Eddie Kingston Gives His Thoughts On Cody Rhodes Following Their TNT Title Match On AEW Dynamite

By Jason Ounpraseuth

Chris Jericho had on one of AEW's recent additions to the roster, Eddie Kingston, on the Talk Is Jericho podcast. Kingston talked about how his arrival at AEW came together, and he also said that buzz from Twitter started after he cut a promo at an indie show calling out Zack Sabre Jr., Nick Aldis, and Cody Rhodes.

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"I had a chance to cut a promo at an indie show and I just went off," Kingston stated. "I called out Zack Sabre Jr. because I was supposed to wrestle him in England, and I always wanted to get in the ring with him. I love the guy. I still want to beat his a–, but I love him. Then I called out Nick Aldis, because at the time, I was working for NWA.

"And to me, I think a lot of guys don't say this enough: the reason why we're in this business is to be a champion. We didn't get into this business to be the opener; I want to be a top guy. No offense to Mox, no offense to you. That's what I'm working towards. If I'm not working towards that, then what's the point of me being here?

"So, I called out the NWA Worlds Champion. Then I was like, 'you know what? For sh–s and giggles, let me call out Cody' because he's just doing this open challenge thing. Then I went off and just started going, 'you talk about an open challenge. You're not facing men, you're facing signed talent that aren't going to hurt you.' I'm friends with The Bucks and Kenny, so I was like, you know what? Let me throw a little dig just for fun. It was nothing serious, and I was like, 'oh, by the way, the guys that you run the company with like me better than you,' just to joke around."

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Kingston said that the Twitter buzz that followed led to QT Marshall calling him and asking if he wanted to wrestle Rhodes. Kingston agreed nonchalantly, thinking that it was just another booking where he could later raise up his price on the indies.

"I got a phone call from QT Marshall, and he goes, 'you want to wrestle Cody?' I said, 'yeah, why not,'" Kingston recalled. "I took it as another booking because I didn't see it as, 'oh, I'm gonna go in there and they're going to be wowed by me, and sign me, or whatever.' I was like, 'look, I'll go in there, do my best, do my job, and go home.' Next thing thing you know, when the indies start back up, that's what I was thinking. It would jack up my price."

Kingston answered Rhodes' open challenge, and he praised Cody for being so giving in their match. He noted that Rhodes could have felt slighted by Kingston's promo and could have chosen to bury him instead.

"Got to give Cody credit, he was so giving. He didn't have to do what he did in that match with me," Kingston pointed out. "He could have went in there and been like, 'you know what? you like to talk s–t, kid? We're going three minutes and I'm beating you.' I would have been like, 'OK', because that would have been my job. I'm not going to fight it. 'Alright, man, whatever you want to do.' But he went out there and he worked with me, and we beat each other up."

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Kingston came out to answer Rhodes' TNT Title open challenge, cutting a promo on Rhodes. Kingston revealed that the promo was Rhodes' idea, and that Rhodes had asked Kingston before the match what music and graphics he wanted. This part confused Eddie.

"That was his idea, the promo, because he hit men and said, 'hey, what music and what graphics do you want?'," Kingston revealed. "I go, 'Why? I'm not signed. I'm coming in from the outside. Why would there be a promo package and music for me?' And he was like, 'How about you come in and cut a promo?' I said, 'OK.'"

A digital exclusive post-match promo was released where Kingston reflected on his defeat in the open challenge. Kingston said that he offered to do that promo because he wanted to put not only Rhodes over but also the TNT Championship.

"I made sure they shot me selling, but not selling like, 'oh no, I lost,' selling like, 'I was so close.' That's why I asked him if I could cut a promo after because I wanted to show how mad I was or how distraught I was because the TNT Title meant so much to me, because I grew up watching wrestling where all the titles meant something, because the guys, that's all they wanted was that championship," Kingston explained. "Like Flair would say, 'this is the greatest championship in the world,' and then go to WWF at the time and say, 'this is the top championship.' But you still put it over; that's what I grew up on.

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"So, I wanted to make sure that, OK Cody, my job is Cody gets over as a tough guy, but now the championship also, I got to get that over. It's not about me. I'll just talk or go home. I did my job, I'll go home, and that's the way I looked at it. I wasn't looking for a job. I was just happy for the opportunity. I was happy for the money to come in so I can put it towards my bills."

Jericho revealed that as he was writing out his story with Orange Cassidy, he had an idea to bring in a bounty hunter to attack Cassidy before their "Mimosa Mayhem" Match. Jericho had thought of using Kingston for that role until he found out that he had signed with AEW and would be there for the long-term.

"Like I was telling you, I always write stuff far in advance and I was looking for something to kind of take up some weeks to lead to this 'Mimosa Mayhem' Match," Jericho revealed. "My idea for the week before was that I call a bounty hunter in to beat up Orange Cassidy, to soften him up for me, and the idea was Eddie Kingston. And when I told Tony that, he goes, 'we just signed him.' I'm like, 'oh, OK, well then let's not use that,' because I didn't think they were going to have you around for two-three-four weeks. I was like, 'well, that's great. There goes my plans. What am I gonna do? He got signed.'"

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You can view the promo Kingston references below. If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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