Bully Ray, Mark Henry, and Dave Lagreca discussed Sunday night’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view on today’s Busted Open Radio.
The following is what Bully had to say about Eddie Kingston and why Tony Khan should pay more attention to him:
“So I had my phone in my hand last night and I was about to tweet. And I was going to tweet directly at Tony Khan. I was going to do one of my dear Tony tweets. But I decided not to so I’ll say it here. I hope in between producing the show last night and scrolling through social media that Tony took the time to take the headphones off and listen to the people when it came to Eddie Kingston. You had a boatload of talent out there last night. But 15,000 people were chanting for Eddie Kingston during that match. Eddie Kingston is your star, Tony Khan. Eddie Kingston is your star, Tony Khan. Eddie Kingston is your star, Tony Khan. The way he talks, the way he does the things he does. I don’t care about his matches not being perfect. I don’t care about Eddie Kingston walking like he has two broken ankles that never healed the right way because oh, by the way, I think he has two broken ankles that never healed the right way. I don’t care that he has a belly. I don’t care that he’s pasty white. I don’t care that he’s unshaven. He’s real. He’s as real as it gets. If the Danielson’s of the world, and the Omega’s of the world are your pro wrestlers. And if the Jericho’s of the world, and the OC’s of the world and the Darby’s of the world are your sports entertainers because they have gimmicks. Eddie’s your credible guy. Eddie’s your Dusty and your Terry Funk. Eddie is the guy that when he talks you believe in more than anybody else. Eddie is the guy that comes across as middle-aged and crazy. There is nothing that Eddie has done, since he has come to AEW, that I don’t believe in. Some of his stuff in the ring is a bit corny, because he tries to do that Japanese, like when they do the chops in the corner when they try to emulate that Japanese thing I can probably do without that. But that’s just me. If Eddie honed and tightened his in-ring just a little bit — tiny, tiny bit. And he doesn’t even have to do that, Dave, because she’s so good when he talks. I believe that he genuinely does not like Claudio. I believe that he is conflicted when it comes to Moxley. I believe that he doesn’t even want to share the same oxygen as Nick and Matt Jackson. This guy has me emotionally invested at all times. So Tony Khan, please start utilizing Eddie Kingston more. He is your blood and guts storyteller. He is your personal issue storyteller. He’s a promo guy that everybody wants to get behind. And if you look at the relatability of a wrestler, a lot of your fan base can relate to an Eddie Kingston.”
Bully continued, “One of the main problems that I see within AEW is you have babyfaces like an Eddie Kingston who need [and] feels that can breathe down their neck. For Eddie to be truly truly effective, you need somebody to put Eddie Kingston in a corner, both verbally and physically. You need somebody that is going to be able to say things to Eddie, that is going to put him back in that dark place. That when his head finally drops because he hears things that truly bother him, that’s when you can kick him when he’s down. What was the old Roddy Piper saying about kicking a guy when he’s down? I kick a guy when he’s down because it’s much easier or something like that. That’s what a guy like Eddie needs. He needs super heel. They don’t have super heels in AEW. Moxley is not a super heel.”
Bully believes that a great story about Kingston and Moxley can be told if they go deep and peel back layers, and if fans are given a “real” story about their hatred for each other.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
