Top AEW star reveals Tony Khan stopped him from retiring amid lengthy absence

A former AEW Continental Champion disclosed that he considered retiring during injury absence but Tony Khan didn't let it happen. The star made his return to action last month.

Tony Khan prevented the top AEW star, Eddie Kingston from retiring. Before his blockbuster return at All Out 2025 last month, Eddie Kingston was out of action due to injury for 15 months. The Mad King suffered an injury during his match against Gabe Kidd at NJPW Resurgence 2024. He had to undergo surgery during his time away as well.

During an interview with Mike Johnson of PWInsider, Kingston disclosed that he was considering retirement at one point because he couldn't afford ACL surgery. Nonetheless, Tony Khan paid for the surgery, as he didn't want him to retire:

"It was the fact that I couldn't afford the surgery with my insurance, and the minute the doctor told me 'Yeah you can live without an ACL,' I was like 'Okay, well I guess I'm done.' People can say whatever they want about Tony or AEW, but once I told Tony...that 'Hey, I can't afford it, not with this insurance so I'm just going to call it,' and straight up Tony was like 'I'm not going to let you do that,' so he paid for the surgery," Kingston revealed. [H/T WrestlingINC]

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AEW star admitted that Tony Khan saved his career

The AEW star, Eddie Kingston had no hesitation in acknowledging that Tony Khan essentially saved his career. In the same interview, The Mad King said that Tony saved his career by helping him financial and physical standpoint:

"From a physical standpoint yeah, so that's twice. First it was financial and now physical. All I need him to do now next is mental and emotional and we'll be alright...if he could figure that out he would be a quadtrillionaire because people would be going to him for help." [H/T WrestlingINC]

Eddie Kingston has wrestled several matches against multiple opponents since his return. Only time will tell what's next for The Mad King.

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Edited by Gaurav Singh