Eddie Kingston On Mental Health: If I Can Help People Open Up Or Not Be Ashamed, ‘I’ve Won’
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Eddie Kingston continues to advocate for mental health.
He has addressed the subject in various promos and interviews, and during a recent appearance on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox, “The Mad King” opened up about some of his own struggles. He recalled how he had a panic attack after his pay-per-view match with Miro at AEW All Out because he didn’t like the attention. To elaborate, Kingston said he doesn’t view himself as a celebrity or a superstar; he’s just a wrestler who’s living his dream.
“I was very open on another interview, after [All Out] with Miro, I got a lot of attention from the match, and I had a panic attack that night,” said Kingston. “Because I didn’t like the attention. Because I don’t see myself as this big Eddie Kingston on f****** TV, TNT, no. I’m a pro wrestler. This is all I ever wanted to do. That’s it. I’m not a celebrity, I’m not an actor. I’m not anything, I’m just me, and just a pro wrestler, man. And this is what I always wanted to do, and this is what I fought for.”
Kingston then described how, if he can help people open up about their mental health or at least be less ashamed about it, then he has “won” because that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.
“When I talk about my mental health issues or I talk about me on Zoloft, you know what I mean, I say it in promos, ‘I take Zoloft so I don’t kill everybody,” said Kingston. “And people are like, ‘Oh man, thank you so much for saying that.’ And I’m like, what’s the big deal? None of us are perfect. You know what, if that helps people with me talking [about it], good. I’d rather be known for helping people with whatever, with opening up, that would make me feel better than wrestling…trust me, I would love to still be world champion, don’t get me twisted, that’s the goal.
“But at the end of the day, if that doesn’t happen, it will, but if something crazy happens where it doesn’t, if I help people kinda open up more and not be ashamed of their mental health or not be ashamed to talk about it, then I won. Because I don’t see the big deal of getting help. We’re all wacked, none of us are perfect.”
The full interview is available here:
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