The bad blood between Eddie Kingston and Claudio Castagnoli has existed for years. These two hard hitters have never seen eye to eye, and it has been well-documented since Castagnoli made his AEW debut. When the Swiss Cyborg showed up as Zack Sabre Jr.’s mystery opponent at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2022, he immediately joined the Blackpool Combat Club, making him an ill-timed ally of faction affiliate Kingston in their combined war against Jericho Appreciation Society. Once that stable battle was over, Castagnoli and Kingston were free to brutalize each other in a singles capacity, which they dead on a regular basis. Their singles rivalry culminated in a Ring of Honor World Title match this past March at ROH Supercard of Honor, which Kingston came up short in.
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Kingston has feverishly pursued the ROH World Title since “quitting” AEW in the spring, as he has been all-but exclusive to the Ring of Honor roster. AEW and ROH owner Tony Khan revealed he considered having Kingston fill the injured Mark Briscoe’s spot at ROH Death Before Dishonor earlier this summer, but Kingston’s NJPW commitments prevented him from being available. During that NJPW run, Kingston picked up gold of his own, winning the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship.
At AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, Castagnoli and Kingston put their respective titles on the line against one another in the Arthur Ashe Stadium show’s opening contest.
Eddie Kingston Becomes ROH World Champion
In the opening match of AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, Eddie Kingston defeated Claudio Castagnoli to become Ring of Honor World Champion. Kingston put his long-time rival away with a powerbomb to secure the 1-2-3.
Kingston celebrated with his hometown New York City crowd before shaking hands with Castagnoli. Kingston now reigns as both ROH World and NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion.
This is Castagnoli’s second consecutive ROH World Title loss at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam. In 2022, Castagnoli walked into Arthur Ashe as champion but was defeated by Chris Jericho in the bout.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for live coverage of AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam.
