Tribalism in wrestling is real and Eddie Kingston hates it.
Whether you’re a WWE or AEW fan, the tribalism between the two companies has been apparent the moment Tony Khan announced the new promotion back in 2019. Six years later, tribalism is going strong in this war between WWE and AEW.
It certainly doesn’t help that WWE is actively going out of their way to counter program AEW lately. Surprisingly, Eddie Kingston was confirmed for All Out even though there was some questions about his future in wrestling based on the recent interviews he's done. But inaugural Contential Champion successfully made his return at the AEW pay-per-view on the day of WWE's first PLE on ESPN.
Before WrestlePalooza and All Out last weekend, Eddie Kingston spoke on "SHAK Wrestling" about the tribalism amongst the fans and it’s something he never gets about wrestling fandom.
"So to me, having multiple companies is the good thing for the boys, too, because we get to get paid, man," he said. "The thing is, I'm trying to be like, I get tribalism because I'm the same guy that will bury WWE on the microphone when I'm in the AEW ring. But that's me going, 'This is my team. I hate your team.' The thing I don't get about the wrestling fan though, is that I never was that tribalistic where I cut myself off from enjoying wrestling."
He then addressed the bulls**t war between the two companies and gets real about WWE trying to monopolize the business by getting rid of AEW.
"I'm very humbled that they believe that I can help in whatever bulls*it war or bulls*it thing that's going on because all it bulls*it," said the ever-honest Kingston. "It's competition and it's one place wanting to monopolize and there's another place that doesn't want to monopolize ... for now, 'cause you know how once people get power it changes. So let's not get it twisted. I like to think if the shoe was on the other foot, you know, things wouldn't go down like that, you know, the way it is. But power corrupts, man. But anyway, I'm flattered about that. And at the end of the day, guess what? You know who wins? Who really wins in all this? Pro wrestling fans."
Check out the full interview where Eddie talks about his injury struggles, retirement, and his mindset heading into All Out.