If you had told me a year ago Daniel Bryan would come out of retirement, turn heel, become Champ, and that he and Kofi Kingston would shut the house down at Elimination, I would have sent you a discrete email suggesting you get some inpatient help at a rehab facility.
But that’s what happened.
The next time someone asks me why I love wrestling I’m going to show them The 2019 Men’s Elimination Chamber match. Specifically the last 10 minutes. It was as emotional as anything I have seen in on the silver screen or read inside of a novel.
Not to mention the guy stole the show 5 days earlier during a gauntlet on Smackdown. Kofi took a pinfall from A.J. Styles, but only after making a huge impression on… well… everyone.
All this has been 11 years in the making. The whole wrestling community seemed to unite with the hope that Kofi Kingston could win the big one. I can honestly say there have been very few times in watching wrestling when I felt this invested in a performer.
Leading up to The Elimination Chamber I found myself looking forward to, yet also dreading the show. Would WWE understand what’s happening right now? Or would they ignore the happy accident in front of them? But once the match started I forget all about time and space. I was riveted.
And I was not alone. The reaction Kofi received was worthy of a Hall of Famer returning to WWE after years of exclusion. Roman Reigns never got a reaction like that on his own, in fact, the only guy that has, was the person Kofi was competing against.
I’m getting ahead of myself, allow me to offer some context.
Kofi started training in late 2005 and made his debut at Chaotic Wrestling on February 24th, 2006. After a few months wrestling independently, he signed a developmental contract I’m September of 2006. He was sent to Deep South Wrestling as well as Ohio Valley Wrestling. Kofi cut his teeth as a tag team wrestler and sharpened his ring work until he was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling. He appeared in their premiere episode teaming with Eric Perez in a losing effort. Regardless, of the loss management had seen enough and called up the future New Day member.
In December 2007 WWE started showing vignettes promoting Kofi as a Jamaican Sensation. I remember watching those vignettes thinking this is gonna be awful. How could this possibly be good? It’s beyond cheesy and loaded with stereotypes. Who is this KoKo B. Ware lookin fool? Typical.
I also noticed his accent sounded fake, but I gave him a pass because sometimes you got to fake it to you make it.
Kofi debuted January 22nd, 2008, against David Owen at WWE’s watered down version of ECW. I admit I was impressed. His move-set was already locked in and the minimal selling he did was realistic and logical. Although it was not just the athleticism that impressed me, it was also how quickly he got over with the crowd.
It didn’t take long for Kofi gain momentum. He won his first championship later that year when he defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions. Kofi’s career was going fine, but something was missing. He needed a feud and not just any feud, but one with a top star. Someone who would help him re-invent himself as a legit threat to anyone at the top of the roster. All the secondary titles in the world wouldn’t have the impact of winning a feud against a multiple World Champ, a second generation star, and the top heel in the company.
Only one man fit the bill. Randy Orton.
Problem is that man was long on talent but short on temperament. It started great. Kofi interfered in a match where Orton was contesting for the Championship, by running off Legacy. Orton would lose this match and later blame Kofi. Orton attacked Kofi, but Kofi got revenge when he destroyed an expensive car that was gifted to him by his stablemates in Legacy.
The feud continued leading to a Raw at Madison Square Garden on November 16th, where Kofi would rescue Roddy Piper from a punt kick, courtesy of Randy Orton. The two would brawl through the crowd with Kofi getting the upper hand and putting Orton through a table, as a crowd of New Yorkers roared.
It was an iconic star-making moment. We all thought Kofi had arrived. At the 2009 Survivor Series, he pinned two World Champs (Orton and CM Punk) in about 8 seconds. Jim Ross called him “The most exciting young star in WWE”.
But then…
Kofi made a mistake in a televised match against Randy Orton. The Viper reacted angrily when Kofi forget the finish to their match. He screamed at Kingston calling him “Stupid!” and then delivered a stiff looking RKO. Randy then went running to Vince and told The Chairman that Kofi was not ready for the push he was getting. Vince listened and Kofi slowly morphed into a jobber. Thanks, Randy!
