When it comes to professional wrestling, few performers carry themselves with the same authenticity as Eddie Kingston.
A roadworn grappler who almost sold his boots before latching on with AEW following a TNT Championship open challenge match against Cody Rhodes, Kingston has gone on to become a certified fan favorite, with his unconventional looks and All Japan throwback style capturing the hearts and imaginations of the All Elite faithful.
Discussing his hard-fought career to legitimate mainstream wrestling success in an interview with Wrestling News, Kingston discussed his approach to professional wrestling and how he plans to follow in a certain WWE Hall of Famer's career path as he enters into his third decade in the business.
“No, I have to go all the way in, or I can’t do it. I can’t half-a** it. If I do, then I’m not giving the people what they want. They pay to see me do my thing, and if I back up or I half-a** it, I’m not giving the people what they pay for. I know a lot of guys focus on ratings and who’s watching, but for me personally, I worry about the people who actually paid money to come to the show. I care about the mom, the dad, whatever it is, and their kids. It’s not cheap to come to a show, so when they pay for those tickets, I’m thinking about them and what they paid to see,” Eddie Kingston told Wrestling News via Fightful.
“No, there’s no slowing down, nothing like that. How long do I have? I don’t know. I’m just gonna keep going until my body says no more. I would like to reach 30 years because that’s an old-school number. A lot of the old-school guys back in the day would be like, thirty years is what they wanted. So I can say 30, but I’m probably gonna go until I can’t walk, to be honest with you. Terry Funk’s the GOAT, so I learned from him.”
Frankly, is anyone surprised that Kingston would want to follow the path of the “Hardcore Legend?” If it wasn't for AEW, Kingston would likely be working indie matches between shoot shifts at a non-wrestling job, but now, with his stock considerably elevated, it's safe to assume the “Mad King” could continue to grappler for as long as he wants to keep the train rolling.
Eddie Kingston wants to see AEW continue to grow.
Elsewhere in his interview with Wrestling News, Eddie Kingston talked about the rise of AEW and how some fans seem bent on pronouncing the promotion dead as part of a tribalistic war against Tony Khan's company.
While Kingston wasn't with AEW from the beginning, he's witnessed the company grow and believes that the arrow is still pointing upward, as the promotion's recent string of high-profile signings clearly proves.
“I still see it growing. I know a lot of people said, ‘Oh, AEW fell off,’ or whatever they say on the internet. Look, as long as I’m around, AEW is not falling off. We’ll be alright. As long as I’m able to wrestle and certain guys like Mox and other guys are still wrestling, AEW ain’t going nowhere, and it’s not going down nowhere,” Eddie Kingston said via Fightful.
“I remember hearing someone say, ‘Oh, we’re back. We’re back. AEW is back’ after scumbag Okada debuted. I was just like, ‘I didn’t go anywhere. No one went anywhere. There’s no I’m back. We’ve been here. It’s not our fault you weren’t watching. We’re busting out a**es still every day to put out great matches and great professional wrestling. So just because you guys went away doesn’t mean that we’re back [laughs]. We’ve been here. So no, I just see AEW growing and continuing to grow, and as long as I’m alive and kicking and able to get in the ring, AEW is gonna keep growing.”
Though some will point to AEW's stagnant television ratings number or the fact that WWE is routinely outselling their Pay-Per-View numbers with RAW or SmackDown tapings as warning signs, it's hard to imagine three of the biggest wrestling free agents in recent memory, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, and Mercedes Mone all signing on with the company, even if the money was right, if they were afraid it wouldn't exist before the end of their deals. No, unless something seriously unforeseen happens, it looks like AEW will be going strong for years to come, and Kingston will be at the forefront of that wrestling revolution, as it's hard to imagine WWE welcoming him aboard considering, well, everything really.
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