Wrestler Eddie Kingston has his eyes on the prize as All Elite Wrestling comes to the DCU

It’s a really good time to be a pro wrestling fan these days. The industry is currently in a boom period where folks are comparing it to the glory days of the ‘80s, late ‘90s and early 2000s, with an abundance of talented wrestlers making their presence felt. One of the many reasons for this is the promotion All Elite Wrestling, which has been an international destination for wrestlers ever since it began on New Year’s Day back in 2019. A person on their roster who has been one of the most popular over the past few years has been Eddie Kingston, who’s memorable promos and genuine approach to wrestling has garnered a major following. Folks around Worcester will get to see him and others do their thing in the ring when AEW comes to the DCU Center on April 3 for a live broadcast of “Dynamite" and a taping of “Collision” starting at 7:30 pm.

Kingston initially got into wrestling through tape trading while growing up in the New York City suburb of Yonkers. Through this, he eventually became a big fan of what All Japan Pro Wrestling had going on in the ‘90s, which he considers to be a major influence.

“It all started around ‘96, a friend of mine asked me if I still liked wrestling and I kind of fell off it,” he says. “I told him that I didn’t like it anymore because it became a little kiddish and I was becoming a teenager at the time, so I didn’t want to see any kiddish stuff. We all know how boys get when they become teenagers and he put on ECW, he told me to check this out and it was ‘Gangstas Paradise’ from back in 1995. ECW had everything a teenage boy would want with violence, blood and women. Then after that, because of ECW I found out about tape trading and I found out about websites that had certain tapes.”

'Physical storytelling'

“I actually got into the All Japan ‘90s stuff because I knew of Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta from WCW, so I bought a wrestling tape called ‘Best of 1995 in Japan’ and that’s when I first saw [Toshiaki] Kawada and [Kenta] Kobashi,” Kingston adds. “I had no idea who they were so I had to go back to the website in the library, because I didn’t have a computer at home, and look up the names. That’s how I fell in love with All Japan at the time, it was because I was buying any tape that had Chono and Muta on it. They both left such an impression on me as a young kid back in 1992 and after that I would just find stores down in the city, especially around Chinatown and other places. These little stores would have tapes and stuff like that and when I got the internet that was when I started tape trading.”

When it comes to what separates Japanese pro wrestling from the American style, Kingston mentions that it’s a different type of storytelling. It focuses more on what’s going on in the ring rather than what’s happening outside of it.

“For me personally, it was just the physical style that was different from American wrestling,” he says. “Some people call it ‘Strong Style’, ‘King’s Road Style’ or whatever they want to call it, but it’s just more physical storytelling than outside the ring storytelling. That’s the major difference.”

'The insults don’t bother me'

For the past few months, Kingston has been completely off of social media. He’s also been very vocal in various videos online and on TV about the importance of mental health and his reasoning for logging off is due to how some people act on these platforms while also preferring to interact with fans who come to see him wrestle live and in person.

“The insults don’t bother me, that never did bother me,” Kingston says. “I know a lot of people with their narrative believe that’s what got me to log off, but what got me off was just the disgusting behavior of certain people. They’re safe behind the computer or they’re safe behind their phone so they feel like they can say nasty stuff to people and it affects people. That’s why I felt like I was done with this, I don’t need to read this and even if the negativity doesn’t affect me, it’s in my brain so sooner or later it is going to affect me. I tell people who work in [AEW’s] social media department, they have to be on social media basically 24 hours a day and I feel bad for them.”

“Even though the negativity isn’t towards them and it’s towards the company and the wrestlers, and this is in any company, they have to deal with that negativity and sooner or later that negativity and that nastiness seeps into your brain and it affects you whether you know it or not,” he adds. “That’s why I felt like I didn’t need to be on this, I don’t need to sell shirts like I did back when I was in the indies. We have ShopAEW.com, so if someone wants a shirt they can just go there now. I really don’t need social media anymore and when I interact with fans, I’d rather interact with the fans who want to see me at the shows and buy tickets to go to them. Tickets ain’t cheap, so I’d rather meet them at the shows or entertain them at the shows.”

'The goal is always to be the World Champion'

Right at the end of 2023 at the All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view “World’s End”, Kingston made history by winning the first-ever “Continental Classic” tournament and becoming the first American Triple Crown Champion by simultaneously holding the AEW Continental Championship, the Ring of Honor World Championship and the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship. He has since lost the Continental Title to new signee Kazuchika Okada, but he’s going to be defending the Ring of Honor World Title on April 5th against Mark Briscoe at the promotion’s pay-per-view “Supercard of Honor”, which is currently his primary focus.

“I’m just trying to keep the Ring of Honor World Title and beat Mark, that’s what I’m looking at right now,” he says. “I’m not trying to look too far into the future, but the goal is always to be the World Champion. Some people call it the AEW World Championship, but I just call it the World Championship because that’s what it is to me. Of course that’s the ultimate goal, but for now I just want to defend the Ring of Honor World Title and the New Japan Strong Openweight Championship. I know a lot of people are like ‘Too bad you lost to Okada’, but here’s the thing, you win some and you lose some in this game.”

“No one goes undefeated in our sport, so you have to move on, and you have to maintain focus,” Kingston adds. “Especially for me with the Ring of Honor World Title and the Strong Openweight Championship.”

All Elite Wrestling

When: 7:30 p.m. April 3

Where: The DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester

How much: $20 to $90, allelitewrestling.com/aew-events

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: All Elite Wrestling Returns to the DCU with ‘Dynamite,’ ‘Collision’