Eddie Kingston wins ROH World title at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam

Eddie Kingston is now the ROH World Champion.

Kingston defeated Claudio Castagnoli in the opening match of Wednesday’s Dynamite Grand Slam event. Despite Castagnoli kicking out of a northern lights bomb, Kingston eventually picked up the win after connecting with a backfist and a press powerbomb, winning the ROH World Championship for the first time and retaining the NJPW Strong Openweight title.

After the match, Castagnoli extended his hand. Kingston paused for a moment before the two eventually did shake hands as Castagnoli gave the ROH title to Kingston and walked away. Castagnoli had been champion since December of 2022, defeating Chris Jericho at Final Battle.

Kingston cut a promo that aired on X following his title win, saying he shook Castagnoli’s hand because he was a great ROH World Champion, but doesn’t like him as a person. He dedicated the match to former ROH Champion Xavier and thanked him for his contributions to the business. 

The two’s rivalry stems from Kingston feeling disrespected by Castagnoli’s actions prior to leaving the independent scene and heading to WWE in the 2010s. The two first met in ROH back at Supercard of Honor in March, where Castagnoli retained the championship. In the weeks leading to Grand Slam, Kingston and Castagnoli agreed to a match where both the ROH and Kingston’s New Japan Strong championships would be on the line.