Tyson Kidd talks fan selling Owen Hart Memorial Card, praises Cesaro, talks NXT and his Workhorse Fitness Supplement line
Currently in a role as a producer backstage for WWE, Tyson Kidd is a former multiple-time Tag Team Champion. He has held the belts alongside his long-time friend Harry Smith (known as David Hart Smiith at the time, currently wrestling as Davey Boy Smith Jr) as well as current WWE Superstar and tag-team specialist, Cesaro. He was forced to retire due to an unfortunate injury that occurred in a dark match against Samoa Joe before the June 1, 2015 episode of RAW. I recently had a chance to sit down with Kidd and briefly discuss his life and career.
The audio for this interview is available at the end of the article.
SK: Hey everyone, Lee Walker here, and I am here with WWE Producer Tyson Kidd. Tyson, what was it like winning the tag-team titles for the first time as The New Hart Foundation?
Kidd: It was an awesome feeling. I watched that match not too long ago, and the reaction from the crowd, we were in Richmond, Virginia, is awesome. What was cool about it was my first ever match almost 15 years prior, is a tag match with Harry, David Hart Smith. So, to get that stamp, and validation that we were meant to be a tag-team, and here's the proof with the WWE Tag Team Titles.
It was a cool moment and a cool accomplishment. I don't know if anyone would have guessed that 15 years earlier, that at 15 and Harry 9 years old, or however old he was in that match, we looked the same size but I'm about five years older than him. Now he's much than me, but at least I had some size on him at one stage in life.
SK: After being on the main roster, you were given a chance to shine as a singles competitor down at NXT. Did you prefer being a singles competitor or being part of a tag team?
Kidd: Man, I had a lot of fun in NXT. It wasn't that I got to show everyone what I could do, because I learned about what I could do. I learned a lot about myself, and I developed and expanded who I was and what I could do in terms of character-wise.
That's a tough question, though. I love a great singles match, but I think I excelled and had a lot of success in WWE as a tag team, and I mentioned this to people the yesterday, and even Sheamus talked teaming with Cesaro thinking it was a year, year and a half, we teamed up for six months. In those six months, we created this body of work that people still talk to me about all the time, as well as the success with David Hart Smith as well.
The fact that I got a chance to prove myself as a tag team and win the tag titles five years after winning them previously, it was a cool accomplishment to me that I was able to kind of find myself, and re-invent myself and accomplish that again.
As much as I like a lot of my singles matches, there's something about the chemistry and teaming with somebody is something I think I excelled in and able to bring out the best in my opponents, but also my partners. That's what I truly believe.
SK: Speaking of Cesaro, what was it like teaming with him, and winning the gold? I know you mentioned you were only together a short time.
Kidd: Yeah, man, we brought something out of each other. He (Cesaro) was on that first NXT Takeover, Arrival -- he had that awesome match with Sami Zayn. I was on the next two Takeovers against Neville and the four-way battle against Sami, Neville, and Tyler Breeze.
It was almost like our careers in some funny way were mimicking each other. A few weeks before we teamed up, we did a triple threat with myself, Cesaro, and Dolph Ziggler in Liverpool. I'm very proud of that match. If you go back and watch that match, Cesaro and I did some double teams and stuff. I don't know where the idea came from to throw us together, but I'm glad it happened.
We'd only been teaming for like two months when we won the tag-team titles. Then, to go into WrestleMania as tag-team champions, if you had told me a month prior, I wouldn't have thought that was going to be the case at all. It was awesome.
At that point, I had already gone through my knee injury. I knew what it was like to be away from the ring. How grateful I was to be back and be back on the main roster. I didn't try my best not to take things for granted. It's hard sometimes when you're like in the bubble to not get lost in that, but I took everyday teaming with Cesaro, and I knew the first time we teamed up there was something special there. So I did my best to enjoy every second of it.
SK: A fan recently tried to sell the memorial card from Owen Hart's funeral. What are your thoughts on fans selling items like that?
Kidd: It's weird. Where did they get it from? Did they buy it from somebody? It's a weird thing. There's a lot of people I'm fans of that have passed away. I don't know I'd want their pamphlet from their wake if I didn't know them personally, anyway.
On the other hand, if you have a giant Owen Hart shrine and you feel that's the missing piece to all his action figures and his other stuff, I guess to each their own. I wouldn't be selling something like that, but if they feel that's what completes their collection or they need that, I get it.
SK: You started a supplement company called Work Horse Supplements. How's it going? What's in the lineup now? What can fans expect for the future?
Kidd: It's been going well. It grows every month. I know that's from the fan base that I've established as Tyson Kidd, which is really cool. We have a lot of repeat customers, which is awesome, and tells me that they enjoy it. I try to use the best ingredients possible. I use it too. When they send me the samples, and I try something and its not up to what I want, then I'm not going to try and sell anybody that, because if I don't want to take it, how can I try and sell it to you?
Right now, we have the pre-workout, BCAA's, fat burners, and protein. The maple doughnut protein has been awesome and doing well. I can't believe the growth of it month after month. We have a lot of merch as well.
All the money I make from it, I invest back into the company. I have a lot of merch coming from shorts, shirts, different tank-tops, sleeveless hoodies.
SK: Where can fans find the products?
Kidd: WorkhorseFitness.com
SK: Where can fans find you on social media?
Kidd: You can find me on Twitter @TJWilson. You can find me on Instagram @TJWilson711, which is my birthday, and an easy day to remember.
SK: Tyson, I want to say thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to speak with me.
Kidd: Awesome man, my pleasure, thank you.
Here is the audio courtesy of Perched On The Top Rope.