Kit Wilson On His Theme Song, Singles Run, Pretty Deadly, "TOXIC!"

Kit Wilson (KitWilson_PD) is a professional wrestler signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in London, England to discuss his catchy new theme song and how much input he had in creating it, his solo run following Elton Prince's injury, being Matt Cardona's WWE return opponent, getting thrown through a wall by Damian Priest, whether "Pretty Deadly: The Musical" will happen, and more!

Your theme song has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it.

"Yeah, it's super catchy. That was what I was going for. That was what I was hoping for. I didn't think I realized how catchy it was going to be, and how much it's kind of clicked on and sat with people, but I'm not complaining."

How much input did you have into the song?

"So I ended up having a fair amount of input. I was pushing for new music when I kind of found out what the situation was going to be and maybe I was going to go solo, I started messaging a lot, saying I would love new music. Can I get new music? Then eventually I got into contact with Neil, I believe, and then he called me. We had little discussion on the phone. He said, 'What kind of thing are you looking for?' So I said, 'Can I send you an email?' Got off the phone, and I started writing this email, just with all my references, with all the songs I like, with all the ideas I had, lyrics, kind of the theme of it, the vibe of it. So I had so much. There's a Charli xcx and Billie Eilish song called Guess, and that opens with a phone call. Actually, there's no phone call, but it opens and it goes, Hey, ‘Billie, are you there?’ That I loved. I really wanted that. So that was my first thing. I wanted a phone call. I wanted to ring, I wanted to pick up. I wanted a 'Hey Kit, are you there?' I originally wanted an English voice, and I still would like to have it with an English voice. We're American for now, but I think we'll be okay with that. So that was a big one. We got that. Then there was just so many other influences. There's another Charli xcx song called Speed Drive, which I really liked. JENNIE from BLACKPINK has a song called like JENNI that is very poppy, there's a lot of girly pop music at the moment that has come out which is just very catchy. It's very iconic. It's very chorus, chorus, chorus, Chappel Roan, Femininomenon, very good song. That was a big one I pushed for. There's also some Harry Styles influence. 1975 was a big band that I liked, and Pretty Deadly actually used their song on the Indies for a theme, Love Me. There's kind of a guitar riff in that we used to really like, and I feel like I can kind of hear that in this song. Jade, who's a UK artist, she used to be in the band Little Mix. So there's just so many references there. I sent them all. I timestamped the bits that I like, the choruses, I'm always trying to give as much as I can, so as much of me is there. And then they came back. Gave me the first draft. It sounded great. Few tweaks, few tweaks, few tweaks, and I felt like we hit it."

You’ve had this theme song for a few months though:

"I feel like this character in this new iteration of Kit Wilson has kind of been brewing, and we've been kind of like testing a few things, working on a few things. The theme song was, was one of those, and we created the Tron, We had that loaded for a little bit of time. I was doing those main event matches, the tapings before SmackDown using the song, just kind of getting used to it, trying to figure out my entrance was. And then the SmackDown came with the Tron, and kind of everything clicked. And now everything really feels like it's coming together as a whole package."

There's a lot of examples of great wrestlers who, as soon as they change their song, boom, they get over. This is the thing that makes people connect with you right now:

"It was scary going from Pretty Deadly being a singles guy, because our whole career in this company was Pretty Deadly. And I remember kind of having a discussion, and I think I was talking to Triple H, and he said, Do you still want this music? Do you still want the "Yes boy!" Do you still want this aspect? And I did. I cherish so much of that, and that was so much of who I was as a person. I was scared, but I just felt like if we go into this new chapter, we have to go. So I said, I want to get rid of all of that, and then obviously it comes back, if it comes back, but I just wanted to start new. I think, as you say, a fresh new start is going pretty good."

On his cats:

"[They're names are] Socks, Luna, Arrow, Bowie. Then we've got two fosters that are going to my mother-in-law, Moon Boots and Moon Beans. They're all space themed because my first cat, we'll talk cats. We'll do it. My first cat in England was called Rocket. I love Rocket. We just recently had a bit of a scare, got shot, it was a whole thing, bad neighborhood. It was kind of crazy. It was a pellet gun. It wasn't a real gun. "

Who's shooting a cat?

