Eddie Kingston: We’re Honoring Men Like Jon Moxley Who Can Accept Their Flaws And Fix Them

Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley come from an environment and industry that tells men to bury their emotions. But as social norms gradually change, so do those expectations of “tough” guys.

President of All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan announced on November 2 that Moxley would suspend the company’s operations and begin participating in an alcohol disposal program. Kingston, who detailed her own mental health and substance problems in a candid piece for Player Tribune, spoke to CBS Sports about the industry-wide support for Moxley.

“That’s great. I’m going to gather with him anyway. I guess you could say I’m an old-fashioned street guy,” Kingston said. “My thing is, ‘I don’t care if anyone else understands. I understand. Your wife understands, I understand. That’s all that matters.’ It’s great that everyone has that. My girlfriend told me this the other day. She’s smart. Toxic masculinity. I’ve never heard of that before. She seems to think that’s dying because we really honor men like Moxley who can accept their flaws but also work on them.

“Back in the day, we used to accept our flaws and move on, not work with them. Now we accept who we are, we work with them. She said I do the same. so. I don’t know what that means. I still enjoy watching football and eating steak and drinking beer here or there.”

Mental health issues – health does not discriminate; however, Kingston stresses the importance of normalizing mental health struggles because being a “tough guy” doesn’t stop someone from needing help.

“I often like to tell people that we make our own normal. If you sit there and say what you’re going through is not normal, that’s the bulls —” he said. “What you’re going through is what you’re going through. It’s your normal. We make our own. The whole thing, ‘Don’t talk about other things. I have to be manly.’ ” I think I’m pretty manly, but I talk about what I’m going through because I’m trying to see tomorrow. I’m trying to make my mother proud. I’m trying to make my girl proud. I’m trying to make Tony Khan proud. I’m trying to make my Monkey boy [AEW wrestler Ortiz] proud. Murder. There are so many people I’m trying to be proud of that I have to move on.

“The best way to move on is to talk about what’s going on. And make myself normal because no one has to go through what I’m going through. I’m the one going through it so that’s the thing. It’s not me I’m broken, I’m just going to move on from it and move forward because that’s all I can do is move forward I feel a bit of a pressure since from there? Player Tribune? Yeah, but I also like it because look, I can go on, I can do it. I’m not the most mentally assembled person but I’m moving forward, I’m trying. So why no one else? “

Check out the full interview with Eddie Kingston below.

Kingston, 39, has a pretty good support system back home. It was his mother who suggested that he would be happier accepting AEW’s contract offer rather than signing with WWE. It was his brother who pushed Kingston off the brink of retirement just before the national breakthrough.

“My parents are happy that I am doing something that is not illegal. My brother is happy that I have found something I am passionate about,” Kingston said. “I didn’t see a future. They did. They saw a future for me in whatever I wanted to do. But because of my low self-esteem and the way I mentally beat myself up in the past – which is what I’ve been doing.” what i do, i’m doing it, but all of that – they’re just happy to see me doing something positive, so of course they’ll support me on that, no matter what .”

Kingston is reaping the fruits of his long effort. He has featured matches against many of AEW’s top stars since turning his one-night deal against Cody Rhodes in July 2020 into a full-time contract. After acclaimed matches against the likes of Moxley, CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, Kingston became one of the company’s focal points.

“New milestones, of course,” Kingston said of what comes next. “[The goal] become the leader in AEW. I have achieved a goal. I went to AEW, signed a contract, made a living. My grandson can show people on the TNT app, there’s one plug, or on AEW YouTube there’s another plug, he can show off that his uncle is a wrestler. I have achieved a goal. The next goal is to be the top guy. To become a champion. Be the guy on the posters. That guy To be OPINION. That’s what Kenny [Omega] to be. That’s what Mox has been. That is [Chris] Jericho already. And that’s what ‘The Hangman’ [Adam Page] The time now is. That is always the goal. “