Amazing Red says a broken leg suffered during a WWE 2K motion capture session prevented him from competing in the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic, an opportunity he believed would finally lead to a WWE contract.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Red recalled being selected for WWE’s 32-man cruiserweight tournament and feeling confident that performing on that stage would result in him getting signed. “I’m super hyped. This is it. This is finally what this whole thing paid off for.”
Red believed he simply needed the opportunity to show WWE what he could do. “I knew as soon as I stepped foot in any of these matches, confidently, like I’m getting signed.”
Before the tournament began, however, Red was invited to participate in motion capture for a WWE video game. It was something he had wanted to do for years, but the experience proved considerably more physically demanding than he expected. “Doing this job sucks so bad. I would never do mocap for anything. Mocap is trash.”
Red compared the workload to wrestling several matches consecutively because performers repeatedly take legitimate bumps while capturing different versions of moves. “That’s like doing five matches at once. You’re not bumping on the pillow. You’re bumping in the ring. Everything’s legit real, and you’re bumping constantly.”
During the session, Red was asked to perform AJ Styles’ Spiral Tap. Because motion capture required multiple variations, he said he performed the move repeatedly, including versions involving different landings and weapons.
Red was uncomfortable with the move to begin with and estimated that he had already attempted it seven or eight times when he began feeling that he should stop. “I just had a gut feeling, like I gotta stop.”
He was asked for one more attempt. “I’m like, damn. My body’s killing me.”
Red said two crash pads had been positioned together for the landing. During his final attempt, one of his feet went into the gap between them while the rest of his body continued rotating. “I wake up, and I’m on the crash pads, and my leg is backwards.”
Red initially did not feel the injury. Low Ki, who was also working the motion capture session, immediately recognized what had happened. “Low Ki screams at the top of his lungs, is anybody gonna help him? He broke his leg.”
Once Red saw the position of his leg, the pain arrived. “Once I saw that, instant pain, heat everywhere, all in my body. And then I start screaming.”
The injury happened just before the Cruiserweight Classic was scheduled to begin, immediately taking Red out of the tournament. For Red, it was particularly devastating because of his previous attempts to make it to WWE, including his 2005 dark match against CM Punk. “This to me was like my last-ditch effort of being a part of WWE, doing a WWE game, no less. Broke my leg in half.”
Red also claims both 2K and WWE instructed him not to publicly discuss what had happened. “2K told me to be quiet about it. WWE told me to be quiet about it.”
According to Red, he was reassured that there would be another opportunity because WWE planned to produce a second season of the Cruiserweight Classic. “He said, don’t worry, because we’re gonna plan to do a season two, and you’ll be right on board for it.”
That second tournament never happened. WWE instead established its cruiserweight division on Raw before launching 205 Live later in 2016. “Ain’t no season two. I think it ended up being 205 Live. I never got a call for either.”
Despite the bitterness he felt at the time, Red now views the injury very differently. He believes circumstances surrounding the setback ultimately helped keep his family together and considers what initially appeared to be a career-changing disaster a blessing. “I know why it happened, and that was a blessing in disguise. Breaking my leg was the best thing that happened to me.”
Red returned to TNA at Slammiversary in June, competing in an Ultimate X match in his first appearance for the promotion in 15 years. He is also set to be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame alongside ODB and Konnan at Bound for Glory on October 11.
