Two years ago at this time, Eddie Kingston and CM Punk were in the throes of building to a match at Full Gear. Years before they were engaged in an AEW feud, the two men shared time together on the independents, where real-life animosity began to brew. As Kingston tells it, Punk and Bryan Danielson had made disparaging comments about his weight and ability to be a top star in the business. Those comments festered inside the loud-mouthed, hard-hitting brawler for years until he was given a chance to address Punk publicly on a live microphone.
During his address to Punk in the build-up to their bout, Kingston said that no one in the locker room liked The Second City Savior or wanted him to be there. Those comments were amplified in the wake of Punk’s termination from the company, which followed years of public and private jabs between the “Real” AEW World Champion and various members of the locker room.
In an interview with Adrian Hernandez, Kingston addressed how he felt about his promo comments resurfacing following Punk’s AEW exit.
“I’m doing my job, and that’s how I felt,” he said. “You know what I mean? I didn’t know what anyone else in the locker room felt, and I didn’t care. That’s how I felt. I didn’t want him there. Me and Punk don’t like each other, and that’s fine. You’re not gonna like everybody you work with, you know what I mean? Do I wish he was still in AEW, and I wish it worked out differently. Yeah, because he helped the company. But other than that, I don’t give a f-ck what he does. You know what I mean? Because me and him never got along anyway.”
Kingston is currently the ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion. His last AEW match took place two weeks ago on Collision, where he lost to Jeff Jarrett in a Memphis Street Fight. Due to the loss, Kingston will now have to defend his ROH World title against Jarrett’s ally Jay Lethal, who is also a former ROH World Champion.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling and credit Adrian Hernandez