Cam Hawkins spoke to the new ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston for a Fightful interview. We're providing the transcript unchanged.
Cam Hawkins
All right. I'm here with the Ring of Honor World Champion Eddie Kingston. Eddie Kingston, how are you doing today, sir?
Eddie Kingston
I'm good, man. I'm chilling. Let's not forget the New Japan Openweight Champion.
CH
Absolutely.
EK
You know, gotta be a company guy, gotta be a company guy. New Japan and everybody's helping me out, so I got to be a company guy for a little bit, at least. I'm still 1099, but you know.
CH
Has it hit you yet? Has the World Championship... Has it hit you yet that you're World Champion after 20-21 years?
EK
No, I think it'll hit me maybe when I retire, because right now I try to enjoy the moment, which I did in the ring, when, if people watch the match and you see me close my eyes and lift the belts up, that's me living in the moment, soaking in the energy from New York. But I'm telling you right now, right after, as soon as I got done talking the Ring of Honor people and taking pictures and all that stuff, I sat down and I just went, okay. Damn. Now I got to defend these things. You know what I mean? More work to come. And more times I'm going to get stopped at the airport because the belts are in my bag.
CH
Who was the first person not affiliated with wrestling to congratulate you?
EK
Oh, my mom and dad. They were the first ones. It was like, right away... I didn't go to my phone right away, but when I did go to my phone, first thing I saw was my mom and dad texting me, taking pictures, saying they were in the audience and my dad making a stupid face. It was great.
CH
No doubt. No doubt.
EK
Now, if only... (bringin me) back down to earth. It was definitely my dad's stupid face that he was making.
CH
Does it mean more to do it in New York?
EK
Yeah, it's my hometown, my home state, whatever you want to call it. You know what I mean? Like every other New Yorker. We're all biased towards New York. So we all say New York's the best. We love New York, even though we bitch and moan about it constantly. Especially the rent and the traffic. Yeah, of course it means more. It's home. You always protect home. And I always want for some reason, man, I just want home to always be proud of me. I want them to think of me.
CH
Good, knowing how selfless you are. Would you trade Wednesday night for a Knicks championship?
EK
Yeah. See how quickly I answered that. Yeah, I would. Right away. I'd be like, yeah, I need the Knicks to win the championship.
CH
No doubt. No doubt. I respect that. So not only do you become Ring of Honor world champion, you do it against Claudio, man.
EK
Yeah.
CH
We've seen over the years, especially with the WWEs and WCWs and more American stuff, you've seen kind of that passing of the torch, or this was the hump I couldn't get over, or this is my greatest rival, and we get there. Does it mean more winning the and again, not to ever disrespect what you're doing with New Japan, but does it mean more to become Ring of Honor World Champion against Claudio? More so than, I don't know, a (CM) Punk, a (Samoa) Joe throw any name out there, Claudio, does that make it the icing on the cake?
EK
Yeah, without a doubt, that's an icing on the cake. It always feels good when you beat somebody you don't like, you know what I mean? I'm just going to be real with you. It would mean a lot being a world champion, especially Ring of Honor World Champion that I wanted to be a part of when I first broke in, when I first broke in, Ring of Honor just started like they had two shows and I wanted to go there from the get go, you know what mean? And so being the Ring of Honor World Champion would mean a lot against anybody, you know, I'm going to keep it a buck with you. Of course it feels better being somebody that you don't like. And when I say I don't like Claudio, it's not the pro wrestler. Claudio is an amazing professional wrestler. Trust me, I know. He hits hard. He's so strong. It's ridiculous how strong he is. And he's agile, too, which is just not fair. But the line with it, too, is I don't like him as a person. That's just me, you know what I mean? I know other people love him to death, and that's cool.
EK
Me and them just have a different relationship of not liking each other. So, yeah, of course it feels better.
CH
I tried to have a nuanced conversation on the Internet, Eddie, and you know how that goes. It's very difficult. Basically, and please hear me out. What I was saying was there was a conversation about Eddie Kingston's not world champion because Eddie Kingston has a different physique than X, Y and Z. And what I was trying to say was, Eddie Kingston is so good at every single thing outside of maybe that thing that so many companies cling on to. Eddie Kingston is damn near a perfect pro wrestler, but it's not like... Basically what they were saying was Vince McMahon ruined everybody's brains saying that there could only be one body type for a world champion. And I was no, like, kind of everybody kind of works along those lines. And somehow that turned into, how dare you say Eddie Kingston isn't good enough to be world champion. I was like, guys, that's not what I'm saying. So let me kind of turn it around to you. What does it mean to you to know, again, Eddie Kingston comes from a different background. Eddie Kingston has lived a hard life. Eddie Kingston may not do 3000 sit ups a day, but the world realizes that Eddie Kingston is a fantastic world champion. What does it mean to you to know that in some ways you are a black sheep, but everybody still understands just how good you are?
