Eddie Kingston Admits He Seriously Considered Retirement During ACL Recovery

Eddie Kingston’s brutal honesty has always set him apart in the wrestling world — and that didn’t change during his recent injury hiatus. The AEW star, who’s been out of action since May 2024 after tearing his ACL at NJPW Resurgence, revealed that retirement was genuinely on his mind during the darkest parts of his recovery.

While speaking with Cezar Bononi, Kingston admitted that the grind of physical therapy and the mental toll of watching from the sidelines had him doubting everything — including whether he’d ever step back into the ring again.

“I’m watching AEW, seeing all the great s**t these guys are doing in the ring. I’m thinking to myself, how am I going to fight these dudes? People can say what they want about wrestling, but my mentality is, how am I going to fight people when they are this good?”

Kingston didn’t sugarcoat how deep the self-doubt ran. As weeks turned into months, he started rationalizing why quitting wouldn’t be so bad.

“I wasn’t even that good to begin with, and now I’m coming back off ACL surgery… Boy oh boy, every Dynamite I watched, every pay-per-view I watched… That’s why the thing came out about me thinking about retirement.”

The thought of leaving the business weighed heavily on him — not because he didn’t love wrestling, but because he didn’t feel worthy anymore.

“I don’t want to retire, I don’t, but during those four or five months of doing (physical therapy) once in a while, I just sat thinking, ‘Yeah man, well I had fun, I did the G1. I wanted to do more, but ah, f**k it,’ making excuses for why it’s okay to quit.”

But Kingston also sent a message to others going through similar dark patches: it’s not weakness — it’s a battle many face.

“I think a lot of people get there, it’s not that they’re mentally weak, it’s just, they don’t know how to push.”

Now that Kingston has resumed in-ring training, fans are hoping for a triumphant return. And judging by how real he’s keeping it, he’s not just fighting to wrestle again — he’s fighting to believe in himself all over again.

Have you ever doubted yourself in the face of a major setback like Eddie Kingston? How did you find your way back? Let us know in the comments.

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