blood n guts

Over at HOG back in 2022, Mason had started tearing his way through people with enthusiasm, he was looking to fight, wanted Eddie BADLY and wasn't shy about letting people know it

After a particularly intense match in April 2022 (during which his nose got broken) Charles managed to take the HOG Crown Jewel Championship from Low Ki, a close friend of Eddie's. It's worth noting that Low Ki initially won the Crown Jewel belt in a three-way match that included Charles Mason (winning it from then-champion TJP) before having his first title defense against Eddie Kingston. After their match, Eddie delivered a speech where he told the crowd "there would be no Eddie Kingston if it wasn't for Homicide, Low Ki, Amazing Red, there would be no Eddie Kingston on AEW. I know where I came from and I will never forget it. New York is me and I am you."

At this point Charles was working his way through as many iconic NY wrestlers as he could get his hands on and after taking the title from Low Ki it didn't take him long to focus on Homicide, another New York legend and friend of Eddie's, successfully defeating him. As his reign continued and became increasingly focused on self-serving violence and retaining the title at all costs (including losing matches if it kept the title from changing hands), Eddie Kingston and Charles Mason were finally scheduled to face each other in a No Holds Barred match for the Crown Jewel Championship in August of 2023. The match was the culmination of Charles successfully taking down several huge figures in NY wrestling, including people who were also near and dear to Eddie's heart. It also positioned Charles against someone who embodies what it is to be a working class New Yorker, which made Eddie a perfect target for Mason's desire to torment the poor. He made sure to remind everyone what he'd done to the other New York legends Eddie surrounded himself with, using it to antagonize Eddie in the lead up to their match

(I personally really loved the Who Framed Roger Rabbit reference)

Unfortunately, Eddie had to withdraw on extremely short notice (like the day of) and the match wasn't rebooked. In the time since their match got shelved, Mason dropped the Crown Jewel title he'd originally been scheduled to defend against Eddie. He also had a personal and intense feud with yet another person Eddie has history with, Santana. It started brewing during his HOG tag title run in 2024, during which he sent his accomplices after Santana while he was in jail indisposed. The ill-will between them continued to build over the next year, resulting in a fantastic (and personal) video before their title match during which Charles successfully challenged Mike Santana and took the HOG Heavyweight Championship from him in 2025, which he has currently held for over 425 days

When the match for High Intensity was announced, Charles posted the announcement on his instagram story with the song The Man That Got Away by Judy Garland. He also commissioned multiple designs from an artist that got released as shirts on his merch store, before posting his promo

In the video he posted for their upcoming match, Charles pulls from an iconic promo Eddie delivered in CHIKARA in 2015. I am always fascinated by the way he layers direct references/callbacks with more subtle ones and this promo specifically is a great example of him doing that. The "I HATE YOU. I hate the air that you breathe. I hate the fact that you're even living. YOU MAKE ME SICK. You should not be alive. You should not breathe the same air that I breathe. You are scum. You are below me" section is directly pulled from Eddie's 2015 promo, as is the "I will bury you" threat despite being in a different position heading into tonight's match than Eddie was in when he delivered his promo. Mason parallels Eddie further, turning his "I knew why God put me on this green Earth was to protect Her… and Icarus, you took Her from me" line back on Eddie by saying "for years, I've dreamt about putting these thumbs right into your beautiful green eyes and you took that from me." This drives home a fundamental difference between the two men in what matters to them, what gives their life meaning and makes them feel fulfilled. The same level of passion but directed in very different directions because despite three years passing since they were initially scheduled to fight, Charles is still motivated by his desire to inflict pain. Both promos are men wanting to take back what they felt was stolen from them, but despite the similar wording there's a world of difference between Eddie's desire to get back a belt that meant everything to him and Mason's desire to get his hands on Eddie. The enjoyment of destroying an opponent because they took something from you VS the enjoyment of destroying an opponent because the destruction is the point. Taking Eddie's "And right before the daylight dies outta your eyes, Icarus, you're gonna see me laughing and smiling" to turn it into "And just before the light leaves your eyes, Eddie, you will look up at me and see me smiling. See me laughing. As I make your pain my pleasure" because while the fight allows them both to be the truest version of themselves Eddie found a sense of self in being a wrestler whereas Charles found a way to unleash his desires