Tyson Kidd Reflects On His Time In NXT, Cesaro Helping Him After He Suffered Career Ending Injury

Tyson Kidd was all smiles during his interview on the latest edition of WWE's The Bump, especially when he discussed his one-year in-ring career in NXT. Though he was part of the main roster for the WWE before his arrival in NXT nine years ago, Kidd stated that his time in NXT was a career highlight for him.

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"I'm so happy," Kidd began. "If you take a look back at my body of work in the ring, I'm so happy that I had that NXT run... It sucks that my in-ring career came to an end, but I'm glad that I had that full-year body of work. My time in NXT was so fun. Those Takeovers were awesome, but when we'd do those tapings, and I would wrestle four times in a night, I was driving home from Orlando to Tampa, I was exhausted, but felt so accomplished that nobody does what we do. It was myself, Sami Zayn, Neville, and Tyler Breeze. Breeze was a bit of an unsung hero between the four of us. He doesn't always get the full props that he should get; he was a huge part of it. His character work is so awesome. He was very essential towards everything that I did at that time."

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During the interview, Kidd's former tag team partner, Cesaro called in to talk about his time working with Kidd. Kidd took The Bump panel down memory lane of when the two teamed up from 2014-2015, and how well they meshed during their time together.

"They announced on Raw that there was going to be a gauntlet match," Kidd recalled. "We were a team for that gauntlet. Nobody said 'Hey you guys, you're a tag team, and will be going forward.' We were a team in that gauntlet match and there was no direction, even that next night on SmackDown. We just made the most of it, and there was instant chemistry."

Cesaro then stated his thoughts on teaming with Kidd.

"I think it was the amount of respect that I had for TJ and the way he came up in the WWE and his history. Obviously, when we were in the ring together and everything clicked," Cesaro added. "I don't think we were supposed to team, but we made that happen with a conversation with the boss. After that, we just kind of – we were alike along the same lines – which made everything so much easier as a team. We started traveling together as well, and I think we just complimented each other very well inside and outside of the ring. It was the rebirth of the tag division I feel like because we were red hot."

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When Kidd announced his early retirement from in-ring competition, after suffering a spinal cord injury during a live event, Kidd never dreamed he would receive so much respect from his peers. Kidd mentions that while wrestling, his goal was to always respect those he worked with, so he could build a well-rounded reputation with those he worked with.

"The respect from your peers – I don't know if it's because I grew up in the business, I don't know if that's why – but to me, that became the biggest thing [respect]," Kidd noted. "I wanted to build respect with my peers... I felt like I had done that throughout my WWE career. I really felt it and knew it was there when I got injured. I got flooded with texts and people calling me and visitors all the time. Of course, Cesaro, being one of the main guys, he was with me that night. He traveled off the road and came to see me when I had surgery. He brought me Starbucks and Chipotle, which is the usual combo."

You can view Kidd's full interview above and see the additional appearances by Natalya and Davey Both Smith Jr., who also discuss Kidd's career in the WWE.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE's The Bump with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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