What’s the story?
WWE producer Tyson Kidd spoke with SLAM! Wrestling for an interview and discussed the dark match with Samoa Joe that ended his in-ring career.
In case you didn't know...
Back on June 1, 2015, Tyson Kidd would face Samoa Joe in a dark match. It was the first time ever that these two wrestling veterans faced each other in a match. Unfortunately for Kidd, it was also the last time.
The former WWE RAW Tag Team Champion suffered an injury due to the muscle buster from Joe. A week later, WWE confirmed that Kidd suffered severe neck and spinal injuries as a result of the move, which forced the wrestling veteran to retire from in-ring competition.
The heart of the matter
Speaking with SLAM! Wrestling, Tyson Kidd recalled the moment Joe hit the muscle buster on him:
"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.'"
Kidd believes he had his hands in the wrong position for the finish, which is 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."
Kidd underwent an MRI at a hospital in San Antonio. Once the results were ready, The doctor told him not to move and said Kidd's disc hit his spinal cord, which is the reason he saw the white light. Kidd was told the injury he suffered is called a spinal cord concussion. The doctor told him "this is really bad."
"I didn't fracture my neck, I didn't break it, but technically it's actually worse. The ligament holding the C2 ruptured, so my disc hit my spinal cord," Kidd said. "That's what caused the temporary paralysis. You don't have to sever your spinal cord to be paralyzed for life. You could just touch it and be paralyzed for life."
What’s next?
Check out the full SLAM! Wrestling interview where Kidd continues his full details on the injury that caused his career to be over and when Vince McMahon offered him a job as a WWE producer.
Kidd revealed earlier this year that he has no ill-will towards Samoa Joe and wished the Smackdown Live star the best luck in his career.