Eddie Kingston Explains How Rap Influences His Promos, Compares Mitsuharu Misawa To Jay-Z

Eddie Kingston is regarded as one of the top promos in wrestling thanks to his ability to invoke emotion with his words. 

Kingston has always been praised for his mic expertise and since joining AEW less than a year ago, he’s been able to showcase his work to a national audience. 

When asked what goes into crafting his promos during a Pro Wrestling Junkies Q&A, Kingston replied, “I used to talk a lot of shit on the street and you have to be quick-witted on the streets when you’re talking shit, before you knuckle up. It is reality-based, but I try to make sure I bring it back around to wrestling. You can go too far on reality where it doesn’t come to wrestling and has nothing to do with wrestling. Lyrics from some of my favorite artists help me out a lot like AFI, 2Pac, DMX. I’m into a group called The Builders and The Butchers. Their lyrics speak to me. When I hear a certain lyric, I’ll take that lyric and run with it and figure out how I can put it in wrestling. Music has a lot to do with it. Movies as well. I put reality in, but make sure I put pro wrestling because the people are there for pro wrestling.”

When asked to compare certain matches or wrestlers to songs or artists, Kingston replied, “The Concrete Jungle Match, I have to put Nas ‘New York State of Mind’ on that one. A lot of people think I’ve crazy but when I think of [Mitsuharu] Misawa, I think of Jay-Z because he’s so smooth like Jay-Z. [Toshiaki] Kowada would be DMX because he was rough.”

Elsewhere during the Q&A session, Kingston expressed his disappointment, but also happiness, for Samoa Joe returning to NXT. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

Kingston is set to team with Penta El Zero M on the June 30 episode of AEW Dynamite as they face The Young Bucks. 

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