Dynamite Kid was the reason Chris Benoit became the wrestler he was.
The similarities between the Englishman and the Canadian are clear. Both were technically gifted and wrestled hard-hitting, fast-paced styles. Both were smaller men who had to take steroids to keep up with their vastly bigger colleagues.
They had issues with domestic violence, and injures in the ring ultimate ended their career (Dynamite Kid’s back injury, and Chris Benoit’s brain injuries). Their careers ended prematurely, and their body of work largely forgotten due to their actions outside of the ring.
While the latter comparisons aren’t ideal, the former was entirely deliberate. Benoit was a huge fan of the Dynamite Kid, and wanted to be exactly like the former WWE Tag Team Champion as a pro wrestling.
In an interview with Crippler Radio in 2000, Chris Benoit spoke about his adulation for the retired Dynamite Kid.
The former WCW Champion spoke about how he was inspired to become a wrestler after watching the Englishman wrestle for Stampede Wrestling in Canada. Not only did he want to be a wrestler, but he wanted to emulate the style Dynamite Kid had in the ring.
“I’ll never forget the first time I saw him. He was in a battle royal and, uh, yeah, just, you know, his charisma and aggressiveness and the look that he had to him in the ring. You know, from the first time I saw him, I not only knew that I wanted to be a pro wrestler, but I, you know, I thought, ‘I want to be just like him.'”
“Everything about him, everything he ever did in the ring, just always impressed me. His wrestling ability, his style, his aggressiveness, his execution to me was all, uh, you know, paramount. It was all perfect. I was 12 years old the first time I saw him live. Uh-huh, I’d seen him on TV a few times, but that first time that I saw him live, it just really, uh, struck me.”
Chris Benoit Thought About Dynamite Kid Before His WWE Matches
Chris Benoit continued. He revealed that before his matches, he would often think of the Dynamite Kid. The Canadian felt that he was representing the Englishman, and Stampede wrestling as a whole.
“A lot of times before I go to the ring, I always think about [Dynamite Kid]. Sometimes to get myself psyched up, I think about who I am and where I came from. What it means to me to be where I am today and what I represent. And a lot of times I’m out there and I feel like I’m representing a part of Dynamite Kid, a part of Stampede Wrestling. That’s where I came from, you know, those are my roots.”
He Always Tried To Be Like The Dynamite Kid
Dynamite Kid was a hero to Chris Benoit, and he always wanted to be just like him (sadly, he was in more ways than he thought).
He revealed that he would try to emulate his style as a child, and all he wanted to do was to be like Dynamite Kid.
“I always talk about how much he means to me because he’s such a big influence in my career. You know, you talk about when I first started out with Stampede Wrestling, trying to emulate his style. You know, I was 13, 14, 15 years old, wrestling in the backyard. I had my bed propped up against the wall, throwing punches and kicks, trying to emulate him. I mean, he just really influenced my style so much that a lot of what I do, you know, it comes from me trying to be like Dynamite Kid.”
