Eddie Kingston On Competing In NJPW G1 Climax, STRONG Openweight Title Win

Eddie Kingston has made a splash in NJPW this year between competing in the G1 Climax and winning the STRONG Openweight Title, and he recently weighed in on both experiences. Kingston spoke about his NJPW work in an appearance on AdFreeShows’ On-Demand. You can see a couple of highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On his experience in the G1 Climax: “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until my lady who works in the social media department was just like, ‘Yeah, man, people are really into it.’ And I’m like, ‘What? What?’ Because it’s just — you don’t think that. So I just want to say thanks to everybody who feels like they’re living through this with me, because they are, I guess. I don’t know how, but they are, so thank you.

“I said in another interview, I felt at peace in Japan. I didn’t have any worries. I didn’t have to worry about the guys I was fighting. I didn’t have to worry about the locker room. I didn’t have to worry about my bills. I didn’t have to worry about anything. The only time I feel that free is when I’m in the ring. So taking it out of the ring and actually having it in real life — everyday life in Japan — was a trip. I used to daydream of wrestling for the G1 in high school, like, staring out of math class or religion classes window or whatever. It matched my daydream; it surpassed it. So it was everything I wanted. If I go back, f**k yeah. If I don’t, I still did the G1.”

On winning the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship: “I didn’t know what to do because it didn’t seem real,” Kingston said. “I would legit think about wrestling in Korakuen Hall. I would legit think about being IWGP champion; how would I do it? So being a champion in New Japan and then doing it in Korakuen Hall and then doing it against someone who I respect like KENTA and who KENTA was trained by as well by [Yoshihiro] Takayama and by Kenta Kobashi.

“I was so speechless, it blew my mind. So I wasn’t getting choked up until Homicide ran out. And then to see my mentor being that happy. That’s real. He loves his people to death, sometimes too much. Because I’d be sitting there like, ‘Yo, this kid’s two-faced. Why do you — why you f**king with him?’ He just sticks with you until the end. Even if he’ll talk s**t about you because you pissed him off, he’ll stick with you until the end, and that’s what he did for me. So when he came out and hugged me, I said, ‘Oh s**t, here it comes.’ And then I had to talk right the f**k after. I was like, ‘Jesus.’ Wiping the original tears away.”