Eddie Kingston had spent the better part of two decades bouncing around bingo halls, backyards, bars and basically any two-bit, seedy dive with a wrestling ring that would have him. A brash, witty, fast-talker from Yonkers, New York, Kingston intrigued and won over fans little by little and sometimes quite literally one by one. Many independent wrestling audiences knew who he was, but on July 20, 2020, the 40-year-old ring veteran introduced himself to the world and cut the promo that many wrestlings fans can forever point to as the moment they fell in love with Eddie Kingston.
Kingston humbly chuckled at the notion of fan admiration and then talked about what was going through his head as he talked his way to the ring to face Cody Rhodes. He penned a moving essay for The Players Tribune last year where he discussed at length his mental health struggles, and also said that debuting on AEW was quite literally at the time just another booking. “Yeah, I had to pay the mortgage man,” Kingston said in an exclusive Web Is Jericho interview. “That’s how I look at it. It’s a job. It may be a dream job, but the key word is ‘job.’ I’m out there trying to survive, trying to eat, trying to still keep my house, you know what I mean?”
“Promo” is also not a word that exists in Kingston’s world. The correct term is “therapy.” “It’s not my promo, it’s my therapy,” he said. “I take everything that’s bothering me throughout the week or year or month or whatever it is, and I’ll just let it all out. That’s my thing. What went through my head with Cody was, ‘I’m gonna introduce myself to the people.’” Introduce himself, indeed. Kingston was signed to AEW a week later, and ever since he’s carved his own path becoming a fan favorite for just doing what he’s always done — Eddie being Eddie. “I had no idea to be honest with you,” Kingston said of how being himself has gotten over with fans. “I’m just me. They can say whatever — your character, or since everybody wants to do insider terms, your gimmick — it’s not a gimmick. This is me. That’s it.” The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin often said what they did in the ring was a reflection of their true personalities, just turned up to the max. “I’m the same way,” Kingston said. “Eddie Kingston is me at 17 years old with no consequences just turned up to 11 or 1,000 or whatever you want to call it.”
Every day, every day for two years since I’ve been on AEW, I get a tweet saying I had no idea who you were until you were on AEW. And that’s been very humbling and shows you what’s real and what going on.
Eddie KingstonA match against “Le Champion”
On Sunday at AEW Revolution, Kingston will face future wrestling Hall of Famer, Chris Jericho. Their animosity for one another runs thick as recent interactions on “Dynamite” surely indicate. Jericho says Kingston “can’t win the big one.” Eddie, as usual, just wants to fight. “I’ve been in this business for 20 years, dog,” Kingston said. “I’ve been at the lowest level, and now I’m at the highest level. I’ve seen it all with guys like Jericho. The only thing with Jericho, is he’s actually a great professional wrestler. Most of the other guys that I learned things from, they were never as good as Jericho.”
Is there anything Jericho can learn from Kingston? “He can just learn that I’m gonna beat him up, and maybe learn how to defend himself, you know what I’m saying?”
A passion for wrestling
The only thing Eddie Kingston ever wanted to be was a wrestler. As a Yonkers youth, he was always a fighter. A self-described “angry, angry kid,” Kingston wanted to battle the world. But he found something that satiated his aggression and kept him out of trouble — a “Memphis’ Bloodiest Brawls” wrestling VHS tape. To a kid searching for meaning, it was nothing short of mesmerizing. It also became his calling. “I said it before, and I’ll say it again, even on my death bed, I never wanted to do anything else in my life but this,” Kingston said. “Since I was 9 years old. So my passion will always be there, whether I’m at the top company like AEW or I’m at the bottom of the lowest of the low. It doesn’t matter. I’m living my dream no matter what.”
Many of Kingston’s friends and family didn’t follow their passions and ended up regretting it. “I’ve seen people live miserable lives before in my family and among the people I grew up around, and I promised myself I would never live that life,” Kingston said. “I may be miserable, but I’m not gonna live a miserable life.”
