Eddie Kingston Opens Up About Mental Health Struggles and Japanese Wrestling

Eddie Kingston was recently a guest on My Mom's Basement, where he spoke about his Japanese wrestling fandom in great detail.

“I’ve got to give credit first of all to the Three Musketeers of New Japan Pro Wrestling – Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, and Masahiro Chono. Those were the first guys that got me into Japanese wrestling. That was because I saw the Great Muta in 1989 in NWA. That was it, I was hooked. Then I saw Chono in 1992 for WCW, and I actually remember when he did the STF, Jim Ross lost his mind and was like ‘that was taught to him by Lou Thesz, and it’s the greatest submission in wrestling history.’ I was like yeah it is. If Jim Ross says it is, then it’s gotta be. Because of them, I bought tapes, and anything with Japan. I didn’t know the difference between All Japan, New Japan, anything. Then I saw Kobashi and Kowada in 1995 in I think Osaka. They went 60 minutes, and what gravitated me towards that style was it was so physical. All the people that said pro wrestling is acting or pro wrestling is fake, I would just be like watch this and tell me that shit don’t hurt. Tell me that dude chopping you in your chest or forearming you or kicking you in your face doesn’t hurt. That’s what definitely attracted me to that style more was the physicality of it.”

Kingston also opened up about his mental health struggles.

“Growing up the way I grew up wasn’t bad, but I saw things and I heard things. My parents were always very open with me. They never wanted to hide anything, or they never took anything as being shameful. They never thought trying to get help to better your life was wrong. They tried to instill that in me. So, when I’m talking about my mental health issues or when I talk about me on Zoloft, people are like, ‘Thank you so much for saying that.’ I’m like, what’s the big deal? But you know what, if that helps people with me talking, then good. I’d rather be known for helping people with opening up and feeling better – trust me, I’d love to still be world champion – but at the end of the day, if something crazy happens where it doesn’t, if I help people kind of open up more and not be ashamed of their mental health or be ashamed to talk about it, then I’ve won. I don’t see the big deal of getting help. We’re all whacked, and none of us are perfect. Show me the perfect person, and I’ll show you a liar. So, what’s the point of lying to ourselves? We have to love ourselves at some point. If we don’t love ourselves, then we can’t love nobody else. Take what you are, embrace who you are, and get better. That’s it. Try your best to get better and love yourself.”