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Career-Defining Moment Awaits Eddie Kingston

In a match that will determine both the Ring of Honor world title and New Japan Pro-Wrestling Openweight championship, Eddie Kingston wrestles Claudio Castagnoli tonight at the Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite

Justin Barrasso

Career-Defining Moment Awaits Eddie Kingston
Career-Defining Moment Awaits Eddie Kingston /

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Eddie Kingston on winning championship gold in Japan: “I used to daydream about moments like that”

This past July, Eddie Kingston experienced a life-changing moment.

Wrestling in Tokyo at the renowned Korakuen Hall, Kingston carved his name into New Japan Pro-Wrestling history when he finished off Kenta with a Northern Lights Bomb. Kingston’s hand was raised, and he was awarded the New Japan Strong Openweight championship–but even though the sweaty, steamy building was begging for air conditioning, it was not perspiration running down Kingston’s face.

Contents

  1. The (Online) Week in Wrestling
  2. John Cena and AJ Styles need to run it back
  3. Tweet of the Week

Flooded with emotion, it was impossible for Kingston to hold back his joy. Twenty-one years into a career where he has all too often been overlooked and undervalued, Kingston fulfilled a dream of winning a championship in Japan.

“There is an aura in Korakuen Hall,” said Kingston. “That building is alive. I felt feelings there that I never feel, so damn right, I was emotional.

“I used to daydream about moments like that. Before I could process it, my mentor Homicide came running out. Once I saw how happy he was, I lost it.”

Courtesy AEW
Courtesy AEW

Later tonight, Kingston defends that Strong Openweight championship on AEW’s “Grand Slam” edition of Dynamite at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. His opponent is eternal rival Claudio Castagnoli, who is also placing his Ring of Honor world title on the line in a winner-take-all bout.

Kingston has worked for over two decades to find his place in pro wrestling. A career symbolized by defiance can reach an entirely new level tonight as he seeks to retain his title and become the ROH champ, with the added bonus of defeating his greatest rival to accomplish the feat.

“I don’t respect anything about Claudio,” said Kingston. “I don’t even respect that Claudio is a great wrestler, even though he is. As a person, I think he’s garbage. I don’t give a f--- what he has to say. Talk is cheap. Let’s let our actions do the talking.

“This is not a business to me. I’m not wearing a fancy suit to work like him. This is not just a paycheck for me. If it was, I’d be working somewhere else as a coach. This is my life. I am a wrestler, and I’m going to fight with my heart and soul.”

Kingston is reaching a wider audience than ever before in AEW. His heartbeat is part of the soul of the promotion, and his promos are reason alone to watch.

AEW owner/booker Tony Khan saw a quality in Kingston that no one else did. His faith has been rewarded with Kingston making a habit of exceeding expectations and delivering on-camera for the company.

“Eddie Kingston has an aura of authenticity,” said Khan. “Nobody questions his loving obsession with pro wrestling, nor his molten temper. As wrestling fans, it’s special for us to see a star who wears his love of wrestling on his sleeve, and something that makes Eddie so special in my opinion is that he always matches his unwavering authenticity with unmatched intensity.

“We can feel his real passion and his real anger when he speaks, and anytime he steps into the ring. Eddie’s method is that he’s not acting. He really cares about AEW, NJPW, ROH, and the wrestling fans. It comes from a great place in his heart, and sometimes when provoked it can take him to a very dark place, as well.”

Tonight’s Kingston-Castagnoli match is extremely unique. Though it takes place in an AEW ring, it will be contested for titles from New Japan and Ring of Honor. It will also highlight a history from the independents of more than a decade-and-a-half, which represents a story WWE simply does not highlight more than momentarily in their vision and execution of pro wrestling. This match embodies the spirit of AEW, and it has the potential to be a bloodbath–and steal the show.

The setting further adds to the significance of the match. Kingston lives, breathes, and bleeds New York. Though the Yankees and Mets have struggled this season, he intends to bring a victory to New York this fall.

