"A believable character" - WCW legend Konnan heaps praise on AEW star and his popularity among fans
WCW legend Konnan recently commented on AEW star Eddie Kingston's ability to garner massive popularity amongst wrestling fans.
Kingston started as a heel in 2020 but gradually became popular with fans because of his no-nonsense, brawl-first mentality and blunt promos. He turned face in 2021 when he aligned with his friend Jon Moxley. His acclaim among fans grew from there as he had memorable feuds with CM Punk and Chris Jericho.
During an episode of Keepin' it 100, Kingston was criticized by Disco Inferno for his appearance. He also went on to say that The Mad King was not championship material, stating that WWE's Kevin Owens was a better worker than the former.
Konnan countered Disco's argument by saying that regardless of The Mad King's appearance, people are tuning in because he makes his character watchable, especially when delivering his shoot-like promos.
"They're [fans] watching him because the guy does killer promos and he has a believable character, not because what he looks or dresses like. They don't give a f**k about that. Obviously, he would look more like a star if he did [get in shape] but it doesn't take away from the fact that character he's playing does a good job at it," Konnan said. [4:18 - 4:34]
You can check the clips from this episode below:
Konnan wants to put Eddie Kingston against AEW World Champion CM Punk
The WCW legend also discussed in the same episode that he would book Eddie Kingston against AEW World Champion CM Punk. He emphasized the real-life animosity between the two and The Mad King's popularity among fans.
"You know what, I would put him against Punk because there's real heat there. They don't really like each other and people know that and he's super over right now, so yeah, I would have no problem pushing him to the top against Punk regardless of what he looks like," Konnan said. [5:14 - 5:27]
Kingston and Punk have squared off against each other at AEW Full Gear 2021, with the latter coming out victorious. However, many fans have felt that a rematch between the two is due.
It will be interesting to see whether a match between The Second City Saint and The Mad King will be on the cards anytime in the future in AEW. However, fans will have to wait for a rematch to happen between the two stars as Punk is currently out with injury.
Please credit the Keepin' it 100 podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.