Eddie Kingston is back on AEW television, and he says the decision to reach out to Tony Khan was driven entirely by the fan support he received while working ROH and the independents during his time away.
Kingston faced Jake Doyle in a first-round Continental Challenge Cup match on Saturday’s AEW Collision from Colorado Springs.
The bout was Kingston’s first match on AEW TV in roughly six months. His last appearance came on a February episode of Collision, where he joined Ortiz and The Rascalz in a Parking Lot Fight.
After picking up the win over Doyle, Kingston spoke in exclusive content AEW posted to social media, crediting fans he met on the indie circuit for pushing him to personally call Khan and request a spot in the tournament.
“This is what you get, bro, raw and uncut. Here it is. No fake tan, no fake whatever. Here it is, right here. This is pro wrestling. This is your athlete. Now, I’m done joking. I’ve been away too long. Granted, my own doing. That’s for you guys to wonder and for me to know, okay? But I missed every single one of you fans, and I’m not saying that being the corny, hooray. Nah, man. I missed every single one of you cause you guys give me energy. You guys give me energy to keep fighting when I don’t want to.
All those people that I met when I was doing the independents, when I was off TV coming up to me, ‘When are you getting back on, Eddie? Eddie, we need to see you back on,’ and I told each and every one of them, ‘you inspire me.’ They didn’t believe me. This is for all of y’all that didn’t believe me. I’m the one who made the phone call to Tony Khan, and I said, ‘you put me in this tournament. I don’t care what it is, what it’s called. You put me in it, cause I want that. I wanna be that champion. I wanna be the first one.’
Just like I was the first Continental Champ, I wanna be the first Continental Cup champion, and it’s not for me, folks. It’s not for me. Other things will be. I ain’t gonna lie, I’m not perfect. I’m gonna be selfish later, trust me. But this. tournament, this cup, is for every single person that I met and all the promotions that I worked for who came up to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to see you back on TV, Eddie.’ This is all for you. I fight for you in this tournament for you. Because to be honest with you, if y’all didn’t bother me, I wouldn’t have made that phone call.”
The comments add another layer to what Kingston has said publicly about his absence. In June, speaking in a wXw documentary, he framed the time away from TV as part of the business and admitted he had moments of self-doubt, even while staying active with other promotions.