Tyson Kidd is someone who has worked for WWE for an incredible sixteen years, which is a huge amount of time for someone who is just 42 years old. Kidd’s time in WWE and his professional wrestling career as a whole is a fascinating one, with several ups and downs over the years.
RELATED: 10 Things Fans Don't Know About AJ Styles' Life Outside WWE
There are several things that perhaps newer fans or even impassioned fans may not know about Tyson Kidd, his life, and his professional wrestling career. He is someone with many intriguing and interesting facts and moments, with one of the more saddening endings to an in-ring run too.
10 One Of The Final Graduates Of The Hart Dungeon
The Hart Dungeon has been the place in which the careers of many all-time greats have been trained. The likes of Chris Jericho, Greg Valentine, Edge, Roddy Piper, and many more have passed through the Hart Dungeon.
In the case of Tyson Kidd, he was among the very final members to be trained by Stu Hart in the Dungeon, making him a very notable trainee.
9 Married To Natalya
When he was growing up, Tyson Kidd spent a lot of time around the Hart Family, with him being trained in the Dungeon. This was when he and WWE superstar Natalya met one another, which led to them eventually getting married.
The pair have been aligned on WWE television on multiple occasions, with them also appearing together on the reality TV series, Total Divas. The pair tied the knot back in 2013 after over a decade of dating.
8 Wrestled In Several Promotions Prior To WWE
After graduating from the Hart Dungeon, Kidd began to wrestle in an array of different promotions before eventually ending up in WWE. Kidd won titles in AWA, had some success in MLW, and would even win Tag Team gold alongside Bruce Hart in Stampede Wrestling.
Kidd would also spend time in the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling, competing against the likes of Jushin Thunder Liger, Super Crazy, Bryan Danielson, Gedo, and many other fantastic performers who all helped to hone his craft.
7 Competed In The Best Of The Super Juniors
During his time in NJPW, Kidd competed in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament - a notable NJPW competition which has seen winners such as Prince Devitt (now Finn Balor), Kota Ibushi, KUSHIDA, Ricochet, and Will Ospreay.
When Kidd competed, it was under the ring name of ‘Stampede Kid’, with him picking up a few wins here and there, but finished in the middle of his block.
6 Won The Unified Tag Team Championship In The Hart Dynasty
In WWE, Kidd rose to prominence in a tag team alongside long-time friend, Harry Smith, who was wrestling under the name of David Hart Smith. The pair formed the Hart Dynasty tag team, taking inspiration from their time in the Hart Dungeon, and being among the youngest members of the Hart Family.
RELATED: 10 Facts Wrestling Fans Should Know About Bret Hart's Brothers
They became a popular babyface duo and would defeat the team of The Miz & The Big Show to be crowned as the new Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, carrying the gold for around five months.
5 Had A Solo Heel Run With A Bodyguard
Following the loss of their belts, Kidd and Smith would break up in classic WWE fashion, with Kidd being the one to turn heel. They could have each had success had WWE committed to their pushes, and things seemed initially positive for Kidd as he was given a heavy, with it feeling like a Shawn Michaels/ Diesel dynamic initially.
However, after less than a month, his bodyguard, Jackson Andrews was written off TV and eventually released the next year.
4 Pivotal Part Of Black & Gold NXT
Kidd struggled to find a place in WWE for a few years, but found his feet in the rebranded NXT, which had become WWE developmental. However, NXT quickly began finding some steam as its own brand, with Kidd being a major part of its early success.
In NXT, matches against the likes of Sami Zayn, Neville, Tyler Breeze, and Finn Balor would help to establish those names. Kidd would main event two NXT TakeOver shows, aiding the rise of NXT “Black & Gold” as it became known.
3 Won The Tag Titles In A Popular Tag Team With Cesaro
After his successful stint in NXT, Kidd joined a tag team with Cesaro. Initially, it felt like a case of WWE randomly throwing together two individuals, but the team eventually became a hit. They would naturally turn babyface as the crowd adored this duo, with them eventually winning the WWE Tag Team Titles.
Matches against The Usos and The New Day received great acclaim, and their face turn led to the heel turn of The New Day, which aided them on their way to becoming one of the greatest WWE factions of all time.
2 Retired Due To An Injury
In 2015, Kidd worked a dark match against Samoa Joe. However, after hitting his muscle buster finisher on Kidd, disaster struck, with Kidd getting severely injured.
RELATED: 10 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About Teddy Hart
The spinal cord injury that Kidd received was revealed by Kidd himself on Twitter to only have a 5% survival rate, so he was incredibly lucky to come out of it as well as he did. Unfortunately, Kidd was forced into a very early retirement due to this injury, which was a huge shame as he was just entering what was becoming the best few years of his career.
1 Works In WWE As A Producer
Following his retirement, Kidd remained with WWE but was given a new position as a producer - a role which he has now held for five years.
Kidd is a very popular name backstage, and has worked hard to help produce matches all across the board, notably when it comes to the women’s division.
