Eddie Kingston was Cody Rhodes’ surprise title opponent on AEW Dynamite, and he couldn’t have made a bigger impression.
AEW have signed some incredibly talented performers to their roster, including recent additions from WWE in FTR, who are destined to win the promotion’s tag team titles. But if they really want to add another talented wrestler to their company with true star potential in a mainstream promotion on TNT, then they need to sign Eddie Kingston.
Here are three reasons why Tony Khan should pay the man.
His promos are among the best in wrestling
Eddie Kingston is arguably the best promo in professional wrestling right now, and that includes everyone in WWE, AEW, NJPW, Impact Wrestling, you name it. The intensity Kingston displays in his promos is unlike anything else, and he showed AEW fans exactly what he provides on the mic on Dynamite before his match against Cody Rhodes for the TNT Title.
AEW has a lot of great wrestlers in the ring. They don’t have many wrestlers – if anyone – who can bring what Kingston does as a promo. His mic work in NWA has earned him major plaudits from hardcore wrestling fans, but anyone who saw him in the LAX storyline in Impact Wrestling a couple of years ago already understands exactly how charismatic Kingston is.
He showed exactly what he can do in the ring
Eddie Kingston is so good on the mic and so charismatic that it’s easy for his character work to overshadow his wrestling ability. And in the context of a promotion like AEW, that’s actually a good thing, given where the promotion’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
As a whole, though, Kingston is a great wrestler in the ring, and his match with Cody Rhodes showed it. Kingston’s intensity on the microphone is matched by his in-ring work. The thumbtack spot was a microcosm of the kind of punishment Kingston can bring to his opponents, and he’s a fantastic athlete who can bring in power and speed to the table.
It’s so important for a guy like Kingston, who can either be a money-making babyface or a brutal heel, to back up everything he says on the mic inside the ring. Kingston can do exactly that. He’s the total package in every sense of the word, meaning he hypes you up for his matches, he makes his opponents look good, and he delivers the match he hyped up in the ring.
AEW fans got a chance to see his talents up close on national TV, and the promotion knows he can deliver the goods in a big spot.
The fan support speaks for itself
Eddie Kingston was one of the top five trending topics on Twitter during AEW Dynamite when the show opened with his TNT Title match against Cody Rhodes. Fans were overjoyed to see Kingston on their screens, blown away by the match, and flooding Twitter with the hashtag #SignEddieKingston, leading to a peak trend.
WWE announced NXT TakeOver: XXX in their opening segment, so it says something that Kingston trended so highly during a busy night for pro wrestling.
Kingston has been beloved by wrestling fans for quite some time, especially the diehard wrestling fans who appreciate Kingston’s character work and in-ring chops the most. The fans who watch AEW are the fans who have watched Kingston in the independent scene, Impact Wrestling, and NWA, knowing full well that he has the potential to be a huge star for a mainstream promotion like AEW.
The trending hashtag is further evidence of that potential mainstream star power Kingston has and the attention wrestling fans are paying attention to him. AEW can benefit immensely from hiring Kingston. Clearly, the fans want it, and, clearly, he’s more than qualified to be a part of the roster. Again, his promo and match with Cody are the best evidence, and the fan support stems from it.