10 Times Wrestlers Went Into Business For Themselves In The Ring

6. Tony Kozina Bullies Ryan Kidd

Act Yakusawa Yoshiko Stardom
Magnum Pro Wrestling

Chances are that if you know Tony Kozina's name, it's for the incident we're about to get into. The former 'Canadian Cougar' had a brief Ring Of Honor run earlier in the decade, and wrestled a WWE Heat squash match in 2003, but has spent the rest of his career stuck on the sport's smaller stages, which might be for the best.

Kozina was booked to wrestle the young Ryan Kidd for Magnum Pro Wrestling in 2012. Kidd cut an in-ring promo on his opponent before the match, with Tony responding by saying that they were going to have "a real wrestling contest," leading to a particularly nasty shoot.

Kozina no-sold everything that Kidd threw at him, then started taking liberties, before choking Kidd out in particularly brutal fashion. The full bout is available on YouTube, and while nowhere near as gruesome as some of New Jack's freak-outs, it's still difficult to watch.

The worst part of it is that Tony wasn't even chastised afterwards. NJPW's Bad Luck Fale claimed Kidd deserved the punishment for "making a joke of wrestling," while Kyle O'Reilly followed up by stating Kozina was merely "providing a lesson to someone that had disrespected him."

 
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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.