Charli Evans really wants a match with Eddie Kingston.
Shortly after challenging Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World Championship, Eddie Kingston revealed that he had been dealing with a hernia injury. “The Mad King” also noted that he’d have to undergo surgery, which would keep him sidelined for about six weeks. Kingston finally underwent surgery on May 9. While Kingston continues to recover, the wrestling world continues to anticipate his return. No one is more eager than Charli Evans though.
Evans, who is currently back in her home country of Australia, has been manifesting a singles match with Kingston for years. At the beginning of 2023, Evans unrolled a list of her goals for the year. This year, Evans hopes to main event GCW, wrestle a deathmatch against Rina Yamashita in Japan, and finally fulfill her dream match with Eddie Kingston.
Speaking with WrestleZone’s own Ella Jay, the “Violence Artist” explained why this match holds so much significance to her. “He’s the f***ing coolest. He’s the best wrestler I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I feel like I started watching Eddie when he was in Chikara. I hadn’t seen anything like him, do you know what I mean? He was just so rough, and just the way he moved and the way he structured matches,” Evans said. “Probably when I started watching, I wasn’t thinking about the way you structured matches. But I was going back, and the way that he puts things together, and it’s slow, and that’s the way I like to wrestle. Like we can drag this out for at least 20 minutes. So, I just loved him.”
“And then I met him, and I was frightened. So, I had just moved to England, and the house that we lived in, everyone was there. It was a bit ridiculous. There was a lot of people there. And one time I was just in my room and I heard his voice and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ And then he, opened the door and he’s like, ‘Hello?’. So, I met him then, and then he was there for a show so we kind of like talked a little bit, but not much.”
After initially meeting Kingston in 2017, Evans ran into him again at WrestleMania 34 the following year. Kingston later made his way back over to England in 2019 and 2020. There, settled into Evan’s household for three months. “A year later, we are in New Orleans for WrestleMania weekend,” Evans continued. “I was at one of the venues and he was over there. So, I went and said hello and he was like, ‘Oh, hi, I’m Eddie, nice to meet you.’ And I was like, ‘No, he’s forgotten me.’ He goes ‘Just joking, as if I’d forget you.’ And I was like [makes a relieved expression].”
“I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m so unmemorable,’ but then he was like, ‘No, I’m f*cking with you,’ And I was like, ‘Okay, this is fantastic.’ Then he did a few more like short stints over in England and then he lived with me for like three months in the start of 2020. So, January until the [COVID-19] pandemic [started]. He literally left on a day’s notice. He was meant to be there for longer, but everything started shutting down. So, he was like, ‘I’ve got to go,’ And I was like, ‘Not fair.’ I probably should have as well, but I didn’t.”
In September 2019, Kingston and Evans competed in a battle royal to crown the inaugural PROGRESS Proteus Championship. Since then, Evans and Kingston have yet to share a ring again. Evans is determined to change that though. “Honestly, if that [singles match] happened, I could happily never wrestle again. I’d go, ‘Yeah, all right. I’ve done it,'” she said.
“He loves wrestling so much. It was so nice to be surrounded by someone like that. He just lives and breathes it, all the time. He was like, ‘Oh, let’s watch this match. Let’s watch this match,’ and the way that he thinks and the way that he puts his stuff together and his promos. While he was over there, we went and filmed a promo and I was just there to watch, and as soon as that camera started going, it was just like one take. It’s honestly just magic, how he can do it. And so, I’ve known for ages, Eddie Kingston is the match. I feel like I’ve emulated my style so close to what he does. Obviously with like a lot of other influence as well, but I feel like he is the inspiration, so I just want this match.”
When envisioning where this dream match may happen, Evans admitted that she’d prefer it to be on English of American soil. “I think I would love to do it in America or England. Obviously, I feel like my main fan base is probably in England cause that’s where I spent most of my time. Then I would say secondly is America. I feel like maybe because Twitter isn’t a big thing in Australia. And so obviously I talk about it a lot on Twitter, so I feel like my British fans and my American fans, they kind of understand like how much this truly means. Obviously it would be amazing anywhere, but I just don’t think it would be the right environment in Australia.”
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