Editor's Note - I had originally intended for this (now two part) column to form the introductory paragraphs of our upcoming feature on the LVAC'S recent "Steelstacks Smackdown" event. However as the words continued flowing I realized that I was telling a larger story than was appropriate within the confines of that piece.
Rest assured dear readers our in-depth feature on "LVAC'S Steelstacks Smackdown" event is still forthcoming!
For now please enjoy part one of our prologue piece "Give Back More Than You Take - The Philosophy of The Mad King" how Eddie Kingston inspired NEPAwrestling.com both past and present.
I think I can safely say that my friends and I were some of the first if not the first Eddie Kingston fans.
So When the LVAC announced that AEW Superstar Eddie Kingston was going to appear at their "Steelstacks Smackdown" event in both a meet and greet and to wrestle a match I knew I couldn't hold off on attending an LVAC show any longer.
Eddie Kingston is a singularly important figure in my life as a wrestling fan and writer and has had a greater impact than he probably realizes on a few others as well.
I started NEPAwrestling.com back in 2002 with Gerry Durling back when I was fresh out of high school and he was still a sophomore.
I wanted to mix my love for professional wrestling with my goal of becoming a writer. Gerry had plans to train and become a wrestler the moment he was old enough to sign the release.
Amongst the most wrestling obsessed, my friends and I still stood out. We brought dozens of handmade signs to wrestling shows. We would boo and heckle the bad guys mercilessly.
We even went so far as to create a fan club for our favorite "underground" pro wrestling commentator (future LVAC commentator) Joe Sposto called The "Sposto 5".
The charm of such an obsessive fandom meant you could meet a fellow hardcore wrestling fan at a show and just a few weeks later be sharing a car with them on the way to meet Terry Funk.
Nowadays the Internet and social media has made fandom circles smaller than ever; but back then you could live in the same town as another fan and not even know it.
It was on that car ride to Carson's Pro Wrestling World to meet the Funker that I really bonded with my new friend (future Chikara mainstay) Shane Storm.
Arriving at the signing early to wait in line we were handed flyers advertising a wrestling show featuring 5 matches for 5 dollars.
The flyer as you might have guessed was for the debut show of Chikara Pro; a wrestling school run at the time by independent wrestling luminaries Mike Quackenbush and Reckless Youth. We made plans to attend, strengthening our nascent friendship.
Even as a fan who had attended plenty of live wrestling this show became a landmark experience.
It was memorable because here were wrestlers having the kinds of matches I was used to seeing on grainy VHS tapes of Michinoku Pro and FMW. A vibrant alternative to the monopolized sludge of wrestling television post attitude era.
The main event trios match between "The Black T-Shirt Squad" of Mike Quackenbush, Don Montoya and Reckless Youth and the "Gold Bond Mafia'' of CM Punk, Chris Hero, and Colt Cabana shattered expectations of the cramped audience of one hundred twenty five and left an indelible mark on my wrestling fandom.
Though still years away from dubbing himself "The Best In The World", CM Punk's performance that night displayed a command of the audience that foreshadowed his later rise to super stardom.
That show was the real impetus for NEPAwrestling.com.
Hours after the experience I still couldn't discharge the energy. I had to write something. I sat into the late hours of the night. A budding writer high on wrestling, writing out my first event review.
This was 2002 however and there was no Facebook or Twitter for me to post my thoughts. Unless you knew html back then it was livejournal or bust!
So I launched AOL Instant Messenger (if you're under 35 google it) and I messaged the only person who I knew could build a website: future Independent Wrestling TV empresario Gerry Durling. I didn't even know how a domain worked.
I would email Gerry the articles and they would become internet magic. Shane took most of the photos and wrote some reviews, and perhaps most crucially kept us in hysterics with his dry wit as he drove us to the shows.
Chikara was our favorite by far and there was a stretch during the first few years where we didn't miss a show. It was there we saw Eddie Kingston, a newcomer and then part of a tag team called "The Wild Cards" with his partner Jack Marciano.
Even though they entered the ring to the absurdly chosen "Jack of Speed" by Steely Dan and were saddled with ridiculous playing card based characters, everything about "Black" Jack Marciano and "King of Diamonds" Eddie Kingston oozed charisma.
Eddie's no-nonsense street toughness and grit played well against Jack's more polished technician style. They were instantly presented as major wrestlers and immediately filled the role as dangerous rule-breakers. To us there was no one cooler.
We found out that they would be appearing on a non-Chikara show in rural Pennsylvania. To this day I can't remember if it was outside Pottstown or Pottsville. I could try to give off some identifying landmarks but I would just end up describing all of rural Pennsylvania.
I wrote an email asking for an interview and hoped for the best. In one of the most encouraging and validating responses I received as a young "journalist" they wrote back and said they would be happy to give us an interview.
When the show ended we made our way outside for our big interview. I asked all my prepared questions about background, inspirations, character, and goals.
Eddie treated the interview with a seriousness that would come to be a hallmark of his character; showing respect to two nineteen year old kids who couldn't REALLY help him advance his career much. Yet Eddie still answered our questions with purpose and sincerity. We felt like real journalists, chronicling the essence of the sport.
Unfortunately that interview is now lost to the aether of web 1.0. I don't need it though, because even after all this time Eddie's recollection of watching "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert on VHS rental tapes as a reward for positive behavior is still seared into my memory. An anecdote he would recall many times after; on platforms much larger than ours.
Most revealing of his personality was when I asked him what he most wanted to get out of professional wrestling. Eddie deferred and instead grabbed Jack Marciano by the neck and said "I want for the wrestling world to know just how good this man right here is; because he doesn't get any of the credit he deserves".
Give Eddie a platform and he will use it to shine a light on those closest to him rather than promote himself every single time.
As the interview concluded and we rode that long ride home, the energy and pure passion that Eddie displayed continued to inspire us . . .
Click here to read part 2 of "The Philosophy of The Mad King" the lead up to our feature on LVAC'S "Steelstacks Smackdown". Available to stream NOW on IWTV.LIVE! Use code "NEPA" when you sign up so they know you came from us! Plus check out our huge review of that LVAC show here!
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