Eddie Kingston is more than ready to compete in the NJPW G1 Climax 33.
The Mad King spoke about the prestigious tournament during a recent interview with the NJPW Website. The current reigning NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion begins by discussing how important it is to him to compete in the G1, calling it the pinnacle of professional wrestling.
It means everything to me. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I got started in the business. The pinnacle of pro wrestling. You have to be battle hardened, you have to be battle tested to survive here.
Shifting subjects, Kingston later calls Japanese wrestling the best wrestling in the history of the world. He recalls his first wrestling tape having the great Keiji Muto on it and how that inspired him to become a wrestler.
To me, Japanese professional wrestling is the best professional wrestling in the world. I felt that ever since I was a teenager. My first pro-wrestling tape had Muto versus Chono in the 1991 G1 final. That blew my mind, and it made me want to be here more than anywhere else.
Kingston ends his conversation by saying that he’s not at the G1 just to be in it, he plans on putting up a fight and going deep in the tournament.
This all seems so surreal, but I’m not here just to be here. I’m here to fight because that’s all I’ve known in my life. All I know is the fight. I threw my first punch when I was eight years old at a kid in the schoolyard. So I’ll definitely be fighting. That’s not a worry. I’m just worried I’ll wake up in the morning and find out all this isn’t real.
The Mad King was originally supposed to miss the G1 Climax
press conference due to a flight delay, but ended up making it right at the end. You can see his appearance below.