Eddie Kingston on whether AEW has changed, goals for rest of his career
AEW has changed since Eddie Kingston debuted there — but whether that’s a good or bad thing isn’t for him to say.
Kingston was a guest on Busted Open Radio today, promoting the release of “This Book Is All Elite: The Inside Story of All Elite Wrestling.” The book is written by Keith Elliot Greenberg and covers the first five years of AEW’s existence. Busted Open host Bully Ray asked Kingston if he believes AEW is still the same place as when he arrived in 2020 against Cody Rhodes.
“No, it’s changed. It’s definitely changed,” Kingston responded. “The roster has changed. The office has changed. All that stuff. Is it changed for good or for bad? That’s not for me to say, because I still get my check. So, to me, it’s good still.”
When he debuted during the pandemic era, Kingston viewed his match against Rhodes as just another booking he was taking to pay the mortgage. Getting signed to AEW helped show Kingston that everything happens for a reason. It validated his decision to stick with pro wrestling and showed that everything he went through in his career was worth it.
Kingston has reached so many goals that he never thought he would attain, like being in a video game and getting his own action figure. There is still more he wants to do, and the end goal for Kingston is to leave pro wrestling in a better spot than he found it.
“The most important one for me, because of my love for Japanese wrestling, is just to fight in Budokan Hall — just one time, because that’s where my favorite match happened, 6/3/94 [Mitsuharu] Misawa and [Toshiaki] Kawada,” Kingston said.
“Being a Tag Champion with Hook or Ortiz is another goal. And honestly, you know what? When you say most important, honestly, this is me not being a good soldier or anything like that, because I can give a f*ck less. This is about the pro wrestling business. I want to see AEW thrive and get better as time goes on and the younger guys learn from guys like [Jon Moxley] and other people. You know what I mean?
“I just want the company to be better for when I’m gone. I can say I left it — I left pro wrestling better than when I went in. You know what I mean? I want to be Terry Funk at the end. I want people to say, ‘Eddie tried.’ That’s it.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.