Samoa Joe names Tyson Kidd injury as ‘largest regret’ of his career

Nearly a decade after the accident that ended Tyson Kidd’s in-ring career, Samoa Joe is still sick over what happened.

Kidd (TJ Wilson) suffered the career-ending spinal cord injury while taking a Muscle Buster from Joe in a WWE dark match in June 2015. Though it altered the course of his life, Kidd is lucky that he survived the injury and is not paralyzed. He remains with WWE as a producer and is highly praised for the work he does behind the scenes, especially helping agent matches for the women’s division.

The injury was a freak accident, but Joe told Chris Van Vliet that it remains the biggest regret of his career.

“To this day that probably remains the largest regret in my career,” Joe said on a new episode of Insight. “You know, just that that happened.”

Van Vliet pointed out that there is nothing he could have done differently, but Joe doesn’t think that matters.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t change things for Tyson,” Joe responded. “Doesn’t change things for a guy who is probably one of the most passionate people in the world of professional wrestling. For a guy who has an amazing mind for it. Like, really, WWE is fortunate to have him in their employ. Because even though he’s not in a physical role within the company, the finishes, his ability to put together matches and be a producer and agent — unparalleled.”

In the moment, the spot where Kidd got hurt didn’t feel any different to Joe. He only realized something was wrong when he saw that Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) was concerned.

“No, not at all. No. Didn’t feel any different. It’s just when I turned around and went for the pin and got back up, the only thing that even hinted that there’s something wrong is when Cesaro looked back up at me,” Joe said. “And I know when Cesaro is concerned and then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I hope everything is ok.’ Then we got in the back and he went to the hospital and everything got checked out. But, I mean, the whole circumstances regarding that and everything, it makes me sick to this day that that guy is not out there being the Tyson Kidd that I know that he is. He’s an amazing human being, you know what I mean… He’s a guy that, he has a great understanding of a larger picture. And, once again, when you talk about guys who are really great finish men, guys who can produce, he’s going to be heralded as one of the dudes here — if he isn’t already now.”

Kidd has said he has “zero animosity” toward Joe after the injury and wishes him nothing but the best.

Joe departed WWE in 2022 and is currently with AEW, where he is a former World Champion for the promotion.