The promo set Kingston on the path he walks today.
On July 4, 2020, Eddie Kingston called out Zack Sabre Jr., Nick Aldis, and Cody Rhodes during a promo at ICW No Holds Barred Volume 3: Deathmatch Drive-In. Kingston would go on to challenge Rhodes for the TNT Championship during his open challenge before officially joining All Elite Wrestling just a few days later.
In an interview with Busted Open Radio, Kingston reflected on the promo, revealing that he never expected AEW to reach out to him to set up the match with Cody Rhodes.
“I went to a show in New York, finally had the first indie show. ICW in Jersey. They were like, ‘Yeah, you can cut a promo if you want after.’ I was supposed to fight Zack Sabre Jr. but the pandemic hit. I was supposed to do something with Nick Aldis, who was NWA Champ at the time. So I was like, ‘I’ll call them out.’ And then I said, ‘You know what? Just to be cute, let me call out Cody’ cause he’s doing this open challenge deal.’ I did it. I did not expect anything from it. I get a phone call from AEW and they go, ‘Hey, you want to come in and fight Cody?’ I said, ‘Yeah, how much?’ Because again, I was broke. I was trying to make a living. Everything just took off, and still to this day, I’m kind of like, ‘What? How is — why is this happening?’ It was just me just calling out Cody, no way thinking anything’s gonna get picked up on it. I said a lot worse things about Zack Sabre Jr. than I did Cody. So I wasn’t expecting anything — by the way, Zack Sabre Jr.’s a b*tch, let’s just put it out there right now. But I called Cody out and just, I’d never thought it would take off, man. Never in my life. Still to this day, I’m surprised about it.”
-Eddie Kingston
Since joining All Elite Wrestling, Eddie Kingston has gone on to win the inaugural Continental Classic in 2023, becoming a Triple Crown Champion as he also held the NJPW STRONG Openweight and ROH World Championships heading into the tournament.
Elsewhere during the interview, Kingston claimed that AEW has changed since he joined the company in 2020, though he would not elaborate on whether the change has been positive or negative. You can read more about that here.
Kingston also opened up about his friendship with Jon Moxley, revealing that the former AEW World Champion brought his family to visit him while he was injured. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on future plans for Eddie Kingston as soon as we hear more.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to WrestlePurists.com for the transcription.
