There was an exchange between the two that meant a lot to Wilson.
During T.J. Wilson and Claudio Castagnoli’s time together in WWE, they captured the Tag Team Championships on one occasion and their reign lasted for several months, including a successful defense at WrestleMania 31.
Present day, Wilson is a producer for WWE and Castagnoli is with AEW and is the ROH World Champion. Wilson expressed how proud he is of Claudio during a chat with McGuire on Wrestling.
He shared that Castagnoli texted him on June 1st of this year and checked on him. It was not until later in the day that Wilson realized June 1st is the anniversary of his career-ending injury. He added that Claudio was there for him every step of the way during that time.
I’m always so proud of Claudio (Castagnoli). He’s the best. So, June 1st — this is a funny story, to me. June 1st is the day I got hurt so the other Thursday was June 1st and I was flying — well, I booked my travel wrong (he laughed). But I was flying to Hartford. I needed to go to Pennsylvania so when I landed, I had a three-and-a-half hour drive that I did to myself which was my totally my fault. It’s a different story but anyway, earlier in the day, I got a text from Claudio and he just said, ‘Hey man, I hope you’re well,’ blah, blah, blah. It was kind of short but… I didn’t text him right away. I was getting ready to hit the road… and then when I was on the plane, I realized, oh! It’s June 1st today. He knew before me. He figured it out. He is great at that. That day when I got hurt and that following day and then I have the surgery a few weeks later, he’s there. He’s there for all of that stuff. He is one of the most genuine human beings you will ever meet. He’s a great, great person and I wish nothing but the most success for him and I’m so happy for him and I know he’s happy and I’m just happy for him.
Gives me goosebumps right now (thinking about how Castagnoli honored me after my injury), and he even incorporated the sharpshooter into his move-set. But that meant a lot. Like I said, he’s the man dude. He’s the man.
He would go on to mention that some of his favorite matches he’s produced have taken place this year. Wilson helped put together the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble and the women’s Elimination Chamber.
Even though if we’re gonna talk about producing stuff, one of my favorite matches, a couple of my favorite matches I produced are from this year but it’s like, I really was proud of the (women’s Royal) Rumble and the women’s Elimination Chamber. By the way, Asuka won the Elimination Chamber for the record (Wilson jokingly responded to comments about Asuka not winning big matches he produces).
Coming up in July is the women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match. That field consists of Zelina Vega, Becky Lynch, Bayley, IYO SKY, Zoey Stark and one more spot that has yet to be filled.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit McGuire on Wrestling with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
