Pure Dynamite: The Price you Pay for Wrestling Stardom

Rating:
Summary: "Pure Dynamite" is right!
Review: This book is quite explosive, as it blows the roof off many issues in the world of wrestling. As a wrestling expose, it works really well, but I think that it works even better as a personal memoir. Tom Billington didn't hire a ghost writer to enhance his writing style or anything of that sort. This is a very bare-bones approach to writing and autobiography. It's unfortunate that this book is now out of print, because it's really good, and also because The Dynamite Kid, despite being one of the best and most influential wrestlers of all time, has been ignored completely the last several years. Long may your classic matches live, Dynamite!

Rating:
Summary: "Pure Dynamite" is right!
Review: This book is quite explosive, as it blows the roof off many issues in the world of wrestling. As a wrestling expose, it works really well, but I think that it works even better as a personal memoir. Tom Billington didn't hire a ghost writer to enhance his writing style or anything of that sort. This is a very bare-bones approach to writing and autobiography. It's unfortunate that this book is now out of print, because it's really good, and also because The Dynamite Kid, despite being one of the best and most influential wrestlers of all time, has been ignored completely the last several years. Long may your classic matches live, Dynamite!

Rating:
Summary: Not a Foley status book, and I don't mean Mick...
Review: This book was portrayed to be about the "darker side" as opposed to the lighter side, as in Mick Foley's "Have A Nice Day", but it really ends up being Dynamite Kid's bitter feelings towards the sport and people around him. I don't pretend to know the problems between him and Davey Boy Smith, but he makes Smith out to have childlike intelligence and can't do anything without him. The book is also particularly self serving (He's the greatest thing in the f'n world) and rarely breaks kayfabe. Whereas the Foley was open and honest, this book is one long drawn out self appreciation story. If you want to read about mid 80's wrestling in the WWF and Japan, give it a shot. If your looking for a book like Foley's, tap out now...

Rating:
Summary: Hard Core
Review: This book was simply hard core and one I could not put down. Plain and simple this book put all the other wrestling books to shame, with the exception of Roddy Piper and the late Freddie Blassie.
I myself was a fan of the British Bulldogs in the heyday of the WWF in the boom of the mid 1980s. After reading Billington's book the wrestling industry looks both corrupt and seedy. I most admire how Billington tackled the drug and steroid abuse head on and admitted that he and most of the wrestlers in the business used them under their own free will. Also, I think Billington's portrait of him living life in the fast lane as a wrestler should be a warning to the stars of the WWE today. They very well could end up in a wheelchair like Billington. At the beginning of his book Billington says eventually all the fame and fortune of wrestling ends. Careers don't last forever.
As for what happened between him and and the late Davey-Boy Smith I'm sure many would say no wrestling fans had any idea about the troubles those two had in the end. This book was both revealing and a true look into the dark world of professional wrestling. Hard core from beginnng to end.
Tom Billington thanks for the many memories in the ring and thanks for giving a glimpse into the seedy world of pro wrestling.
Read this book, especially if you have any ideas about becoming a pro wrestler.

Rating:
Summary: very good book about bitter wrestler
Review: This book was very good, as it lets you in on alot of the goings on inside the business. Dynamite comes across as being very bitter, which I guess he has the right after seeing how he is in a wheelchair in his early forties. It brings to light that probably a majority of professional wrestlers are true jerks with huge egos in real life outside the ring. Dynamite is no exception. I'm sure the British Bulldog has his faults, but Dynamite portrays him as being totally useless and seems to blame him for much of his current plight. I would highly recommend this book to wrestling fans as it is very entertaining and informative.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking
Review: This is a compelling read. The Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog were on top of the wrestling industry many years ago. Tom Billington pulls no punches (pardon the pun) in this account of his rise to superstardom and the price he paid. If your idea about wrestling is that it is just a fake show and nobody gets hurt, you need to read this. He talks about the drugs, the egos, and the management decisions that can make or ruin a career. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: A Tragic Inside Look
Review: This is a compelling read. The Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog were on top of the wrestling industry many years ago. Tom Billington pulls no punches (pardon the pun) in this account of his rise to superstardom and the price he paid. If your idea about wrestling is that it is just a fake show and nobody gets hurt, you need to read this. He talks about the drugs, the egos, and the management decisions that can make or ruin a career. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!
Review: This is by far the best wrestling book I have ever got my hands on. Tom Billington tells the tremedous story of his lifein a very up front way. This books allows the reader to see what really goes on in the world of wrestling. I would suggest this book for any wrestling fan.

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for the wrestling fan.
Review: This is one of the best wrestling books of all time. It is an honest account of the career of one of the best wrestlers ever, Dynamite Kid. It pulls no punches, and no one is spared, not even Dynamite himself, even if it makes him look like less than a nice guy sometimes. This includes accounts of the drugs, the pranks (whether vicious or humourous), and the wrestling itself. It's fascinating to read about who Dynamite thinks is/was a good wrestler, because he would know. In addition, Dynamite also names the wrestlers who are the real tough guys and could handle themselves. The book is very well-written. Not as well as say, Mick Foley's books, but much better than most wrestling books. For example, the descriptions of his childhood, his early days training to become a wrestler, and his first days wrestling the circuit in England are excellent, if brief, and you feel like you are there. Also, the many instances of pranks pulled by Dynamite and sometimes by his tag partner, Davey Boy Smith, are incredibly well-told and I actually laughed out loud several times while reading them. More than that, you will learn so much about the wrestling business reading this book, from Canada's Stampede promotion to New Japan and All Japan to the WWF. The complex Hart family, the political climate between the Japanese promotions, and how Vince McMahon treated the wrestlers are all explored here, in addition to many other things, too numerous to mention. Dynamite's perspective of how each promotion was operated is very interesting reading. Heck, Dynamite's perspective on life is interesting reading--his sometimes complex thoughts on who he considers friends or enemies and why; and his thoughts on his current condition and the business that helped make him that way. "The Price you Pay for Wrestling Stardom" was the perfect title for the book.

Rating:
Summary: Best Wrestling Book Since Have a Nice day
Review: This tell all book had me feeling every emotion possible! I was laughing crying and having a ball! Dynamite tells all about working with the top names of the WWF and all the wacky pranks he used to pull on the other wrestlers on the road! He is a nice guy with a funny story to tell! You will be in stiches when you read of some of the ribs he pulled on former friend and cousin Davey Boy Smith and read in amazement how badly Davey Boy Treated him.... A must own for any true wrestling fan out there!