Engaging Blades Kills Mower After Accident

So my wife used some fairly thick wire to hold up some rose bushes. After she took them down, the (now brown and bent) wire was dragged into the yard by the dogs. It looked like thin sticks - nothing my 54" Hustler Raptor SD couldn't handle, right? Well, one of the wires wrapped around the center blade 3 times and stopped everything.

After disassembling, removing the wire, and getting it back together, when I engage the blades, the motor kills immediately. There appears to be a lock tab stopping the blades from moving near the drive pulley at the rear. Is that thing solenoid driven? Do you think I broke that part? Or is it something else?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give...

Make sure all the blades turn freely, and are not binding. If that all checks out and the pto clutch seems to be OK, then most likely it is an unrelated safety switch issue.

Sitting on the end of the PTO shaft is the electric clutch.
On a lot of ZTR's the clutch pulley locks when the clutch is disengaged to stop the blades turning.
This is a PIA when you try to change belts but that is what happens when you try and make something idiot proof.

There is a power wire connected to the clutch.
Unplug it and try again.
If the engine dies instantly then either the PTO switch is crook or the seat switch is crook.

I don't know which clutch your mower has and weather it should freewheel or lock when the blades are dissenganged or not
If you post the model numbers of your mower those with access to trade web sites might be able to confirm which type of clutch you have.