Eddie Kingston on His AEW TV Return at 8/8 AEW Collision Show & Dedicating His Continental Cup Run To Everyone Who Supported Him During AEW TV Absence

Saturday’s AEW Collision show in Colorado Springs, Colorado featured Eddie Kingston defeating Jake Doyle in the First Round of the AEW Continental Challenge Cup tournament. This was Kingston’s first match in AEW since this past February. During his abscense from AEW television, Kingston has been working in Ring of Honor and the indies.

Following the show, AEW released a digital exclusive backstage video featuring Kingston giving his thoughts about his return to AEW television and thanked everyone who has supported him and told him that they couldn’t wait to see him again on AEW TV.

“This is what you get, bro, raw and uncut. Here it is. No fake tan, no fake whatever. Here it is, right here. This is pro wrestling. This is your athlete. Now, I’m done joking. I’ve been away too long. Granted, my own doing. That’s for you guys to wonder and for me to know, okay? But I missed every single one of you fans, and I’m not saying that being the corny, hooray. Nah, man. I missed every single one of you cause you guys give me energy. You guys give me energy to keep fighting when I don’t want to. All those people that I met when I was doing the independents, when I was off TV coming up to me, ‘When are you getting back on, Eddie? Eddie, we need to see you back on,’ and I told each and every one of them, ‘you inspire me.’ They didn’t believe me. This is for all of y’all that didn’t believe me. I’m the one who made the phone call to Tony Khan, and I said, ‘you put me in this tournament. I don’t care what it is, what it’s called. You put me in it, cause I want that. I wanna be that champion. I wanna be the first one.’ Just like I was the first Continental Champ, I wanna be the first Continental Cup champion, and it’s not for me, folks. It’s not for me. Other things will be. I ain’t gonna lie, I’m not perfect. I’m gonna be selfish later, trust me. But this. tournament, this cup, is for every single person that I met and all the promotions that I worked for who came up to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to see you back on TV, Eddie.’ This is all for you. I fight for you in this tournament for you. Because to be honest with you, if y’all didn’t bother me, I wouldn’t have made that phone call.”

“I fight in this tournament for YOU.”

EXCLUSIVE: After his first-round victory in the inaugural Continental Challenge Cup on #AEWCollision, Eddie Kingston sends a heartfelt message to his fans. pic.twitter.com/dPZVtUefN7

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 9, 2026

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com