Tyson Kidd was recently a guest of The New Day podcast, Feel The Power. Here are the most notable points of the show.

Coming full circle

“My tryout match for WWE was against Kofi. I wrestled him, I was unsigned. Then I got signed, got my work visa, came back from Deep South. Then I wrestled Kofi, we have done iterations of singles matches, tag matches. All the way through to producer. I was supposed to produce Kofi and Bryan at Wrestlemania for Kofimania.”

On his tryout match

“It was very cool for me to wrestle you on my tryout. When I’m under contract, these strangers are about to be people you are with five days a week at least. I was brand new to Deep South but it felt familiar to wrestle Kofi because that was who I wrestled on my tryout match. Right off the bat, I could tell you were a cool person, easy to wrestle. I was nervous but it helped ease me into everything. Then we transitioned into FCW a week later.”

Breaking the rules

“So there are a lot of rules to the matches. The first four matches that weren’t going to be televised are not allowed to do a lot of stuff. They were very handcuffed. I wrestled Brian Cage, who wasn’t under contract at the time. It turns out to be the last Deep South show. I think Dr Tom Prichard knew that and told me to go all out and display my stuff, help Brian get signed. I was only there for three to four weeks and went “OK I will do my best to help this guy out.” It was a babyface vs babyface match, we thought that certain rules didn’t really apply to us. I tried to go all out and showcase what we can do. The next day we are watching film and press pause, Jody (Hamilton, Head of Deep South) swings his chair and says “If I shoot a machine gun, how many bullets is that?” And I look and there’s thirty pairs of eyes looking at me. I feel like there is a real answer to this. I just said “I’m from Canada so we don’t get guns, I don’t play with them.” Everyone laughed. Jody then said “If I pull out a revolver and go bang, bang, bang! How many is that?” Uh three? He then goes “So which would you rather use?” I was thinking, what’s the situation? I said “yeah I see your point.” But I didn’t actually see his point.”

He has a great memory

“Times I would actually study for a test, I would do really well because it was so fresh. I could recall it. It hasn’t always been wrestling, but wrestling has been so much of my focus. I was telling someone the other day I was sat in biology class but recalling all the ways I could work someone’s leg. I couldn’t tell you one thing that happened in that biology class but I could recall what was on that piece of paper. My memory has always been like that.”

On his beginnings

“I started when I was fourteen and had my first match at fifteen. It isn’t normal in that area but Teddy and I both started at the same age. No one under eighteen came into the dungeon outside of us. The Dungeon was very intimidating and very scary. Wrestling these three hundred pound guys, some were amateur wrestling coaches. We would train from eight until ten amateur wrestling. We drive to the dungeon and train from eleven. One of the guys was supposed to be the amateur wrestling champion of Canada. They don’t understand the art of wrestling yet. They are just throwing me around, it was very scary. A lot of people might think being close to the family made it easier. It wasn’t, if anything it made it harder. I didn’t have it any easier, I didn’t have an easy ride. If I didn’t have it hard prior, I would have quit at some stage down the road.”

How it started

“Initially my cousin showed me some wrestling. It was Demolition vs Killer Bees. I went home and wanted to try some moves out on my younger sisters, which didn’t end too well. Wrestling became a banned TV show in my house. Teddy Hart befriended me when I was ten years old. His family is so involved with wrestling that all of a sudden I was just surrounded by it. Bret vs Bulldog (Summerslam 1992) was the match where it clicked. This is what I’m going to do. I can’t explained why it gripped me like that.”

Live Show tales

“We just wrestled on Smackdown in Dallas, then we went onto the European tour. We wake up early Wednesday morning and fly all day Wednesday. With the time change, you end up landing in Europe Thursday morning, and we have a show that night. Nobody has a proper adjustment of the schedule. I feel like we were all pretty tired. We just switch it on the fly, me and Cesaro do face and you do heel. But is Nottingham going to react the same way as Belfast? I remember being in Poland on that tour, they were seven weeks behind on that tour. The New Day cut a positive promo, then we came out and they cheered us and booed you. We should have wrestled The Usos for half the tour but they were injured. Just because things were like that on tour, it didn’t mean it would be like that when we get back.”

On his neck injury

“I don’t know if it’s the injury, my age or a combination. Whenever I get complimented I get super emotional. I do trully appreciate it. When I got the MRI results, they don’t want to alarm you at first. Cesaro is there pretty much for this whole thing. Of course Natty is there. It’s almost like a SWAT team style I’m not allowed to take my shirt off. They say a slight movement could be very catastrophic. I thought they were exaggerating it, I know my neck is hurt but maybe they are using extra precaution. They had to do another MRI because they didn’t believe the results of the first one. They said 99% of people do not survive this. Cesaro says “This guy could be the 1%, you don’t know this guy.” Cesaro left at 5am and is there at 9am with Chipotle and Starbucks. He just makes it back in time to see the doctor. The doctor says the MRI results are what the first one shows, we want to do emergency surgery. He then said your wrestling career is over. During the night I came to that conclusion in my head. I look over and see Cesaro wiping a tear away. Natty then interjected. She said to to the doctor “Are you the best?” He responded “I’m not the best but I can do it.” Natayla then said “No with WWE we have access to the best. With the injury at this level, only the best will cut it.” For two days I was waiting for an airlift. I wasn’t on any painkillers but they would come in and check my vitals, my heart rate and blood pressure. They inject me with blood thinners in case I do have to fly. I started getting irritable because I knew I wasn’t flying yet. The TV was small and the bed was uncomfortable. I said to the staff “You can’t hold me.” They then said “Sir you have injuries similar to Christopher Reeve, the truth is you should have suffocated right there. 5% of people who have this injury survive. Of that five, 99% are completely paralysed.” Then it really sunk in. The fact she broke it down like that hit me. I then realised however long it takes, it was a lot better than it could have been. I understand the process now.”

Rehab and recovery

“After surgery they told me to not move it a lot. It was the opposite of what I like to do. It definitely was a process for me. Telling myself that not doing anything today would be a benefit. Not how I am wired. To go from working five days a week to zero. When you break your neck you make new friends with other who have too. I was texting Kurt Angle and Steve Austin. I knew the chances of wrestling were very slim. I couldn’t lie on my stomach, I didn’t have that range of motion. When I came back as a producer, I would sneak something in there. I did a rumble elimination demonstration. Now that I have my ring, this ring is now mine. I can try springboards. I won’t ever take another bump. I felt OK after taking a landing.”

On a comeback

” I wanted to write that final page in the book of me being an in ring wrestler. I thought what better way than the Royal Rumble. I wouldn’t have to get slammed. I talked with Vince. He called me and said they put a lot of thought in it, but what if something outside our realm happened and it were to undo all the good things that have happened over the past few years. Why risk that? I imagined I’m on the steps and a fan rushes me and whiplashes me? I had this visual of a guy pushes me? What happens three months later at the Hall of Fame? Someone comes and pushes Bret Hart. Yes it would be cool if I could write the final page, but I can’t I don’t think. So weeks prior I had those anxiety dreams. When Vince told me he put a lot of thought into it, I was 40% disappointed and 60% relieved. I felt that anxiety leave. I do get a lot of fulfillment out of the matches that I produce. On special occasions where they are really fiery. I get the same feeling that I would if it was me.”

Image Credit

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