The British Bruisers were a
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
tag team who competed in
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...
and
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
. The team consisted of
The Dynamite Kid
Thomas Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler.
Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), ...
and
Johnny Smith
Johnny Henry Smith II (June 25, 1922 – June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist. He wrote "Walk, Don't Run" in 1954. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
Early life
During the Great D ...
. The Bruisers were created by
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...
as part of a promotional angle in which Kid turned heel on longtime tag partner
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
.
History
Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith formed The British Bruisers in Stampede Wrestling in May 1989, after the breakup of
The British Bulldogs
The British Bulldogs were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. They competed throughout the 1980s in Britain, North America and Japan and have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in h ...
, feuding with
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
, until the promotion's closure in December 1989. In September 1990, Davey Boy Smith pulled out of the yearly
World's Strongest Tag Determination League
__NOTOC__
The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually ...
to return to the
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
.
For the upcoming tag league, The British Bruisers reunited, for the 1990 WSTL, and they would ultimately finish in 9th place with 6 points.
For the rest of 1990 and all of 1991, The Bruisers continued to team in All Japan. For the most part, the Bruisers were used in the midcard and never made challenges for the
World Tag Team Championship
The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions.
Nomenclature
The name of the promo ...
. On April 6, 1991, the team won their only title when they defeated
Kenta Kobashi
is a Japanese former professional wrestler. He started his career in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1988, where he became one of the promotion's top stars, holding the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship three times, and winning the Champ ...
and
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
(born November 21, 1964) is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is best known for All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Kikuchi idolized and patterned his style after the Dynamite Kid.
Professional wrestling career
All Ja ...
to win the vacated
All Asia Tag Team Championship
The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...
.
The Bruisers would hold the titles for 2 weeks before they lost the titles to
Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat on April 20, 1991. During their title reign both Dynamite and Smith took part in the 1991
Champion Carnival
The is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since ...
with Dynamite finishing 3rd in his block while Smith finished 6th in his block.
After losing the titles, the Bruisers would continue to remain in the midcard as they would never win another title and were left off several Budokan shows.
In late 1991, Dynamite's body began to fall apart to years of injuries and steroid use. The Bruisers wrestled their last tour for All Japan by competing in the 1991 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. The team would finish in 10th place with 6 points. On December 6, 1991, Dynamite Kid wrestled his retirement match teaming with Smith to defeat
Johnny Ace
John Marshall Alexander Jr. (June 9, 1929 – December 25, 1954), known by the stage name Johnny Ace, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer. He had a string of hit singles in the mid 1950s. Alexander died of an accidental self-inflicted guns ...
and
Sonny Beach.
Aftermath
Dynamite's retirement wouldn't last. A year and a half later on July 29, 1993, the Bruisers teamed one last time as they lost to Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and
Jun Akiyama
is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to DDT Pro-Wrestling, where he is a former KO-D Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he was the president, representative director, c ...
.
Dynamite would continue to wrestle in his native
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
between January to April 1994. He would wrestle one more time in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
on October 10, 1996 for
Michinoku Pro Wrestling
(originally known as North Eastern Wrestling) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded by The Great Sasuke on October 1, 1992. It was the first independent wrestling promotion in Japan to not base its operations in Tokyo, but rather ...
in a six man tag team match teaming with
Kuniaki Kobayashi
Kuniaki Kobayashi (小林邦昭) (born January 11, 1956) is a retired Japanese Junior Heavyweight professional wrestler most notable for being the generational rival of the famous Tiger Mask character in Japanese pro wrestling. He wrestled nume ...
and
Dos Caras
José Luis Rodríguez Arellano (born February 21, 1951) is a Mexican '' Luchador Enmascarado'' (masked professional wrestler) who wrestles under the ring name Dos Caras (Spanish for "two faces"). His most active years were in the 1970s and 1980 ...
to defeat
Tiger Mask
is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...
,
The Great Sasuke
, born July 18, 1969), is a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and politician, currently wrestling for Michinoku Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring name . Aside from professional wrestling, he is also a former Iwate Prefectural Assembly ...
, and
Mil Mascaras
Mil, mil, or MIL may refer to:
Places
* Mil, Syria, a village in Syria
* Mil, Azerbaijan, a municipality in Beylagan Rayon
* Mil, Markazi, a village in Markazi Province, Iran
* Metropolitan area of Milan ( IATA code: MIL), Italy
* Mill Hill Br ...
before needing to use a
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
.
Smith continued to wrestle in All Japan for another decade winning the All Asia Tag Team Championship a second time in 1998 with
Wolf Hawkfield
The following is a list of characters from the ''Virtua Fighter'' fighting game series released by Sega. Starting with ''Virtua Fighter'', this series has spanned five games (not including updates) and has been released on arcade systems as well ...
and winning the Unified World Tag Team Championship in 2001 with
Taiyo Kea before eventually retiring after a much-publicized April 2003 hospitalization.
Championships and accomplishments
*
All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
**
All Asia Tag Team Championship
The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). It was created on November 16, 1955, in the Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) when King Kong Czaya and Tiger Joginder Singh defeated JWA fou ...
(
1 time)
**World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fair Play Award (1990, 1991)
*
Tokyo Sports
is a Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1960.
See also
* Tokyo Sports Film Award
* Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards
The are Japanese professional wrestling, or ''puroresu'', awards that have been handed out by the ''Tokyo Sports'' mag ...
**Special Achievement (1991) - Dynamite Kid
References
External links
Dynamite Kid profile at Online World of WrestlingThe British Bruisers profile at Cagematch.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Bruisers
All Japan Pro Wrestling teams and stables