or all of the consonants.

This year, HIAC was to decide the Universal Championship between Seth Rollins, who overcame Brock Lesnar at Summerslam to claim the title back, against the new enigma of the WWE, Bray Wyatt and his new alter-ego The Fiend, a masked villain who is scary as hell seemingly unstoppable and hell bent on winning the title and destroying Rollins' soul. Imagine the irresistible force of the Undertaker with the sinister malevolence of a movie stalker who will stop at nothing for victory.

The WWE Universe - the fans that the WWE seemingly mocks and trolls in equal measure - have taken to Bray Wyatt or Wyndham Rotunda since his formative years on NXT as Husky Harris.  The son of Mike Rotunda (Irwin R. Schyster) and godson of Barry Wyndham, much like second generation superstars he has wrestling in his blood. Naturally gifted and with enough ability to be married an unassailable in-ring psychology and second to none work ethic like Randy Orton and The Rock.

Wyatt works hard, does not take days off and is rarely injured yet he is seemingly road-blocked time and time again by the creative juices of the WWE writing staff and mainly the bookers once it gets to in-ring action.

The ending of Rollins-Fiend at HIAC this year ended with a disqualification finish in a Hell in a Cell match, that's right a DQ finish in a no holds barred match as the referee called for the bell to end the action when Rollins threw too many weapons on the Fiend. This was after he had been stomped on numerous occasions, pedigreed, kicked to the head and the Fiend promptly kicked out at one.

While the commentary and booking hoped to have Rollins overcome the monster with wrestling moves, the Fiend would not lay down and kept rising to his knees. The Fiend ultimately had the last word planting the champion with Sister Abigail on the outside.

Further, the whole match took place in a red wash of light meaning that most of the action was not able to be seen on coverage so goodness knows how it played out live in the arena. That coupled with the Dusty of Dusty finishes, led to loud boos and heckles of 'AEW', 'Refund' and 'Bullshit' from the capacity crowd.

In a week, when AEW broke onto mainstream cable television with their debut showing on TNT with Dynamite, and winning the first television ratings battle with WWE Nxt on USA Network; it was already a bad week for the WWE.

Then came the debut episode of Smackdown on FOX which was going well until Brock Lesnar defeated Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship in 9 seconds ending Kofi's reign since Wrestlemania; thus ending a feel good story. That angle finished with Lesnar being stared down, not by a wrestler but by an ex-MMA fighter Cain Velazquez; a man of limited wrestling ability yet he and Lesnar will square off at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia later this month.

Now you have a WWE PPV ending in the worst possible way, with everything that is bad about WWE being front and centre and laying claim to not caring about what the fans want at all and caring more about shareholders now they have signed this huge deal with FOX.

Much like when Bray Wyatt was on an unstoppable tear when he first appeared in the WWE, he was going one on one with John Cena at Wrestlemania 30 in New Orleans, it was geared up for the fan favourite to be beaten by a favourite of the marks and the era of Cena-nation be ended as Cena looked towards a post-WWE career.  Yet it did not transpire, Cena won and made the formidable Wyatt look soft in defeat.

Wyatt had to go back to the drawing board, he had battles with Daniel Bryan, before becoming a mockery of himself despite garnering his first world title at Elimination Chamber in 2017, yet losing it to Randy Orton in a god-awful match at that years Wrestlemania in Orlando.  A clash with Deleted Matt Hardy led to a backyard brawl where he was thrown in a river and cleansed of his evil to be reborn as Hardy's tag partner leading to a tag title run which was then itself deleted.

Wyatt has all the tools to be a great world champion but for some reason backstage are reluctant to get behind him fully be it his size or their naivety to have a true villain as the main champion, yet Chris Jericho is a villain now on AEW and it will work wonders for their week to week shows.

The WWE are in the old problem of having a champion who finally gets the title still be relevant, this a problem that has gone on for years with many talents; the chase is so much better that being caught. When Daniel Bryan finally won the World Title at that same WM when Wyatt lost to Cena, he was thrust into a bad battle with Kane - ex-tag team partner who did not deserve any title shot. It is as if once the title is won what more is there to do with a champion, yet in history you had Hulk Hogan overcome many a challenger for close to three years, even CM Punk held the title for over a calendar year. That was a mixture of booking, good opponents and story telling.

Yet because Rollins retained the title what now for the title picture, is the Fiend still the No. 1 contender even though he lost and there is the rule now with no immediate rematches for defeated challengers of title matches. Rollins is team captain of Team Hogan versus Team Flair for a showdown at Crown Jewel, will the Fiend be facing off against Rollins there or is that unlikely to materialise due to the sensitive nature of the Fiend being present in a Middle Eastern country which may not take favourably to a controversial character. Hopefully the Fiend will not be lost to vignettes and he will become a regular factor on television with or without the mask

The WWE need to address their air of invincibility; they may well have a problem with creative writing as the AEW shows a freshness both in terms of talent and in-ring ability, while the matches now are run of the mill warfare, finishers and catchphrases.

If they are not careful they may get stuck in the slipstream and risk being left standing still while others overtake them; that starts with taking threats to superiority with seriousness and not dismissing their now clever fanbase with disdain; wrestling fans are smarter now with more knowledge of backstage antics and histrionics coupled with office politics. Finally, it is sometimes good to give the people what they want, and what they want is to be a friend to the business, not be treated as the enemy.

