AEW's Eddie Kingston Opens Up About Weight Struggles

AEW star Eddie Kingston has shared the difficulties he had with his weight, and what caused it to vary over the years.

While talking to former WWE and AEW star Cezar Bononi on his YouTube channel, Kingston revealed that the injury he is currently battling is affecting his mental health, which in turn has added pounds to his body. He emphasized the importance of maintaining both physical and mental health and finding the right balance between the two.

"So, I gained a bunch of weight on this injury 'cause, you know, I got down and out. It is what it is. You know what I mean? You got to work past it. But you could tell physically that I was down and out. Like, I could — people would visit and I'll be talking to them, and you could tell I sound happy because they're there. The beard, everything. They looked at me, and they knew just physically by how I looked, they were like, 'Oh, he's not [good],'" he said. "I'm an extremist sometimes, and I'm trying to break that chain of thinking. But, like, what I was taught, the balance of life is you can't have anything good without something bad. It's just the way it is."

Bononi added how balance is important, emphasizing how even fit people have to battle with their internal demons. 

Eddie Kingston discussed how he has had trouble keeping his weight in check over the course of his pro wrestling career, and he attributed that to laziness.

"So, I've always struggled with my weight. I'm going to be so open here," he said. "I struggled with my weight because I was lazy. Lazy, you can put it anywhere because of my mental health, 'cause the environment, whatever you want to say. And I'm not saying those are excuses or those are even valid. Bottom line was I was lazy and I got content. Reason why I got content was back in those days, WWE were not hiring anyone off the indies."

The AEW star, however, began his weight loss journey during his early years in Japan, where he added muscle, but his weight constantly fluctuated, even though he was disciplined with his diet.

"But I lost a bunch of weight there [in Japan], you know, didn't do it the right way. Gained a lot of muscle, didn't do it the right way. And then when I got back from Japan, instead of staying disciplined, because I was very disciplined on my diet, at least I wasn't drinking, even though I was working at a bar, bouncing, none of that. But I just didn't do it right. So that's why my weight would always go from So I went from 290 to 250, then 250 to 240, and then from there I went from 245 to 235."

Kingston stated that before he joined AEW, his weight fluctuated between 230 and 235 pounds, but Bononi helped him establish a workout and diet schedule, which has benefited him.