When one thinks of the fabled Hart Family Dungeon, many names will usually come to mind. From Bret and Owen Hart to Brian Pillman and Chris Benoit, the list of names that earned their stripes in the Dungeon is legendary. But one name usually forgotten is the last official graduate, TJ Wilson, better known for his time in WWE as Tyson Kidd. And while Tyson is fondly remembered for much of his main roster run, including his teams with DH Smith as The Hart Dynasty, accompanied by his wife Natalya, or even his eternally underrated tag team with Cesaro, perhaps Tyson’s greatest in-ring run was between the yellow ropes of NXT during a pivotal time in the brand’s history. 

Towards the end of 2013, the NXT brand was off and running in its new incarnation as a full-blown developmental territory for the WWE. Under the watchful eye of Triple H, he had transformed the former Florida Championship Wrestling training territory into a viable third brand showcasing the next wave of talent coming up the ranks. The show was originally only on WWE.com in the US but aired on some networks (such as here in Canada) on television. Still, with the advent of the WWE Network in early 2014, things went to another level, complete with the brand-new specials that would air on the network and serve as the brand’s PPV-level showcases. 

At this time, some of these new up-and-coming names would need to work on-screen with someone more experienced and a solid worker all around and could help elevate this new talent.

Enter Tyson Kidd.

Kidd started performing in NXT after an extended hiatus from being on WWE television, picking up a few wins to help reestablish his work before he would compete in a 20-man battle royal to determine a new number-one contender for the NXT Championship. This was a follow-up to the first WWE Network NXT special, NXT Arrival, which saw Adrian Neville (the man now known in AEW as Pac) defeat Bo Dallas in a Ladder Match to become the Champion. 

During the battle royal, it would come down to three men who would all be eliminated at the same time, resulting in the following week’s show (keep in mind, during the early NXT run, usually four or more episodes were taped at the Full Sail University campus at a time) seeing a Triple Threat match between them to determine the new challenger to Neville’s title. These three men were Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd. Sami Zayn was coming off his star-making feud with Cesaro, which cemented him as a top-notch worker and the true beginning of him being the heart and soul of NXT years before Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa would take that mantle and run with it. Tyler Breeze was also coming into his own with his egotistical selfie-taking model gimmick, a clear homage to the great Rick Martel.

Then there was Tyson Kidd, the workhorse forged in the Dungeon, who had never gotten the opportunity to shine on the main roster outside of the tag team division for one reason or another. Kidd immediately lent more credibility to the new talent he was working with, especially at this time, with NXT being a product that catered more to the hardcore wrestling fan. And he was ready to take advantage of the opportunity to showcase himself and elevate his peers.

Kidd would walk away from the Triple Threat match with the win, allowing him to headline the first official NXT Takeover branded event with Adrian Neville for the NXT Championship. The seeds would also be planted for more to come, as Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze would also face off at the event to determine the following number one contender. All four men were now intertwined with one another. 

At NXT Takeover, Neville would narrowly escape with his championship intact and defeat Kidd again during a rematch on the next episode of NXT television. All this time, Kidd remained the seasoned vet who was respectful and still firmly entrenched as a babyface, but that would change the following week. During a tag team match against The Ascension (when they were still a dominant force before the main roster destroyed them), Kidd teamed with Sami Zayn but would leave him high and dry, officially evening the babyface and heel ratio of the championship scene. 

This would also begin a brief tag team interlude with Justin Gabriel as Kidd’s partner, but this was more or less a way to keep things fresh as the battles raged on between Kidd, Zayn, Breeze and Neville. The four would collide over NXT live events, and some WWE house shows before things would come to a head and what would also be more or less Kidd’s swan song from the yellow brand.

At NXT Takeover Fatal Four-Way, the four men would headline the show, not an easy feat having to immediately follow up a great NXT Women’s Title match between Charlotte and Bayley. But they were up to the challenge and left it all in the ring in an absolute banger of a match. Once again, Neville would escape with the gold, but the work had been done, and all four men came out better for it. Neville and Zayn were set to continue clashing in what would culminate as one of the best storylines of early NXT, while Breeze was set as an upper-card heel with charisma to share.

As for Kidd, well, it had reinvigorated something in him. He would soon shift back to the main roster and begin his team with Cesaro for a great run before a tragic accident ended his career. Thankfully, Kidd could shift into a backstage role, thanks to his incredible knowledge and feel for the wrestling business.

Kidd’s run in NXT features arguably the best matches of his career. His relationship with the fans as an experienced workhorse allowed everyone he worked with, especially Neville and Zayn, to be brought up to his level and gave them the confidence they would need as they transitioned over to the main roster in the near future.

But seriously, go back and watch the main event of NXT Takeover Fatal Four Way.