Fantastic Carell offers master class in Foxcatcher

FOXCATCHER (Bennett Miller, US, 2014)

Bennett Miller's third feature based on actual or true stories follows the odd occurence of billionaire eccentric John Du Pont (Steve Carell) funding the Dave and Mark Schultz in the run up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics in pursuit of a Gold medal in Freestyle wrestling, having both won gold medals at the Los Angeles games of 1984.

Mark, convincingly played by the ever improving Channing Tatum, is younger brother to Dave (Mark Ruffalo) the highly respected elder who is both coach, trainer and an accomplished wrestler in his own life.  Post-Olympics you see how even Gold medallists struggle day to day with life going from training session to training session, accepting elementary school speaking engagements for a measly $20.  There is no money once the glory has worn off, and so the promise of a steady income from Du Pont - in this case $25,000 - along with world class facilities and living arrangements is too big of a carrot for Mark to ignore. Team Foxcatcher is born

However, once in the Du Pont circle, things become very psychological between the two as a need for something in the relationship is apparent and something they lack is found. For Du Pont it is esteem from peers and colleagues, having grown up with no friends that his wealthy mother did not pay for; and for Mark the chance to have what resembles a father-son relationship.

Glory comes at the World Championships in France and then Dave with crises all coming to a head in preparation for Seoul, Dave becomes the hand to guide Mark and thus dismissing Du Pont from the circle of trust.  Mark grows resentful of Du Pont and following the Olympics leaves Foxcatcher for Brigham Young University. Dave stays on board as coach for the team but the withdrawl of Mark, Du Pont's ideal man, from his home leads Du Pont to shoot and kill Dave.

Considering the pedestal the United States of America puts its champions and Gold medallists on to during and after their career to this elevated status of immortality, it is surprising that this story involving athletes and billionaires did not garner a documentary or feature film beforehand.  It encompasses those great American traditions - endeavour, wealth and power.

Yet the film which although a great character study in psychological deteoriation and disintegration feels like more an acting showcase for the three fine leads which is let down by some sloppy direction.

This is not to denigrate Mr. Miller who has done some fine work with Capote and Moneyball but he seems to garner great acting performances from his cast and yet he is devoid of any artistic style of his own.  There is no panache or flair with the camera, although the film does not warrant it and no mise-en-scene stylistics with very much an observant camera from the medium distance throughout.  The tone for this film is very grey and unloving, perhaps to reflect the lack of warmth and love in the lives of Du Pont and Mark, the only time colour appears on the screen is when Dave is on screen - from his white trousers of his suit when he arrives at Foxcatcher to his happy BBQ at his home with family and friends in contrast to the drab home of Mark.

Steve Carell more famously known for his comedic roles is amazing in the role of Du Pont, only a comedian could deliver a line like, 'My friends call me Eagle or Golden Eagle', with a straight face and he gets to the core of the character as someone who although powerful and rich is very much unfulfilled. Much like Robin Williams' best dramatic roles, he can find the sorry in the self.

Tatum is continuing this trend of creating a great body of work irrespective of how you feel about his body image and Ruffalo is the calm centre amongs the storm, stooping around the screen and being the equal to Carell.

Foxcatcher is out now in cinemas from Entertainment One.

It garnered Oscar nominations for Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actor (Carell) and Supporting Actor (Ruffalo)

The Ultimate Warrior

Only four days after he was inducted into his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame on a Saturday evening, news broke of the death of James Hellwig, the Ultimate a Warrior at the age of 54. Whilst the cause of death was not reported, his use of stimulants during his initial run of WWE will no doubt have a factor.

Considering the number of appearances he had made over the weekend, and his presence on the Wrestlemania XXX pay per view and the live Monday Night Raw telecast, it makes the sudden death all the more shocking and saddening.

Along which the death of Macho Man Randy Savage last year, the work of wrestling has lost two of its biggest and recognisable icons; and while their deaths are not comparable to those of Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero and even, Chris Benoit where we lost those superstars during their prime.  The death of the Warrior is all the more prophetic as their was a lot of talk about legacy over the weekend.

Legacy is important to the WWE - their new tag line being 'Then, Now, Forever' - and three superstars talked about their legacy over the pay per view.  John Cena said he was fighting Bray Wyatt for his legacy after 12 years of competing. And in the match between Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, two legacies were effected.  Brock Lesnar's is enhanced by becoming the only man to defeat the Phenom at the Show of the Immortals, and the Undertaker chose his last match to be that of a defeat.

The Ultimate Warrior was one of the WWE's biggest stars during the late 1980s and early 1990s due to his physical presence, high intensity and hysterical microphone promotions.  He was much mimicked but equally adored.  Warrior was larger than life in every sense of the word, it is a shame at the stimulants that helped him become larger is the item attributable to his unfortunate death.

Whilst Warrior will never be recognised as the greatest technician in wrestling history, his style nonetheless transcended, you need only look at he fan reaction when he won his first Intercontinental title against the Honky Tonk Man at Summerslam 1988; the crowd erupts in rapture.

He was engaged with some great matches, two that come to mind are the Intercontinental title match versus Rick Rude at Summerslam 1989 and the Career Ending match versus Randy Savage at Wrestlemania VII.  Two matches where two better wrestlers carried Warrior to create good chemistry.

For me though I am glad that the Ultimate Warrior was allowed to make peace with the WWE and Vince McMahon, have one more moment in the spotlight to add to his legacy and hopefully he passed