EK
I can always be better. I'm very hard on myself. I don't think I'm that good. There are a lot of things I got to improve on, and that's just an everyday thing. I improve on life, let alone pro wrestling, you know what I mean?
CH
No doubt.
EK
But it's funny to me because if you read my Player's Tribune interview, there was a moment in my life I'm not going to repeat it... There was a moment in my life where I had a choice and I was in second or third grade, I had a choice of whether to prove a certain parent wrong or being a black sheep like she thought my family was. And I said, "I'm going to be the blackest sheep you ever seen." I remember thinking that in second and third grade. So being the black sheep in wrestling, that doesn't bother me at all. I wear that as like a badge of honor. I should get that tattooed on my face. But yeah, man, people can say whatever they want about my look. It doesn't bother me. They don't know the work that I do. They don't know the stuff I do at the gym. They don't know what I do at Muay Thai, you know what I mean? They don't know. And then having to stretch for hours just to get a little bit loose and take a hot bath and a cold shower and jump in an ice bath and do a sauna after every workout and after every Muay Thai class and every Jiu Jitsu class that I'm starting to get back into again.You know what I mean? They don't know the work I do, and that's fine. They don't need to know the work I do. Just watch or don't. That's not my concern. My concern is winning. My concern is my opponent, you know what I mean? My concern is when it's time for me to speak, to reach people, you know what I mean? To make people feel something. And that's it. That's all I concern myself about, you know what I mean? Plus what I mean, on my cheat meals, they say maybe I go a little bit too far, but I'm gonna do me. At the end of the day, people don't know what I do for this.
CH
We've watched you have a lot of starts and stops, specifically with AEW. Things seemed to be trending in one direction, and then it would kind of go away or things would slow down or get derailed. And again, you were somebody who was very open about the things you deal with, the things you go through from where you started and this is just AEW, from where you started to where you were, the starts and stops worth it? Do you feel, at least in the short term, fulfilled in what you dealt with, what you went through? Just with this time in this company.
EK
Man, like I told you, I'm pretty hard on myself, and I'm also pretty goal orientated. There you go. I said the word, right?
CH
You got it.
EK
But to me, like I said, I had my moment in the ring, and then I was thinking of defending it, but I was also like, I'm very proud of being Ring of Honor World Champion, but this isn't , THE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP, so I still have more to go, you know what I mean?
CH
No doubt.
EK
So I still have more to go. And also the start and stop thing, I never paid attention to that. When people ask me about booking and how I feel about the way I was booked or this and that, I don't care, because that's above my pay grade, for sure. In my contract, it doesn't say that I'm the booker, the promoter, matchmaker, anything like that. You know what I mean? They gave me the contract to be a professional wrestler, and that's my job, and that's all I worry about. So I walk in there and they tell me, this is who you're fighting today, or this is what you're doing on TV. And I do it. And if it keeps going, great. If it doesn't, I have no control over that. Now, trust me, in the beginning, it got me mad because I had to get used to it, you know what I mean? Because out in the indies, it was, all right, here's your match. This is what you're doing, okay? You know what I mean? But once you realize you can't control that and that's above your pay grade, you'll be fine. And you just like, this is a dream job.
EK
Key work that I think a lot of people miss is job. The only thing that's real in this game and it's an old school saying, is the miles and the money. That's the way I look at it.
CH
What was the victory meal? Eddie, I know you sat back, you looked at your phone, you looked at those belts and said, it only gets harder from here. What was the victory meal?
EK
Victory meal was when I got home. When I got home, since it was Thursday, I decided instead of Five Guys, I got a Chik-Fil-A. Okay? Like two burgers, nuggets, french fries, the ice cream for a while. So sweet.
CH
All right. And this is what you ask every world champion. Eddie, who's on your radar? Who do you want to face? Who do you want to defend against? Are there any names that jump out? Is it (a) Claudio rematch? Have you even thought that far into it?
