Originally published at Eddie Kingston looks back on his first G1 Climax match, says NJPW locker room is the best he's ever been part of
Kingston was feeling the nerves prior to his debut.
NJPW STRONG Openweight and ROH World Champion Eddie Kingston is currently competing in the AEW Continental Classic tournament. Both of his titles along with the AEW Continental Championship are up for grabs in the tourney.
Ahead of his bout against Andrade El Idolo on the 12/23 Collision, Kingston was interviewed by Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso. He looked back on the nerves he felt prior to his NJPW G1 Climax debut against Shingo Takagi. Kingston shared that he vomited beforehand.
He said he’s always nervous before matches but never to that degree. He added that once Takagi struck him with a forearm, he was ready.
I threw up before my match against Shingo. I always get nervous before matches, but I’ve never been that nervous. So I got to the ring, talked to myself and said, ‘Yup, I’m in the G1.’ That helped. Then Shingo hit me really hard with the first forearm, and I knew I was ready.
Further reflecting on that stretch with New Japan, Eddie said that locker room is the best locker room he’s ever been a part of.
I had a lot of good guys around me in Japan. The New Japan locker room is the best locker room I’ve ever been part of. They showed me around, and I tried everything. I don’t like fish, but I did in Japan. I loved it there.
AEW Collision is reviewed weekly here on POST Wrestling by Kate from Montreal and John Siino. They’ll be recording live after the 12/23 show goes off the air.