Eddie Kingston has been an AEW staple for quite some time. And very much in the same way that he’ll tell you himself in promos, he was there, holding it down, even before the plethora of ex-WWE stars made a beeline for the promotion.
Of course the influx of said stars is appreciated and has been an immense thing for the company, but the AEW originals as we can call them, certainly did loads to promote the business.
And what of Kingston before his run in AEW? Eddie Kingston was a staple of the indie scene—a huge staple. He has fans for a very good reason, and although his way of approaching the business is different than say, the legendary Bryan Danielson, it has still worked for him for years.
via Joseph Montecillo /YouTube
His fan base is strong, and strong enough to have turned in his favor during his now legendary promos with CM Punk just recently. That was an incredible feud and lasted way too short a time for most (this writer included). It would have been amazing to see that go on for a tad longer, but that’s not what we got. But what we did get was awesome enough for now, I guess.
AEW seems to give us small bites of impeccable moments at a time…like a fine meal of exquisite tapas, small bites at a time over a few hours; in the end, a meal to be remembered for the ages was enjoyed.
But what is next on the horizon for Eddie Kingston? He sat down with CBS Sports to speak about just that. He said:
“New milestones, of course…to be the top guy in AEW. I reached one goal, I made it to AEW—contracted—make it a living. My nephew can show people on the TNT app, there’s a plug, or on the AEW YouTube there’s another plug; he gets to show off that his uncle is a wrestler. I reached one goal…
The next goal is to be the top guy, to be the champion, to be the guy on the posters. The guy that is AEW. That’s what Kenny was. That’s what Mox was. That was what Jericho was, and that’s what ‘Hangman’ is now. That’s always the goal.”
He also went into his family further, and other than just his nephew (who is obviously very important to him). He said:
“My mom and dad are just happy that I’m doing something that’s not illegal. My brother is just happy I found something that I’m passionate about. I didn’t see the future, they did. They saw a future for me in anything I wanted to do…
“But because of my low self-esteem and how I beat myself down mentally in the past — which I still kind of do, I’m working on that, but all that stuff — they’re just happy to see me doing something that’s positive. So of course they’re going to back me up on that, no matter what.”
via CBS Sports /Wrestling Inc (Transcription)
via Magna Productions /YouTube
Not everyone in wrestling can be a carbon copy of what has worked for ages. Mick Foley was proof of just that. In this era, it is Eddie Kingston that’s proving that someone that the audience can relate to…someone who likes to sit and have a coffee and piece of cake, someone who likes to spend some time out after a hard day’s work; someone who is honest about his personal problems and works on them every day; somebody that’s like everyone out there watching at home.
It’s refreshing to see and it’s certainly working, as his popularity shows. Looking forward to what’s coming for this epic talent.
