Ring of Honor needs its champion in Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston is the ROH World Champion but has yet to compete on the brand this year. ROH needs its champion to show up more often.
Eddie Kingston is one of the most beloved members of the All Elite Wrestling roster. He is the perfect example of what it means to be an alternative to sports entertainment and thrives as one of the faces in the company. Seeing him as champion is something that several fans want to see and he’s achieved a semblance of that in recent months. But now that he’s dropped the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada, it’s time Kingston takes a step to elevate Ring of Honor as its champion.
Kingston won the ROH Championship from Claudio Castagnoli nearly 200 days ago at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam. It was a crowning achievement for Kingston, and a moment that kicked off a string of momentum that would see him win the Continental Classic to become a Triple Crown winner. But there’s a swirling complaint about the booking of ROH champions and how it continues to occur outside of the Ring of Honor show on Honor Club each week. Other than ROH Women’s World Champion, Athena, all of the title holders seemingly have business on other shows, rather than the one where they hold the belt. The same is true for Kingston.
Since winning the title back in December, Kingston has defended it 11 times. Of those 11 title defenses, only two occurred on Honor Club or on an ROH show. Both of those matches were back in November. He’s defended that title several times on AEW and even within NJPW where he is the NJPW Strong Openweight Champion. That highlights the issue at hand. Kingston is the ROH champion, but rarely competes on that show. Take 2024 for example. Three months into the year and he has yet to have a single match in a ROH ring. That is a problem.
This brings rise to the question whether or not Honor Club is worth the monthly subscription. Should fans continue to pay $9.99 for a brand of wrestling that features some interesting aspects, but continues to fail to showcase the top champions each week. It’s Athena’s platform to rule, but should there be more of an attempt to keep the other champions on this platform as well? That’s the question that several people have and it is one that Tony Khan or whomever is booking ROH hasn’t committed to answering.
Ring of Honor needs its champion in Eddie Kingston. Now that he’s dropped one of those three titles, perhaps this is the time where he will show up on Honor Club more consistently with that belt he loves.