10 Wrestling Career Turning Points That Took Place ON AIR

4. Eddie Kingston

Eddie Kingston
AEW

Eddie Kingston was about to sell his wrestling boots to make ends meet when the pandemic hit in 2020, but a seminal appearance in an open challenge against Cody Rhodes transferred a lifetime of promo magic on the indie scene into - at last - a full time paying gig in a major North American organisation.

Never a traditional WWE type and with nothing much to say about his time training with them in try-outs, Kingston brought nothing-to-lose qualities with him to an empty Daily's Place for a battle with the TNT Champion that kicked off with a promo that ethered everything the 'American Nightmare' espoused.

From there the two waged a killer war, and with 'The Mad King's words echoing in their ears, fans campaigned hard for Tony Khan to bring Kingston in full-time. Within one pay-per-view cycle he was headlining against top star Jon Moxley, and within a year he was persistently championed as the entire company's top babyface.

Cream sometimes still does rise to the top - thank god Eddie Kingston made it in time.

 
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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett