Whatever happened to former WWE Tag Team Champion Tyson Kidd?
Tyson Kidd celebrates his 42nd birthday today, more than seven years after his last WWE match.
Kidd was one of the graduates of The Hart Family Dungeon and made his debut in WWE as part of The Hart Dynasty, alongside his future wife, Natalya. Teaming up with David Hart Smith, he would become Tag Team Champion on two occasions in his early career before they split in 2010.
The Canadian star was pushed hard in the tag team division for several years but found success when he was paired with Cesaro. The two were often accompanied by Natalya throughout their time as Tag Team Champions. However, their nine-week-long reign ended at the hands of The New Day.
Do you remember Cesaro & Tyson Kidd as a Tag Team?
If so, were you a fan? https://t.co/TcWGDuMS2H
Kidd's career was cut short in 2015 when he suffered a spinal injury during a dark match against Samoa Joe. Kidd underwent surgery and later tweeted that only 5% of people survived this injury and that he had 16 staples, four screws, and a rod inserted in his neck.
The company stated that Kidd would be out of action for more than a year at the time, but he has since been forced to retire from the ring.
Tyson Kidd has been hired by WWE as a backstage producer
Kidd was forced to go through several months of rehab following his neck injury before he could think about a return to WWE. In 2017, more than two years after the accident, Kidd was hired as a full-time backstage producer.
This marked the end of his in-ring career and allowed the star to focus on a new career path instead. Kidd has since been instrumental in the recent success of the Women's Evolution. The star has now become well-known for his structure of women's matches in WWE.
While pushing the women forward behind the scenes, Kidd has also been back in the ring for more than a year, even going as far as to pitch an angle in The Royal Rumble, which was later declined.
His wife Natalya gave an update on his progress back in 2021, where she noted that she would "never say never."
"TJ Was so loved and so respected by people backstage and in front of the camera, but I think, you know, I'm one of those people where I say 'Never Say Never'. But I feel like TJ is at a point in his life, especially with his health where he is really content with where he's at as far as not returning to the ring. Again, I still say 'Never Say Never', anything in WWE can happen. That's the fun part of WWE, you can always expect the unexpected."
She added:
"But it's hard to say. I think TJ's injury was so different than Edge and it was so different than Daniel Bryan. His injury was, you know, his neck was broken at the base of his brain. So it's a much different injury and it's much more risky for him to return. So, he's just very lucky that he is alive and he is well. But thank you so much, I'll tell him that you guys are thinking of him," via Sportskeeda.
You can watch the interview here
As of writing, Kidd recently returned to WWE after a brief hiatus and continues to work as a backstage producer.