Eddie Kingston always wears his heart on his sleeve, and has been very open in the past about his mental struggles and the affects they have had on his career.
Eddie Kingston recently spoke with Freddie Prinze Jr on Wrestling With Freddie, and Kingston opened up about a number of topics, such as his struggles, and also how he got so good at promos
“Ever since I was born, I dunno, I’ve been talking shit my whole life. You know what I mean? & to be honest with you, people are like “oh you’re so great at promos”. These are not promos to me. This is therapy to me.
So all the stuff I feel in my chest or in my stomach during the week where I can’t let out. Like, I can work out I can do Muay Thai, I can have my girlfriend choke me out in Jiu-Jitsu which she always does. She’s a black belt, I’m an eggshell colour white. I’d rather just throw punches, thats why I like Muay Thai. But the emotional stuff I cant let out until I get in that ring and have a microphone. So people are like “oh everything you say feels so real!”, Because it is.”
– Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston also spoke with Freddie about the ups and downs of his career and personally before landing in AEW,
“My career before AEW was one step forward, four steps back. Cus I would just shoot myself in the foot because of my temper and my other mental health issues.
There was a period of time in 2007-2008 where I was on a roll, I was at all these big indies like Ring Of Honor, PWG, I was wrestling every weekend, 3 times, 4 times a week. And then I would just get in my own head saying ‘I don’t deserve this’, I’m drinking and I’m sitting in The Tombs in New York in the drunktank missing flights, and then I’d just come back again and everyone would be like “we’re so happy you’re back on track” and then Id go right off again. Either someone pisses me off in the locker room and I’m screaming and yelling, or a Promoter tells me to do something, or a Promoter doesn’t pay me right and I’m going to cashbox to take the money from them. Then you get a bad reputation.
Also my body, I’m not gonna lie to ya, I was almost 300lbs at one point cus I just didn’t work out (laughs). I was just fighting. So my career is just up and down, and I’m my own worst enemy. You know what I mean? So, that’s been my career.
Even at AEW, there’s moments man, I tell people all the time there’s moment where old Eddie, 20-something, 30-something year old Eddie is whispering in my ear like “go ahead man, do your thing, blow it all away, blow it all up”
– Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston is one of the most beloved wrestlers in the business right now, which is incredible because he has only been on national TV with AEW since the Summer of 2020. One of the reasons people have grew so attached to him is because he makes everyone feel like he’s real and honest, as this recent interview with Freddie further proves.
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