"Well, you're telling me! We called the police straight away. Maybe it's getting too political, maybe it's getting too crazy. But my English cat, Rocket, I love him, but I couldn't bring him over to America when we moved, so my sister now has him. So shout out to Lucy. She is incredible with him. And then we go Socks, which is Buzz Lightyear’s cat, then Luna, obvious, Arrow, Bowie. Bowie is a bit of a stretch, but we're going there, Ziggy Stardust. And then Moon Boots and Moon Beans, you know, you can judge that if you wish."

We're in London right now as we record this. Does it feel good to be back home?

"Yeah, it's just really nice to know there's a Gregg's close by always. There's a Wetherspoons near me, there's a Nando's, a Wagamamas, there's a Toby Carvery. I think Nando's is so popular because it's a comfort food now, in England, it's not even necessarily the best food, but it's pure comfort, happiness. It's a lot of first early dates as well."

So what was the original idea behind the new character?

"So I guess with all of this, you have your character, and then often there's only so much of the character that you see on screen. Then as certain people, and especially me and Elton and Pretty Deadly, we have so much of the character behind the scenes that never actually comes to the forefront, but we've got it in, and a whole big section of the Pretty Deadly character was toxic masculinity. I'm sure there's tons of early promos, even on the independents, even maybe in stuff that we sent over to the company, maybe when we were trying to practice for promos that had stuff based on toxic masculinity. It just didn't end up being the main thing we focused on. So it's always been there, it's always been a part of how we saw the characters and if everything was needed, then we would explain that, and we would bring up to the forefront. So then, when it came to me being on my own, I was pitching ideas. I had five big pitches I went for, and then the one that turned out to be the toxic masculinity one, I think the word document was labeled Limited Edition Kit Wilson, because again, actually shout out to [my cat] Luna. We call Luna Limited Edition, because she's got no tail. Can you see how I've loosened up and got more excited when we talked about the cat? Maybe part two is cat-exclusive."

Were you nervous about going out on your own? 

"Oh my goodness, God yeah. So the first day I went to SmackDown without Elton, I felt like I was five years old going to school for the first time. Because, again, we are best friends. We met on the independents. We signed together. We've done everything together. When we moved over to America, we live together. We talk every day. I love him, and we viewed each other as one person. We never talked to anyone and tried to talk as individuals. It was always about the team. So to do it on my own, I've never been more nervous in my life, but he's been really supportive. We talk all the time. He's always saying, What have you got? What you're doing, you're gonna smash it. He always says, Good job. So it was nice to have his support, but it was so nerve-racking going in, and now I feel like I'm finding my footing and I feel comfortable. It's kind of fulfilling doing this whole new part of it, but it is scary, and I miss him." 

How's Elton doing? 

"He's doing good. Surgery happened, and it was nice that he could then talk about the surgery, because he's quite a private person. He wasn't really putting anything out there. People didn't really know. Some people thought it was just this. Some people thought was just that. So it was nice for people to get clarity and understand what was going on. The surgery went well, and so far, it's been like a week and a half, maybe two weeks. Everything's on track and good, but it's just a touch-and-go situation. It's the neck. So it's such a specialist area, that I think we're just kind of taking it day by day. But he is doing good, which is fantastic. It's just a scary thing, yeah, and I want to talk about him, but I don't want to get too sentimental, because I'll start going."

He had his neck fused?

"Yeah, he’s got a double. At 28 years old."

That sounds scary. What was the spot?

