Perhaps one of the more highly anticipated matches of AEW’s Full Gear was of course CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston. That match had garnered so much heat by the time it came for the two men to come face to face, and many would argue that the match certainly lived up to the hype for sure.
Both men extremely talented and experienced in the industry they’ve dedicated their lives to, and Kingston fought hard, and despite his loss, he came out looking really good, which is the point in pro wrestling…for the two men in the ring, the promotion and the industry to look good. After all, that’s how the industry is preserved—something WWE often forgets.
AEW doesn’t seem to forget that, but despite all of this, Eddie Kingston reveals that he still walked away from that match feeling depressed. He has not lied about the mental issues he’s suffered from for quite some time, and he has been honest about his meds, all the while taking on a pretty hectic schedule.
It was during his appearance on the Swerve City Podcast that Kingston went into just what went down after that match against CM Punk at Full Gear. He said:
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, Eddie got his s*** together.’ I really don’t. Every day is a struggle and I wanted to bring this up. I just remember we said ‘fighting depression’ up there. I was actually depressed after the Chicago show that we had. I can’t tell you why I was depressed but my depression hit and I was like, ‘Ah s***, here we go.’ …
Now I gotta go through steps that I’ve learned over the years but for some reason it wasn’t working that day. So I decided, I just went to the store. I said, ‘You know what? Let me get an energy drink. My flight’s not until 4:30. Let me walk around.’ It was after my match with [Punk]. I found out later why I got depressed and I’ll get to that but I was walking around the city and I walked into the store and I got myself an energy drink…
I’m leaving, there’s a little kid with his mom and I turn around, the little kid’s like this [standing straight up], frozen. I said, ‘What’s up little man? What’s going on?’ She’s like, ‘Oh my God, we were at the show. He loves you so much.’ I was like, ‘What’s up little man? How you doing? How you feeling dawg?’ And he’s like, ‘Uh’ and took a picture, he had a great time, I left that store and I said, ‘F*** this depression…
That’s what it’s all about.’ Look at that kid, you know what I mean? Like what the f***? How do I get mad? At that? Look what I just did for that kid. Who the f*** am I to do that anyway? But also, the reason why I was depressed was after my match with Punk, everyone was giving me all this praise. I have this problem of accepting love and it’s the thing I’ve had to work on my whole life. I have this problem because once I get the love, you know what happens? I get paranoid.
‘I don’t deserve it. Who’s gonna try to rip this from me?’ That’s what I start thinking, because it’s happened to me in the past and also, it’s my own mental stuff saying I don’t deserve it. But then I see that little kid and I’m like, F*** it,’ you know what I mean? I just want people to know that I still battle. This is never ending. It’s normal… My battle with my depression and my anger ends the day I’m in the casket. Just the way it is, you know what I mean? I’m gonna fight every day.”
Inspiring words from Kingston. He also recently revealed that he wants to be the top guy in AEW and that just very well might come to fruition sooner rather than later, especially with his current mindset. And with so many rumored epic talents on their possible way to AEW, who knows what epic feuds he can have moving forward?