EK
Well, if you put me on the spot now thinking about it, Ethan Page is definitely the top of my list because I know he just... I watch everything, so I know he just got to Ring of Honor out of maybe one or two matches. Maybe I don't know. My brain is shot, but it's the hamster's running on the wheel, you know what I mean? But I know Ethan Page... I would love to fight Ethan Page again and get my win back. I don't like that he has a win on me. He beat me in the Full Gear Tournament. So I'm not too happy about that. But other than that, everybody can get it. I fear no man because everyone can bleed. And if you can bleed, that means you can die. So I'm good. You know what I mean? I fear no one, and that's it. We're fighting, and this is it. So anybody (in) Ring of Honor wants some, go to Tony. Go to the agents. Tell them, hey, make up a track. I want to fight Eddie for the Ring of Honor World Title, for the New Japan Openweight Title, Ring of Honor, Dynamite, Collision, Rampage. New Japan, Defy. House of Glory, AIW.
EK
I don't care where it's at. Progress, OTT in Ireland. I don't care. I'll defend it anyway, no matter to me.
CH
Champ on parade. I like that. I like that, Eddie. When I'm not talking to the world champs and writing about them, I'm a college advisor, and I tell my students because they're 18, 19, 20, and they think they're invincible and nothing will ever go wrong. I remember those days for sure, and I have to remind them that this thing is a marathon. I have to tell them that, look, my job and my career, I didn't get the dope writing job until I was 36 years old. And so this thing takes time, and you should not feel like a failure because things don't happen for you right away. So Eddie Kingston, becoming Ring of Honor World Champion, 20-21, years in the game. What is your advice? Not just to wrestlers, but to people who think that if they don't have it tomorrow, they haven't done it the right way?
EK
Yeah, I'll tell them straight up, who made up those rules? We did. We made up those rules for ourselves. You know what? There's no no one says the correct timeline... I'll give you an example. I was like, by my 30s I should be married. I should have at least one kid, and I should be making a good living off wrestling, not struggling like I was. I put that in my own head. No one told me that. I put that in my own head, and then I let it beat me down until I realized I made those rules. Guess what? I can change them. And everybody goes by their own pace. And I like to tell people, when people come to me about that they're feeling a certain way. And it's weird that they're coming to me because I ain't got all my shit together, you know what I mean? I still struggle every day with stuff, but I tell them straight up, there's no such thing as normal. We make our own normal. My normal is not the same as the next man or woman. So all that stuff where you're like, I need to be this by this age, or I should have this by this age.
EK
You're doing that to yourself. So guess what? You can change it. And everybody has their own path, man. It took me 18 years to get signed to a major company. That's why I ride and die with AEW. That's why I'm a homer for them. That's why I treat them like they're the Yankees. And I tell and I say, everyone else sucks, you know what I mean? It takes everybody their own path, man. I wasn't all there. If I got this earlier in my life at a younger age or earlier in my career, I would be one of those stories that people would do shoot interviews about why did Eddie Kingston get fired, you know what I mean? There was a reason why this happened. I wasn't mentally, physically, emotionally especially, ready. So everything takes time, man. Everyone has their own path, and I got my faith. I'm Catholic. You know what I mean? So if you believe in something, you believe in the universe or you believe in God like I do, you just look, there's a plan out there. Whether I like it or not, this is the plan. And I'm going to do my best to live a better life every day. That's all you can do, you know what I mean? And remember, you make up the rules, man. You make up the rules for your own life. So that means you can change them when it's proper, when it's right.
CH
Absolutely. Eddie Kingston. Ring of Honor, World Champion, New Japan Openweight champion. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your victory lap to talk with.
EK
No, of course, man. Back to work on Wednesday at Denver. And then we got a pay-per-view coming, you know what I mean? I would love if someone from New Japan would come over or I take on somebody from any actually any roster. It don't matter. But we got a lot of things going on. This is me hyping up AEW, this is me trying to be a hype man. We got a lot of things coming up, dog.
CH
More work and more eyes on Eddie Kingston. It's beautiful, my man. Thank you so much for your time to me.
EK
I love that you say that, but in all honesty, man, I don't know. It just weirds me out. But more work means more work to AEW and more eyes for AEW and more eyes for. We have a huge roster, man. Huge roster. So we need all the eyes in the world to see a lot of these young dudes. A lot of them are young, a lot of them are older, but they're all there for a reason. You know what I'm saying?
CH
Absolutely. Yes, sir. Right, man. You have a great rest of your day. Have a fantastic weekend. Can't wait for you to get again.
EK
Thank you, man.
CH
And keep making that thing happen. All right?
EK
Thank you, guys. Appreciate you all man.
