Eddie Kingston hasn’t been shy about the struggles he’s had to deal with when it comes to his injury.
To recall, the first Continental Champion was injured during his Last Man Standing match against Gabe Kidd in May 2024. He suffered a leg injury, which required surgery for a fractured tibia, torn ACL, and meniscus tear.
Kingston has talked about all the mental issues he had to deal with in order to get back into ring shape. He’s even stated that he’s thought about retirement on a few occasions. However, his thoughts about retirement crossed his mind well before he started training.
Kingston spoke to Mike Johnson on PWInsiderElite and came close to retiring because he couldn’t afford the surgery necessary to come back and compete. However, it was Tony Khan who helped pay for his surgery.
"It was the fact that I couldn't afford the surgery with my insurance, and the minute the doctor told me 'Yeah you can live without an ACL,' I was like 'Okay, well I guess I'm done.'" However, when AEW CEO and President Tony Khan caught wind of Kingston not being able to afford his surgery, he stepped in.
"People can say whatever they want about Tony or AEW, but once I told Tony...that 'Hey, I can't afford it, not with this insurance so I'm just going to call it,' and straight up Tony was like 'I'm not going to let you do that,' so he paid for the surgery."
Thankfully, that allowed Kingston to begin his healing process and now the AEW star is back in the ring competing full time. Eddie was fighting some serious demons throughout his time away from the squared circle so it’s great that’s he came back healthy and clear headed.
These days, Eddie has opted to take his skills into the tag team division and is currently fighting with Hook to climb up the ranks.
Eddie and Hook fought at the Tailgate Brawl on Saturday, beating The Frat House’s Cole Karter and Griff Garrison. He's not confirmed for Collision, though Hook will be in action.
Could Eddie Kingston and Hook be the next AEW World Tag Team Champions? Only time will tell. Though it would be surprising if Eddie never came in contact with Jon Moxley and The Death Riders. They’ll essentially brothers (via kayfabe) so Kingston never sharing a screen with Moxley as a leader of a cult faction would be a missed opportunity storytelling wise.