“If you’re going to beat me in New York, you’re going to have to kill me,” said Kingston. “Claudio is going to have to put me down for a lot longer than three seconds.”

Courtesy AEW
Courtesy AEW

The last time Kingston wrestled Castagnoli in a singles bout was this past March at Supercard of Honor. By no means was it the finest match of his career, but it was the grittiest: Kingston was battling a hernia that caused him extreme anguish before, during, and after the 20-minute bout.

“I’m not going to lie and say, ‘Oh, it was the fighting spirit,’” said Kingston. “That absolutely sucked. I had a job to do, and I did it.”

Now healthy, and with a summer of competing in New Japan’s famed G1 Climax behind him, Kingston seeks to close out this chapter with Castagnoli and begin a new one with two titles by becoming ROH champ.

“If Ring of Honor never took off in the early 2000s, there would probably never be AEW,” said Kingston. “Ring of Honor wanted to be different. A lot of AEW guys wrestled for Ring of Honor, too. My mentor Homicide was the world champion. Xavier was the world champ. Low Ki was the first-ever champ. Those are all New Yorkers. The belt belongs with a New Yorker.”

Dynamite also features MJF defending the AEW title against Samoa Joe. That is likely to close out the show, unless there is a finish that is designed to prolong their feud. Regardless of which bout closes the show, it is the Kingston-Castagnoli bout that is going to define this year’s “Grand Slam” event at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“New York is home, and I’m always going to protect my home,” said Kingston. “I’ll make the only promises I can make. If you miss this, you’re going to regret it. And I promise that I’m going to fight until the end.”

The (Online) Week in Wrestling

An odd side effect of the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood is that it is opening a path for some major stars to return to WWE. This past week on SmackDown, it was The Rock who electrified all of wrestling–and sparked significant speculation that he will be wrestling Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40.

Jey Uso’s addition to Raw has been outstanding. The story from this past Monday added to that, with Uso rejecting the offer to join Judgment Day–yet failing to gain the trust of Drew McIntyre. This is a refreshing reminder that the past should matter in the current storytelling.

MJF and Samoa Joe wrestle for the AEW world title tonight at AEW’s “Grand Slam” edition of Dynamite, which takes place at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York–and marks a long way from when MJF was a security extra escorting Samoa Joe to the ring in NXT.

If Jade Cargill is WWE bound, which was first reported by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, then there is no ceiling for what she can accomplish in her new company.

I’m warming up to the idea of Becky Lynch as NXT champion, primarily because of the spotlight it will place on their women’s division.

John Cena and AJ Styles need to run it back

Last week’s SmackDown, featuring the return of The Rock, was phenomenal. Following The Rock’s segment with Pat McAfee and Austin Theory, we were treated to a match between AJ Styles and Finn Bálor. That is worthy of a pay-per-view main event, and the show closed with a main event of equal caliber, featuring Asuka against Bayley.

John Cena was also part of the star-studded lineup. His interview segment with Grayson Waller was fascinating, though not because of what was said. Cena was about to be on the receiving end of a beatdown from Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, until Styles arrived and evened the odds. This pairing immediately sparks the imagination, and it would be the perfect way to rebuild Styles into a main event player–as well as put Cena in the best possible program outside of the world title picture.

Looking ten steps ahead, if Cena and Styles work together, this has to end with Styles turning on Cena. The two last fought in 2018, and their work was a defining moment for Styles in WWE.

Styles is also exactly what Cena needs. A match with Styles would remind the world of Cena’s in-ring brilliance. Cena rarely receives the credit he deserves for what he has accomplished inside the ring, and a match with Styles–after a substantial feud–would serve as the perfect chance to highlight that.

Cena needs an opponent for WrestleMania 40. I cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited for that role than Styles.

Tweet of the Week

Hopefully we will see a lot more of The Rock between now and WrestleMania.

Published
Justin Barrasso
JUSTIN BARRASSO

Justin Barrasso has been writing for Sports Illustrated since 2014. While his primary focus is pro wrestling and MMA, he has also covered MLB, NBA, and the NFL. He can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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