Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Dynamite Kid.


An excellent promo for what I'm assuming is the first "shoot" interview with the Dynamite Kid. Makes him look like some sort of human monster.
The Dynamite Kid's autobiography is in my top five wrestler biographies. An excellent, self deprecating, and insightful book. He's a bitter, honest, tough guy.
The Dynamite Kid is probably best known for being one half of the WWF 80's superstar tag-team, The British Bulldogs. The Dynamite Kid retired due to prolonged and recurring injuries he sustained to his back, in the ring. He is now in a wheel chair.
Before signing with the WWF in 1984, The Dynamite Kid wrestled a lot in Japan. His series of matches with Tiger Mask are legendary and revolutionary. Their matches would change wrestling in Japan, the U.S., and Mexico. To borrow a quote from wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer, it was "a catalyst for elevation of the product, for sure."
Below, their feud lands on U.S. soil. On August 30,1982 in Madison Square Garden the two met in a preliminary match. They were only given eight and a half minutes. At the time, only big men were the superstars in the WWF, that was the culture. WWF fans bought into this.The light-heavyweight title was held by a Japanese wrestler and almost exclusively defended abroad. Fans just didn't care about the little guys.
Listen to the crowd as the ring announcer does his work before the match.Silence. No one cares.
Within two minutes the crowd is on their feet. There was no internet, the tape trading community was tiny, Japanese matches did not air on American television. This way of wrestling was somethine new, and it was something mind blowing. High flying and hard hitting. Watch The Dynamite Kid's knee drop from the second rope, unbelievably stiff. The ropes are extremely loose, they were not meant to be jumped off of. HA.
These two wrestlers have been imitated through the years. Finishing moves have been created from their basic move set. The Tiger Mask character started as a cartoon character but is still around as a wrester, I think they are on Tiger Mask VI.
I can't wait to hear The Dynamite Kid's stories.

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