WWE producer Tyson Kidd recently spoke with SLAM! Wrestling for a lengthy interview about his career-ending neck injury and more. Here are the highlights.
Being injured while taking the Muscle Buster from Samoa Joe:
“The night of injury, it was just one of those days where the show was being changed — up to the last minute — but the show was being changed and the next thing I know it’s me against Joe in a dark match,” Kidd said. “I’d never worked Joe before. I’d of course seen him. I’m a student of the game, I’ve seen everybody. But I’d never physically worked him. When we landed on the Muscle Buster, I saw the whitest light I’ve ever seen. I thought it was a concussion for a second. I remember thinking, ‘Man, I did this whole match, completely on the fly, I pulled it off and then I get rocked at the end.'”
What caused the injury:
“I have a picture and I think my hands are in the wrong position compared to other ones I’ve seen. I wasn’t able to run through it with him (before the match),” Kidd explained. “I drop, bang, and at first I saw this light and I was like, ‘Ah, man.’ And then my whole body went limp. It felt like it weighed a million pounds. I was completely paralyzed. I was paralyzed from the neck down.”
Vince McMahon approaching him about being a producer:
“That was his idea. He thought I’d be good at it or I could get good at it,” Kidd said. “(McMahon) said to me, ‘You’ll be like me.’ I didn’t know if I’d be good at it and I didn’t know what all it entailed. I didn’t know if I would get any real fulfillment out of it. But right off the bat, maybe two weeks in, I was a part of a battle royal and I had an idea that Tye Dillinger would be one of the last three guys. I thought his ’10’ stuff was getting over and I thought it would be good and he could have a good showing. I’ve been given those same things where maybe you’re not being super featured but they throw you a little something and then see what happens out of it. The audience was completely with (Dillinger),” Kidd said. “When he came back, he was happy and I felt that fulfillment, which now I’ve felt a million times over. I love my job. I’ve been doing this now almost a year and a half and I haven’t taken a week off yet.”
