Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/05/21/tj-wilson-looked-into-participating-in-a-royal-rumble-says-his-neck-is-good-but-not-at-that-level/
It has been five years since former three-time WWE Tag Team Champion TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) wrestled. His career came to an end when he suffered a spinal cord injury in 2015 in a dark match. Wilson was not able to return from his injury and two years after his in-ring career was put on hold, he transitioned into the role of a producer backstage in WWE and has been in that role for the past three years.
Wilson has been praised by those who he’s worked with when it comes to sharing the ring or helping piece together matches but at one point over the past several years, Wilson did look into possibly doing something in the ring again and he revealed that information while speaking with Spencer Love on the ‘Conversations With Love’ podcast. Wilson said that he looked into doing something in a Royal Rumble and when it came time to get his neck checked on, he said it’s “good” but not at the level needed to get back in the ring. He then began speaking about how much he loves working with WWE’s female athletes and how their hunger for success fills that in-ring void.
“I did, one time over the past couple of years look into maybe doing a little something in a Royal Rumble so that could kind of be my last chapter so last time you see me, was this little thing, and it didn’t work out and I did get looked at and things are good but things are not at that level in terms of my neck so, and you know what? I’m at peace with everything now. 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 and 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.
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 women’s Money In The Bank match. How many have the guys had? 20? So, there was pay-per-views before where we would do two in a night. Two guy’s ones. So, how many women Hell In A Cell matches have there been? Charlotte and Sasha and Becky and Sasha, is that it? And how many men’s Hell In A Cell matches have there been? You know what I’m saying? There’s been like three women’s Royal Rumbles. There been 30 guy’s Royal Rumbles, so we’re playing catch up, and 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 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 and 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 his shoulder and that performance-wise, all of the women right now have that and I love being a part of it so, I get so much joy out of watching them and being a part of that process that… I know maybe there’s 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.”
Wilson also spoke about working with New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) while he was teaming with Cesaro. There was one occasion when Vince McMahon jokingly told New Day that he was going to have to charge them because they were having too much fun working with Wilson and Cesaro.
“There was the one time we came back after the 2-Out-Of-3 Falls match at Extreme Rules in Baltimore and I thought Vince was maybe gonna get mad at something because he has a very good eye for this and sometimes, you can do a 30-minute match and something stuck out to him in minute six and he can’t let it go and you’re gonna hear about when you get back. I remember we get back and I thought the match was very good and he goes, ‘You know, I’m gonna have to start charging you guys’ and I was like, ‘Oh man, are we getting fined for something? What’d I do?’ And he was talking to New Day and he’s like, ‘You guys are having way too much fun wrestling these guys’ and points to me and Cesaro and I was like, ‘I’ll take it.’ I loved it. I loved every minute of it.”
The full interview can be heard at this link and if any of the quotes in this article are used, please credit the ‘Conversations With Love’ podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.