Tommy Billington says Bret Hart convinced him to use the nickname “Dynamite Kid.”
Billington refused to use the nickname before joining AEW, citing that he wanted to make a name for himself rather than capitalize on his uncle’s legacy.
In a new interview with AEW’s “Unrestricted” podcast, Tommy Billington spoke with Aubrey Edwards and Will Washington about how Bret Hart convinced him to use the nickname just two weeks before his AEW debut.
“I actually never wanted to use the nickname Dynamite Kid. I didn’t use it until two weeks before AEW. I thought it was really weird to use it because I didn’t want people to get the wrong impression that I was just reveling in that name to push (myself). I always thought I wanted to make a name for myself. So for a long time I just called myself Tom Billington. Two weeks before my AEW debut, I was at Bret’s house and had dinner with him. He told me, ‘Tom, I really think you should use that name Dynamite Kid. That’s your name too because you look so much like him, you talk like him, you even walk like him.’ I reminded him so much of him that it scared him a little bit. So at first I thought, I understand what you mean, Bret, but I really don’t want to. It was weeks before he said, ‘I challenge you to use it, it will do you good and people will never doubt you. They will see you work, just like him.’ After a couple of weeks I was like, you know what, I’m going to give it a try. After two shows of using it, it was really over and people were saying, yeah, no doubt, you look so much like him. I get it every day, you look so much like him it freaks me out, it takes me back to the 1980s with Stampede Wrestling. So when AEW sent me to Dynamite and Collision, of course I used it. Since then, to be honest, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Billington last wrestled for AEW on the July 10 edition of AEW Collision, competing in a singles match against Konosuke Takeshita.
Click here to read Billington’s recent comments on Don Callis and how he chops up and spits out wrestlers.
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