"He took a reverse DDT, and I think I was in it as well. I think it was maybe a reverse DDT and a flatliner. I think he just, it was obviously an accident. Things happen. We know what we're getting into, but I think he just landed wrong, and he says he felt a certain kind of shock, and then he didn't feel anything. Yeah, it happened, and then it's crazy, because you watch it back, and his fingers kind of curl up, and it's really a bit horrible to re-watch, knowing what it was. He got injured. He got hurt. It was a reverse DDT, and then when he's trying to figure out in the ring what's going on, he took that, he took another thing which cut him open. So he's bleeding a fair amount. I think initially everyone, including myself and other people, thought that was a big injury, because it was a lot of blood. I remember I was on the floor, and he makes his way to the corner, and I'm kind of looking up at him, thinking, something's up. Obviously, I didn't know how serious it was, so I'm kind of starting to shout at him and say things. I can't remember what he was saying, but he was kind of saying, like, 'I'm fine, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.' I think they maybe make their way to the top rope. I get on the apron, and again, I'm kind of just assessing. Then I just realized, all right, I'm getting in. I kind of tag in. I think, like hesitantly again, I'm kind of still slowly walking in, trying to figure out what happens. Then there's at some point in there, I'm just screaming, get down. Get down. Get down. Because we were in a position I think I was going to electric chair him. And I'd assume we would have gone for our old independent finish, which I used to have. He used to jump off and do a European uppercut. The OG spilt milk. Then I just realized something was up. So I just said, 'Get down. Get that. Get down. Get down.' And then I just, I think I power bombed Nathan Frazer at the time, and then he was out for the whole for the rest of the match. I remember the doctors were with him, and I think I was in there for maybe like a minute and a half or more, kind of just trying to survive. And then just the next. The next few days were kind of trying to figure out what it was. And then we had some phone calls. It was this, and it was that, and it was tears, and he's going through it is his thing. It's his, is his challenges, his battle. He's doing great, but it's such a hard thing. It was just so horrible to see him go through it, especially because I love him so much. Elton, I love you."

So how did it turn to the conversation of ok Kit, we are going to do something solo with you?

"I don't know if it was so definite, but again, it was just trying to figure out what we had, or what was there. I think slowly it went from okay, we'll try something to okay, this could be something to things clicking. And with the help of a lot of the producers, Road Dogg, a lot of guys giving advice, I think there was some kind of point where people clocked on backstage and okay, we'll see how this goes. Then this music hit, I think we've got something."

You guys are the personification of wins don't matter. You go out there and you're memorable. You leave the audience with something to think about, something to remember. It doesn't matter if you win or lose in those matches. 

"Well, look, we'll win the championship matches. It just doesn't really matter about the other ones. So we were just focused on the gold. We're yet to do that on SmackDown, and we will get there. But, yeah, we win when it matters. You're always going to lose, you're always going to fail, and I think you're a positive, motivational guy, the failures are just lessons for the future. So anytime you know, I'm going to be at Smackdown the next week, I'm going to be at NXT the next week. So if we lose this farm, we'll just move on. We'll just improve. So yeah, I mean, shout out to maybe The Miz, another guy who proves time after time again, you can take a loss, you can move on. It doesn't matter, you can make the most of it. I think that's maybe a category that we sat in, and maybe I sit in now. I'm just going to take the wins when they're big, you know, I'm going to wait for the opportunity."

You had a memorable moment with Damian Priest. He threw you through a wall!

"Growing up as such a big fan, there's kind of bucket list things, and there's some kind of backstage antics that you always think are quite a bucket list thing to tick off. I just didn't think I would go through the wall. I just thought I would be putting someone else through a wall. But I guess Priest doesn't like me. He's kind of growing on me, though, can I say this? Damian Priest has some, has some toxic masculinity. I do think he needs to address that. However, with the terror twins, he's not afraid to be side by side with a female who he views as his equal, someone who raises him up as much as he raises her up. So I actually publicly would like to say to Priest, I would shake your hand and apologize and say, I think you've grown. I think you've matured. I think you've come a long way in this emotional journey. And I'm proud of you. I think we can be friends. I just will tell him that when no walls are close to me. Because that hurt. I didn't like it. I do want revenge. I am going to try and put him for a wall eventually, I will say that, but I think he's kind of shown some emotional maturity that others are lacking on the roster." 

How was the match with Matt? Because Matt told me, and I can ask you about this, he said he was laying in a little extra hard. He's like, I want to make sure my stuff looks good.

"Yeah. You know, you think being good friends with the very slay Chelsea Green, that maybe there would be some kind of friendship there. But I didn't know who my opponent was. I'd asked Nick for the opportunity, Nick Aldis, shout out to the fellow Englishman. I didn't know who it was going to be. And then, you know, Matt Cardona comes out. Fantastic. I'm very excited. Messed my nose up. I don't know if you can see I got a makeup here. This was a mess for two weeks. I had two big boot marks here, which are still faintly there. I've chipped my tooth. I went to the dentist."