Being in the ring for 20 years prepared Kingston for a lot of things, but his AEW breakthrough has him in front of millions of fans that otherwise may have never seen him fight. Even after almost two years with the company, Kingston is still taking it all in. “It’s more eye opening, you know what I mean?” he said. “When you’re on the independents as long as I was, you pick up a couple of fans, I guess you could say. I’m not trying to brag or have an ego, but you pick up a couple. You kind of get distracted by that and you think you’re bigger than what you are. Every day, every day for two years since I’ve been on AEW, I get a tweet saying I had no idea who you were until you were on AEW. And that’s been very humbling and shows you what’s real and what going on.”
It hasn’t all been a sordid love affair with the ring. There have been plenty of instances where Kingston thought about quitting. In his piece for The Players Tribune, he detailed numerous times where a particular scenario or event kept him from putting his boots in the closet for good — the lone, rowdy fan; a friend that reached out; the birth of his nephew. Kingston credits plenty of other people who snapped him back into his plight, but does he ever give himself credit for finding this silver linings? “That’s the thing, I’m trying to learn,” he said. “That’s an everyday lesson. I’m just trying to learn.”
Cesaro is “a horrible person”
Recently, Claudio Castagnoli, aka Cesaro, was in the headlines as the latest well-known talent to leave World Wrestling Entertainment. Kingston and Castagnoli have battled in the past. To say Kingston isn’t a fan of “The Swiss Superman” is probably an understatement. “He’s fake,” Kingston said. “He’s fake. Come on, man. This whole big Swiss, nice guy, strong guy thing, it’s fake. I’ve seen him be a horrible person in the back, but he does it on the low. And then when I point it out, I’m the bad guy. Maybe because I point it out by screaming and yelling instead of talking calmly, but when I see something wrong, I’m gonna talk about it.”
There’s a lot of personal stuff there that I’m gonna keep between us, because the public don’t need to know. But the bottom line is, I don’t think he’s a good human being. He doesn’t think I’m a good human being, and that’s it.
Eddie KingstonKingston said there are personal issues he won’t discuss in the public eye about Castagnoli. “And he knows what I’m talking about,” Kingston continued, “There’s a lot of personal stuff there that I’m gonna keep between us, because the public don’t need to know. But the bottom line is, I don’t think he’s a good human being. He doesn’t think I’m a good human being, and that’s it. When we get in there with each other, we keep it professional, but I’m telling you there’s live rounds, and I love that. That makes me get up in the morning when I know I’m gonna get in there with someone that’s gonna give me live rounds, ’cause I got an ego when it comes to that. I’m like, ‘You know what? Try to knock me out. Try.’ Cause I’m gonna try to hurt you.”
Looking to the future
Kingston isn’t a guy that’s happy with the lack of kayfabe in the business. He wants some things to stay behind the curtain. With his extensive time on the independent scene, he’s also learned what not to do to stay afloat in the business. “It took me a while to learn how not to over-react and be mad and just snap real quick,” he said. “I guess you could say I learned how to be professional over the years. I’m trying to handle things and treat it more like a job. I could tell you more, but I’m not one of these people that wants to give away too many of the trade secrets. Another insider term for you, I like to tell people, ‘Kayfabe may be dead, but that doesn’t mean we have to piss on its grave.’”
Kingston considers today’s wrestling fans lucky with the amount of options they have and the ease with which they can tune in to whatever they want. In his day, he traded tapes, fought with the VCR tracking button and smashed the machine if it didn’t work. But he considers himself lucky, too. “I am still waiting for someone to wake me up from the dream,” he wrote in his Players Tribune essay. He’s also looking forward to the rest of 2022 and beyond.
“To me, in this profession or any profession you’re in, you want to be the best,” he said. “So yeah, I want a championship. But, that’s always been the goal, since the beginning. Any other plans, I really don’t got, because I like to tell people, it’s not my show,” he said laughing. “You know what I mean? I’m not the booker. Whatever you need, pay me, let me fight. This is what I was made for. I was built for this.”
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