Bret Hart Played Interesting Role In Recent AEW Debut

Bret Hart’s influence in wrestling runs deep.

On May 11th, Tommy Billington stepped into an AEW ring for the first time. Although he impressed fans with his performance Billington came up short against Dax Harwood, before suffering another defeat Konosuke Takeshita on July 10th.

Aside from his in-ring skills, Billington caught the eye by using the ‘Dynamite Kid’ moniker in homage to his legendary uncle. Although the 23-year-old British star never used the name previously, he wrestled in a tag team with his brother Mark under the name The Billington Bulldogs as a nod to the British Bulldogs.

Bret Hart Told Tommy Billington To Use Famous Nickname

During an appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Billington told Aubrey Edwards and Will Washington that it was actually Bret Hart who convinced him to become the ‘Dynamite Kid.’ The Brit said he remained hesitant for a long time before eventually giving in.

“Actually, I was never going to use the moniker Dynamite Kid. It was actually up until two weeks before AEW before I started using it. I was really funny about using it because I didn’t want people to get the wrong impression that I’m just leeching off that sort of name just to boost [myself]. I always thought, I want to make a name for myself. So for the longest time, I just went by Tom Billington.

Two weeks before my AEW debut, I was in Bret’s house just having dinner with him. He told me, ‘Tom, I really think you should use that Dynamite Kid name. It’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 was kind of like, I get where you’re coming from Bret but I really don’t want to.

It took like weeks of him being like, ‘I urge you to use it, it will do you good and people won’t ever doubt you. They’ll see how you work, just like him.’ After a few weeks, I was like you know what, I’ll give it a test run.

Two shows of using it, it got really over and people were like, yeah, no doubt, you look so much like him. I get it everyday, you look so much like him it freaks me out, it takes me back to the 1980s with Stampede Wrestling. So when AEW was like [putting me on] Dynamite and Collision, of course I’ll use it. Ever since, it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made to be honest with you.”

Bret Hart has previously appeared for AEW, unveiling the AEW World Championship belt at Double or Nothing in 2019.

H/t to Fightful