The AEW TNT Champion, Cody Rhodes, regularly defends his Championship on AEW Dynamite each week in an open challenge. As has been seen before in such Open Challenge matches, the chances for more wrestlers to debut or show up and have an amazing match are always more. This is something that can be seen with Cody Rhodes having amazing matches with Jungle Boy, Sonny Kiss, among others in the past. Now, this week's episode of AEW saw another Superstar make their first-ever appearance in AEW as Eddie Kingston made his debut.
Eddie Kingston, who is famous for his run on the Independent Wrestling Scene as well as Impact Wrestling, made quite an impression when he challenged Cody Rhodes to a TNT title match on AEW Dynamite, and added the No DQ stipulation to it. While he would lose, he did manage to Powerbomb Cody Rhodes into a bed of thumbtacks in the ring.
Eddie Kingston reacts to his AEW match against Cody Rhodes
Eddie Kingston talked about his match and said that for the night, Cody Rhodes had gotten the better of him, but that did not mean that he was better than him. He said that he did not know if AEW would sign him, but he would keep wrestling.
"I learned a long time ago, in this life, you never lose, you learn. I learned tonight that Cody is the better man, he's the better grappler, he was the better fighter. But just tonight. I've been doing this for a very long time ... I have nothing else in this life that I love doing. So whether AEW brings me back or not, I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep going until the wheels fall off." - h/t Wrestling Inc
There is a chance that AEW brings him back as they signed Ricky Starks, who was the last person to debut and face Cody Rhodes for the AEW TNT title. It remains to be seen if Eddie Kingston will receive the same treatment or not.
Arn Anderson also reacted to the match and praised Cody Rhodes.
"With a back full of tacks, he overcame and he won a match against a guy who was ready to rock and roll. Cody showed a side of him that's gonna make him retain that title for as long as he keeps that mindset."