Eddie Kingston Opens Up On Mental Health, Reveals AEW All Out Panic Attack
If you haven't read Eddie Kingston's excellent Players' Tribune article yet, do that now.
AEW's Eddie Kingston penned the most incredible piece of wrestling writing you'll read all year yesterday, diving deep on his life, wrestling career, and mental health battles for The Players' Tribune.
It's a visceral read that demands your attention, furthering Kingston not only as the realest wrestler in the sport, but also the person doing more than anybody else to normalise discussion on important mental health topics in an industry that has typically approached such things regressively.
Part of the article brings the revelation that Kingston endured a panic attack after wrestling TNT Champion Miro at All Out 2021. He and the former Rusev were tasked with opening the main card of the year's most hyped wrestling show that evening, and put on an acclaimed fight in the process, though Kingston felt it when he got backstage:-
"My phone started blowing up with all these people telling me great job, just showing me love, and I just couldn’t handle it. I got overwhelmed. My chest got tight. The walls started closing in. I started to go numb. It felt like I was breathing through a straw. But I was able to calm myself down and slow my breathing, because I’d been strong enough to reach out and get professional help, and I know what to do now. I know how to live with my anxiety and depression. And I’m not afraid to talk about it. I don’t care what the old-school guys in the business have to say about it. It ain’t 1987 no more."
Kingston has been an AEW full-timer since 31 July 2020, when he was signed after debuting as one of Cody Rhodes' open challenge opponents during the inaugural TNT Title reign. He is currently booked to face CM Punk at Full Gear 2021 this Saturday (13 November).