Eddie Kingston On What His Promos Try To Bring Back To Pro Wrestling
AEW's Eddie Kingston recently sat down for a conversation with Yahoo! Sports where he gave a glimpse into his strategy when coming out to perform. The brash, outspoken Kingston explained that his in-ring persona is just an amplified version of his authentic self.
"If I'm not into it or I can't be myself, it's not going to work," Kingston said. "AEW knew what they were getting when they signed me and they have gone with it. I've been lucky and I've been blessed to be at a place that lets me be myself. Everyone wants to say character, but the Eddie Kingston you see is just me at 17 turned up a thousand notches."
Kingston also noted how when it comes to segments and matches with others, he likes to keep the moments as authentic as possible.
"I feel like if I have to discuss [the segment or match] with you, we're not going to have a good time," Kingston said. "I like to react to things, moments, people and I like whoever is working with me to do the same. If we're not having a good time [in the ring], then the most important people, the fans, aren't going to be entertained. Let's try and bring a little bit of reality back to pro wrestling."
One moment last year that allowed Eddie's character to show emotional complexity is when his real-life friend and AEW star, Brodie Lee, unexpectedly passed away. A video clip that later went viral captured Kingston delivering an emotional speech backstage to the AEW locker room during the tribute show.
"I'm no locker room leader," Kingston said. "I don't want to be, never wanted to be. When I do stuff like I did for Brodie, it's just what I felt. I had all this energy inside me. I had just wrestled, so I wasn't going to work out and I had to get this energy off me. I was down and out because of Brodie's passing and we had put on this great show. I was wondering why we couldn't have this all of the time. I wanted the young ones to know that we can have it all of the time and that we don't need one of our loved ones to pass away to have this energy."