Today is a huge day because your theme song finally arrived on Spotify. Why was there such a delay?

"Hey, that's out of my control. I don't know. I sent an email, and I said, Hey, can I can I get a day? Can I get a time? Let me know I'm a big Spotify guy. I'm a big music guy, and I think that's a beautiful thing. Music brings everyone together. My Music brings everyone together. We're on Spotify. It took a while, but, yeah, here we are."

So you still think of yourself as a tag guy? 

"Again, let's see how emotional we get. I'm a singles guy now, but again, my mindset was always tag. I just never even remotely considered being a singles guy. And now I'm here, I'm going to commit just as much as I'll commit to everything. So yeah, I am a singles guy. I will come for the US title. I really want the IC title. Love the Intercontinental Championship. It's always been a favorite of mine. So those are two big goals. Now I think we'll get there. So when we get there, let's come back to this video and see."

Now that you're in the singles division, yeah, who would you love to have a one-on-one match with? 

"Oh, that is very interesting. I mean, there's so many people. I'd really like to wrestle Finn Balor. He was always someone coming up on the independent scene, he was so big in Japan at the time, he was always someone kind of all of us looked up to. We always looked up to him. Right before he actually joined with the company, he did an independent show at the company I was training at. I don't know if he remembers any of this. He had an incredible match. He had the body paint on. He did in-ring photos in the in the middle of the [ring] in the interval in the show. I was just starting. I was maybe a few months in, I got a photo with him, and I remember I was, I think I was just wearing all black, but I had black shoes on black jeans on white socks. And then I'm just like, awkwardly next to him, being like, 'Oh, thank you for the photo.' And he goes, 'Nice socks, like Michael Jackson.' I was kind of like, yes, like Michael Jackson. Maybe don't want to compare yourself to Michael Jackson, but I felt like a fashion compliment, so I will take it. Then that night, unfortunately, when I was driving home, I did crash my car and totaled my car. Not ideal, but I had to jump out the window. But the point of the story is I jumped out the window, the car was ruined, but I jumped back through the window because I had to grab a little photo of me and Finn Balor. I have that photo somewhere, so I will find it. But that photo was kind of precious to me at the time, and it was kind of, you know, it was just this guy. There's this kind of guy from an area that I was from that was kind of making it big and going to the WWE. So I've always followed his journey because of that. So I would like to wrestle Finn there's a little story there that I feel like we can play into."

I remember seeing a sign in the crowd that said, Pretty Deadly: The Musical, or we riot.

"Hey, the musical was big, and we had some big plans for that musical, and it's still coming. I don't want people to riot. So it is coming, I just don't know when. I'll say that."

The musical is a real thing?

"The musical is a real thing. We have 10 Songs. We had lyrics. We were learning them. We were trying to do it properly and do a proper, like, good job of it. We wanted to go full force with it, the celebration we did with Nia. I think, as characters we were trying to find the line of being bad in a funny way, if that makes sense. We were trying to be annoying, obnoxious characters, but thought they were good at this kind of performance and celebrating our wonderful queen, Nia. But that was that. But behind the scenes, yeah, we were prepping. We were preparing with a few more of the guys backstage. We had songs written. We had lyrics written. We had a story. We were looking to find a place to perform it. If you have ever seen Always Sunny in Philadelphia and the musical episode, we've kind of based it around that. So we had a lot in place. So, you know, it still might happen. We never know if this career goes well. I think there's a good excuse to hit it."

Where are you going to find time in a WWE show for 10 Songs?

"Well, here's the thing, what we were originally aiming for, you can't find the time on a SmackDown. But as we know, WrestleMania weekend is so big, we've got an extra show here. We've got an extra show there. We were trying to find a venue in a location to have a theater performance."

Could be here in London?

"Okay, all right, when WrestleMania is in London, Pretty Deadly: The Musical will debut."

What is Kit Wilson grateful for?

"This new opportunity, Lewis, Lucy, and my cats."

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