AEW: Eddie Kingston Sets the Record Straight on AEW's Locker Room Being Divided Over CM Punk's Return

06/25/2023 01:25 pm EDT

Eddie Kingston was one of CM Punk's loudest critics during his AEW run, but even "The Mad King" thinks the ongoing rumors are overblown. Ever since Punk made his onscreen return at the AEW Collision premiere eight days ago, reports of AEW wrestlers being frustrated with Punk keep popping up online, with one going so far as to say Punk has created a "ticking time bomb" behind the scenes. But in a new interview with The New York Post, Kingston seemed to reject any notion that Punk is a problem. 

"He did (his return to TV) his way and that's the way wanted to do it," Kingston said. "I expected it. I knew it was happening, knowing Punk and what he thought was right for him. That's it. I see the reports. I see the clickbait on YouTube. But the locker room is not divided, not the people I hang out with. Punk's gonna do what Punk does and if whatever Punk does helps this company, no one can say anything.

"Not me, man. Not my crew of people I hang out with," he continued when asked if the locker room was bothered by his return promo. "Maybe there's that one percent that are bothered but the people I chill with, they're good. They don't care."

Kingston will be in action tonight at Forbidden Door, teaming with Hangman Page, The Young Bucks and Tomohiro Ishii to take on The Blackpool Combat Club. While Kingston has little patience for The Elite and has a well-established friendship with The BCC's Jon Moxley, his hatred for Claudio Castagnoli fueled him to get involved in the war between factions. 

AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 Card 

• IWGP United States Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
• AEW World Championship: MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Sanada vs. "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry
• AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Daniel Garcia
• Owen Hart Cup: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima
• AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale 
• Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta), Konosukta Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. The Elite (Hangman Page & The Young Bucks), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii
• Sting, Darby Allin & Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki
• Adam Cole vs. Tom Lawlor
• Owen Hart Cup: Athena vs. Billie Starkz (Zero Hour)
• United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, TJP) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Bushi & Hiromu Takahashi) (Zero Hour)
• Stu Grayson vs. El Phantaso (Zero Hour)
• Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun) vs. Roppongi Vice & El Desperado (Zero Hour)

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