Eddie Kingston was a guest on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho and discussed his AEW Dynamite debut . According to the performer, he received a call from WWE afterward offering him a job as a coach. However, he turned the opportunity down as he still had in-ring ambitions.
As quoted by Cultaholic , Kingston revealed that Vince McMahon’s company tried to bring him in several times before his Dynamite appearance. His reason for turning down the job was always down to him never wanting a paycheck he didn’t “earn.”
“My thing was I was gonna go in there, coach, be bitter and angry about coaching, not getting a shot. And these guys, they love wrestling now because they’re at the Performance Center, no offense to them… I would have been so bitter and angry I wouldn’t have done a good job and I would have been detrimental to those kids. So, I was like, ‘No, I’m good.’ So anyway, now they were talking about other things besides coaching.”
According to Kingston, WWE considered other positions for him, but the promotion never seemed to be interested in hiring him as a full-time wrestler who’d get television time.
Kingston went on to say that AEW asked him to return shortly after and he assumed it’d be another one-off booking. He told Christopher Daniels that WWE offered him another chance to work for them, and he was given an AEW contract that was already waiting for him.
According to Kingston, receiving the contract blew him away. After paying his dues for 18 years, he felt like his hard work had finally paid off. However, he also said that he felt it was overdue, as so many performers he’s helped out throughout the years made it to the big leagues before him.
Kingston’s debut saw him challenge Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship. His promo before the match captured the attention of the wrestling community, and the match itself was critically acclaimed.
Prior to joining the company, Kingston was a stalwart on the independent circuit. He competed for companies such as Ring of Honor and Chikara, but some fans might remember him from his brief stint in Impact Wrestling.
Kingston will compete at tomorrow’s All Out pay-per-view in a 21-man battle royal to determine the next challenger for the World Championship. He will be joined by The Butcher and the Blade and the Lucha Bros, two teams that he recently formed a faction with.
