The Judge Said is Kingston the Thug From the Kit Kat Club?

Eddie Kingston vs. PAC AEW Dynamite 1/13/21 - GREAT

ER: I thought this was a mostly boring, rote PAC performance, in a match that was only saved by some tremendous Kingston selling and big King bumping. PAC weirdly worked this match like he was 50 lb. bigger than Kingston, relying on Kingston bumping around for all of his strikes and throws, while he himself put in bare minimum effort getting into position for all of King's offense. It was really bizarre. PAC jumped Kingston and Kingston pinballed around the ring and floor from dropkicks, bounced across the ring on a great German suplex bump, and makes every single thing PAC does really mean something, selling more and more injuries as the match goes on. PAC returns absolutely none of these favors. He's obviously super athletic, but PAC looked completely uninspiring here. Any of the care Kingston took to selling offense and setting up offense was the opposite of what PAC did. 

Whenever PAC went back on offense, it was just him getting up from moves and going back on offense, and he kept making Kingston look like a doofus by standing still in his position waiting for a move, not bothering to occupy himself in any way. At one point he runs into Kingston's boots in the corner, and then just bends at the waist and waits perfectly still for Kingston to come off the middle buckle with a knee. He takes a Saito suplex well, but Kingston is out here selling every individual move PAC did the entire match, and PAC just shrugs the suplex off. Kingston does one of the finest superplex sells I've ever seen, first trying to block it with nice body shots the split second before going over (and before that PAC was taking forever without making it look like he was fighting Kingston in any way), then upon impact had his arms straight at his side like his neck and lower back went right out. Down the stretch he's selling all this nerve damage in his neck, trying to quickly do chiropractic exercises like applying pressure to the soft area under the collarbones, selling the pain down his arm, all of it actually giving some meaning to PAC's offense. Kingston worked this match like he was an AEW Dark scrub putting over Cage or Wardlow, but PAC held up none of his end. This felt like that HHH match where he just tried to sandbag Eddie the entire time.   

PAS: I didn't have the same problems with this that Eric did. I liked the idea of PAC coming out after a long layoff firing on all cylinders, like you might see a basketball team who was embarrassed in a playoff series dominate the first quarter when they played them next season. Kingston taking over with a Bunny eyepoke and a exploder on the floor worked for me, and Kingston laid it in on offense. I don't think PAC is a particularly smart wrestler, but Kingston's selling was incredible in this and I thought really elevated your normal meathead workrate PAC match. That superplex was honestly a spot of the year candidate, and while I want Eddie to win every match, I had no beef with how this turned out.

Eddie Kingston vs. Aaron Solow AEW Dark 2/4 (Aired 2/16/21) - FUN

ER: Kingston against smaller wrestlers is almost always good, because he is really good at appropriately selling strikes and offense. It's a difficult thing to do, and only the best can do it, as it's really easy to settle into selling all punches as punches, all elbows as elbows, all kicks as kicks, no matter the size of who is delivering them or how well they connect. It's difficult to sell these appropriately, because you don't know how well a strike will land before it's thrown, but this match had several moments of King selling exactly the right amount for what he was given. There was a kick to the stomach that didn't connect, so King laughed it off and told Solow to hit him harder, leaving him wide open for a punch to the hard that stunned him, allowing Solow to add some more strikes. Kingston sold Solow's so-so elbow strikes as if he had eye strain from staring at a computer screen for too long. The stuff that looked good, King treated respectfully, like the early match headscissors that sent Kingston scrambling for the ropes, or a spinkick that caught him behind the ear and sent him spiraling into the mat. There was a good nearfall off a nice Solow double stomp off the top, and I am happy we have been getting these glimpses of how Kingston would have worked on WCW Worldwide. 

PAS: Kingston has to be the best opponent in wrestling, he is going to just make you look great, whether he wins or loses. Solow didn't show much, but Kingston made everything he did look great. He sold that spinkick like he was beaned with a baseball. I do love the WCW syndie vibe of this show, and Kingston would have been amazing in 1997 WCW syndies. Imagine a WCW Pro match against Juvi or a 10 minute WCWSN match against Finlay.

Eddie Kingston vs. JD Drake AEW 2/17 (Aired 2/23/21) - GREAT

PAS: I really think Kingston should work a 7 minute match with a US Indy crowbar every AEW Dark show. Get Manders, Big Twan, AJ Gray, whomever, and just have a punch out. Kingston felt like he was trying to get Drake a job here, as he really showcased him. Both guys laced each other with chops before Kingston went to the body and up top with a slap. Highlight of the match was Drake catching Kingston coming off the top rope with a straight right hand, which Eddie sold like it gave him nerve damage in his arm. Drake got a big run of offense including his great looking cannonball in the corner, before missing a moonsault and getting obliterated with a backfist for the pin. Eddie as WCWSN Finlay is a pretty great use of him, especially if he is a bit sidedrained on the main show. 

ER: This feels like a base level Kingston match, filled with the type of things that he brings to every match, elevated by what his opponent is able to contribute. There have been several examples of Kingston doing his cool thing on AEW over the last year, but I'd really love to see him officially take the Cody-but-better role on Dark, crafting digestible matches with unsigned indy guys that aren't outright squashes, and showing just enough ass. This was a Cliffs Notes version of their two Evolve matches from a couple years ago, with the kind of stand and trade I really love in wrestling matches, because it never devolved to them just standing in front of each other like idiots. Kingston is someone who adds dips and knee wobbles and off timing to strike trading, but here he is far more dominant and focused on cutting off any of Drake's momentum. He throws combos (loved the quick left to the body, right slap to the face, headbutt combo), and whenever Drake threatens to string anything together King just changes the rules. Drake has a chest that always reddens nicely, and I like the way he sells Kingston's strikes as if he's staring into the sun. King is always great at placing breadcrumbs in his matches, hitting a nice shoulder tackle off the middle buckle early, only for Drake to punch him out of the air when he tries it later. Drake's run of offense looked good, and his cannonball might be the best of all the fat guy cannonballs that are used in modern wrestling. The finish is simple, and while I wish we got a little more time, these two always pair nicely. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE EDDIE KINGSTON