Tyson Kidd Says He’s At Peace With Retirement, Enjoys Producing WWE’s Women’s Division
(Photo by Josh Brasted/WireImage)
Former WWE Tag Team Champion and current WWE producer, Tyson Kidd recently spoke to Spencer Love of Win Column Sports in Canada.
During the interview, Tyson Kidd, whose real name is TJ Wilson, spoke openly about his retirement, wanting to get back into the ring for a Royal Rumble, and why he enjoys producing the women of WWE. Spencer passed along the following highlights to WrestleZone.
If seeing Edge return has inspired him to get tested:
“It’s funny, man, and I know it’s going to keep happening as different guys come back throughout the years. Like, when Bryan (Daniel Bryan) came back, I got a lot of tweets and a lot of messages, and now with Edge, and now I get a lot including both of them. I get it. The difference is I just have a very different injury. If you look at Edge, his neck surgery’s through the front of his neck because, as weird as this sounds – like, this sounds, I almost hate saying it, but like, where his fusions were, that’s almost the – this is the part I hate saying, because it just sounds so dumb, but it’s almost where the normal fusions in wrestling are, between your C5, your C6 and your C7. I have my C1 and C2 fused, which is as high up as it goes. That’s why mine’s in the back of my neck, they didn’t go through the front. But, my surgeon was amazing and he did save a lot of the muscle. And, I know – I get it. People will see, they know, especially I have Workhorse Fitness, (a) supplement company that I’ve created. So, I post a lot of workout videos, and you see pictures of me in shape, and I am in physical shape in terms of working out in a gym. (It’s) very different than ring shape. I’m sure I’m in horrible ring shape right now, but I do attack that damn assault bike daily, so maybe I would be alright. But, (it’s) very different between looking good wearing a pair of shorts in my garage and wrestling in a ring. It’s very, very different.”
On enjoying his position as a WWE producer:
“I did, one time, over the past couple years look into maybe doing a little something in a Royal Rumble, just kind of as that, so that could be my last chapter, so the last time you see me is, y’know, this little thing, and it didn’t work out. I did look into – I did get looked at, and things are good, but things are not at that level in terms of my neck, and y’know what? I’m at peace with everything. I haven’t wrestled in five years almost. June 1st, 2015 was my last match, and I’m at peace with it. I love what I do now, and being a part of working with the talent. Right now, at the moment, I’m working with a lot of the women and it’s very, very cool because they’re on a curve, and they’re almost playing catch-up. Like, I was explaining this the other day, and I’m sorry this is such a long answer, I was explaining this the other day. So, Money in the Bank this Sunday is going to be the fourth women’s Money in the Bank, and that’s (because) they did two that first year. They did one, and then one two weeks later. So, this is going to be the fourth woman’s Money in the Bank match. How many have the guys had? Twenty? There (were) pay-per-views before where we’d do two in a night, two guys ones. So, how many women Hell in a Cell matches have there been? Charlotte and Sasha and Becky and Sasha?
“And how many men’s Hell in a Cell matches have there been? Know what I’m saying? There’s been, like, three women’s Royal Rumbles. There’s been thirty guys’ Royal Rumbles! So, like, we’re playing catch-up, and I love – right now, I work with the women a lot, and I love it. I absolutely love it, because they’re so good. They’re so good, and they’re so hungry, and they – they remind me of a better version of me in like 2011. In 2011, I had a big chip on my shoulder, and I felt like I had a lot to prove every time I went out there. It led to good performances, but sometimes backstage, I could be – not to the talent, but just in general – I could be angry. I always will make jokes about 2011 Tyson, but he’s long gone. But, that chip on the shoulder, and that (mentality) performance-wise? All of the women right now have that, and it’s like, I love being a part of it. I get so much joy out of watching them, and being a part of that process, that like – I know there’s maybe at least one fan out there that will be sad, but I don’t have that need at this stage to get back in the ring, and I don’t think that I will. I had a 20-year-career.”
Who he would like to wrestle if he could ever get back in the ring for WWE:
“Dude, there are a million what-ifs. Right after I got hurt – I say this to the both of them all the time – right after I got hurt, Gable and Jordan, they started coming up, and I was like ‘oh my god, we’ve got the same dynamic, like me and Cesaro, a bigger guy and then the little guy.’ Like, man, I would love to wrestle Roman Reigns. I would love to wrestle Gable, or Shorty G, I would love to. I’ve wrestled Seth (Rollins) before, not on TV, but I’d love to wrestle Seth, or Dolph (Ziggler) again, anyone that I had wrestled before, I’d love to wrestle these guys. I’d love to wrestle these other guys for the first time ever, like a Gable. Believe me, I sit and think about it, but it’s just, unfortunately – I also am realistic, and I’m not – it doesn’t eat at me, and I’m okay with it.”
You can listen to the full interview at this link.