As AEW’s newest signee, Eddie Kingston has garnered a lot of hype around him as of late. He is a great addition to their roster; in a company full of aliens, dinosaurs, 3,000 year old entities, and dentists, a man like Kingston brings some much-needed reality to the company. Kingston serves as a grounding force in any promotion he’s in, and I’m eager to see how much his star power grows in AEW.
Despite Kingston’s gutsy in-ring performances, it is undoubtedly his promos that get the most people talking. Every ounce of this praise is deserved. In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to name a wrestler with better mic skills than Kingston. There are several aspects of Kingston’s speaking ability and personality that merge together to make his promos some of the greatest of all time.
Mic Skills
Kingston’s promos wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as they are if he didn’t have great oratory skills. Kingston enunciates clearly. He never mumbles or slurs his words. Additionally, he’s excellent at controlling the pace and volume of his words; oftentimes he’ll start out speaking slowly and quietly, and gradually build up in both volume and speed to match the emotional build of his promos.
Emotion
Another thing that makes Kingston’s promos so powerful is the fact that he never shies away showing his emotions. This makes his promos that much more impactful.
The greatest Kingston promo I can think of (which is also, in my opinion, the greatest promo of all time) was given to then-CHIKARA Grand Champion Icarus and his ally Hallowicked. Kingston had just lost the belt to Icarus, and with it, he’d lost his purpose. He starts by talking about how, before he’d held the Grand Championship, he felt like he was wandering around through life aimlessly. His voice is rough around the edges, but absolute. He says:
“When I got here, I knew why I was here. I knew why God put me on this green earth. It was to protect her, to be with her, to love her. She’s more than a title. She’s way more than a belt. She’s the love of my life.”
Eddie Kingston
Then, Kingston pulls himself together, and with a steely anger in his eyes he tells Icarus exactly what he plans to do come their next meeting. He says
“For you taking her away from me, for you taking my peace, my calm, that I’ve been looking for my whole life, I will bury you. And right before the daylight dies outta your eyes, Icarus, you’re going to see me laughing. And smiling.”
Eddie Kingston
Coming from anyone else, the personification of a title belt would seem cliche, or simply ineffective, but Kingston’s absolute conviction in his words makes you believe that he truly just lost the woman he loved more than anything when he lost that belt and that he’s willing to do anything to get her back. His voice cracks at times, as he seems overwhelmed by heartbreak. Then a moment later, he’s taken over by the murderous, stifled rage of a scorned lover.
Then, he’s calm, down-to-earth, and resolute. By the end of the promo, you feel as though you’ve watched a full-length feature-film from all the emotions Kingston has put you through. It’s an incredibly powerful performance that built Kingston as an untouchable babyface heading into his match and gave the CHIKARA Grand Championship an incredible amount of prestige.
Sincerity
I’ve hinted at this before, but something that stands out about Kingston’s promos is that they are incredibly honest, or at least they feel that way. Even if you disagree with his violent methods, the sincerity and passion in his voice make you feel connected to him. He draws you in with every word he says and keeps your attention magnetized to him. His eyes carry a stark light in them; you can tell he’s not reading a prompter or trying to remember his lines. He’s speaking right from the heart. His accent is a perfect motif to this; when politicians or broadcasters have strong accents, they always train to suppress them. Kingston, though, embraces his New York accent, and it makes him seem incredibly authentic. Ultimately, it’s Eddie Kingston’s authenticity that makes his promos the most powerful in the business.
Conclusion
By signing Eddie Kingston, AEW gained a real powerhouse both in the ring and on the mic. We can only hope they use him to his full potential. Personally, I’d love to see Kingston be the first to pin MJF in AEW; the two are polar opposite characters and are both renowned for their mic skills. One can just imagine the heat of the promos we’d see leading up to the match. I can think of no one better to shut up MJF’s rich boy mouth than Eddie Kingston, a man who has the potential to be the 21st century’s American Dream.