Eddie Kingston has practically been waiting his entire career for his high-profile match with CM Punk at AEW Full Gear.
“The Mad King” has competed on several AEW pay-per-views since he joined the company; most recently, he challenged Miro for the TNT Championship at All Out this past September. He also headlined AEW Full Gear 2020, where he faced Jon Moxley in an “I Quit” Match for the AEW World Championship.
Still, this match with CM Punk is on another level; a few weeks ago on AEW Rampage, as soon as the two stars even hinted that they’d have a match at this year’s edition of Full Gear, the wrestling world started buzzing. Both men are renowned performers in the ring and on the microphone, so fans knew they were in for a treat. The build toward the match has certainly delivered; when the duo had a face-to-face confrontation on the November 5 episode of AEW Rampage, viewers were blown away by the deeply personal promos both men cut. As a result, CM Punk’s clash with Eddie Kingston is one of the most highly anticipated matches on the pay-per-view’s card.
In an interview with Christopher Walker of DAZN, “The Mad King” discussed this bout and called it the “most personal” match of his career because there’s so much history behind it.
“It’s 15 years in the making,” said Kingston. “I wouldn’t say it’s the biggest match of my career but it’s definitely the most personal match. Professionally, it was me and [Jon] Moxley last year because I truly believe in my heart that the AEW World title is the biggest prize in all of America. That was the biggest match for me, but this weekend, personally, it’s me and Punk.”
Eddie Kingston emphasized that his goal in AEW has always been to win a title, so he wasn’t intentionally trying to cross paths with Punk. But he noted that winning this buzzworthy contest could get him closer to the the title picture, and this outcome would be “the icing on the cake” for such a special night.
“Fighting CM Punk was never the goal for me,” said Kingston. “He wasn’t there when I first got to AEW. The goal for me has always to be a champion.
“Whether it’s me and Mox as a tag team, the TNT championship, or the big one, the grandaddy of them all. The goal has always been. to be the top man. If beating Punk gets me that one step closer to it then that’ll be the icing on the cake.”