Sure he won a few more secondary titles, but those reigns always felt transitional.
The feeling was that Kofi had peaked and proven that he was not worthy of another push. He had no real promo skills and could not handle the spotlight.
(I suspect one of the other reasons Vince lost interest in Kofi was because he took Randy’s verbal and physical abuse. Kofi should have thrown hands the very second he got backstage. Vince does not respect men who allow themselves to be bullied, by him, or anyone else. In fact, Chris Jericho once told Kofi he had to start standing up to Vince if he ever wants to be taken seriously.)
Kofi was over, and once a superstar proves they can get over it is WWE’s job to keep them over. They failed him. They failed themselves.
I was heartbroken for Kofi and hoped he’d get another shot one day. But then he ends up in New Day, and at first, this seemed like a disaster. These guys were initially hated by the WWE Universe. I couldn’t blame them. The presentation of New Day made me embarrassed to watch pro wrestling. It was scandalous and almost like watching a modern day minstrel show. But a funny thing happened.
Somehow these guys took that gimmick, owned it, and turned it into gold. Literally. They are the longest reigning tag-team in WWE history. I will admit to being happy for the guy. This wasn’t where I wanted Kofi to end up, but it was better then him being sent down to NXT, or becoming a gatekeeper to those guys.
And, you know what? At least New Day proved how multi-talented Kofi really was. We already knew Kofi could go in the ring. The thing that always held him back (Besides Orton) was his mic skills. We finally learned he can cut a promo. He can works as a heel. He can move merch like 83 Hulk Hogan. But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but agree with Stone Cold Steve Austin when he said Kofi is not a tag guy and that he has the talent to be a singles star.
A couple of years go by and finally, Kofi gets lucky when Mustafa Ali gets unlucky. Kofi replaces the NXT standout and… now we are all caught up.
Back to The Elimination Chamber.
I was terrified at the prospect of Kofi losing immediately. I was terrified the audience had gotten over his amazing work on Tuesday. But I was thrilled with the idea of WWE making history. Although the ending was a letdown WWE did everything right. The right people lost at the right time and Kofi’s win over Randy Orton was instant karma for what Orton did to Kofi years ago.
Kofi and Bryan told us a wonderful story.
Bryan was a man who believed that Kofi represented everything wrong with the world. A materialistic, mass consuming, fatty foods philanthropist, that panders down to the WWE Universe. This guy does not deserve to even be in this ring let alone hold MY new title. As for Kofi’s fans. They are worse. Where have these people been the last 7, 8, 9 years? They were not cheering for Kofi to get his shot. But this guy gets lucky and somehow finds himself in a title match and NOW they cheer him? FICKLE! FICKLE! FICKLE!
Daniel has a message that the world needs to hear and they will only take him seriously if he is The Champ. Kofi is trying to disrupt that and obstruct him from his mission. His cause! Ignore those chant’s, Daniel. They don’t know what they need. They will forget about this Kingston guy as soon as you put him down.
As for Kofi Kingston? He was a man obsessed. He was determined to win that title or die. It was as if Kofi got a glimpse into the life he should have had. The Championships. Respect. Movies. He wanted to prove to all of us that this is where he always belonged. (If this was a test Kofi passed with flying colors.) The beast we saw tonight was always there. Waiting. Waiting for the chance to come out. In his face, you could see it all. All the disrespect. All the laughs. Years of watching younger less talented superstars get pushed. And a decade of apathy from Vince McMahon. He wanted to prove that he was willing to die in that ring if it meant he walked out with history around his waist.
This was not the smiling Kofi that loves everyone. This was a determined man fighting to validate his very existence in this profession. In this world. Haven’t we all had a moment where you knew you were at a crossroad? You felt in your bone morrow that what you do today could dictate the next 10 or 20 years.
I would be remiss not to bring up an added, if not controversial, reason to give Kofi the nod.
WWE has never had a Black World Champion.
I’m not including The Rock, he’s half black and WWE identifies him as Samoan, furthermore when Rock won no one said he’s WWE’s first Black Champion, like they did by calling Sheamus the first Irish Champion, or Alberto Del Rio as the first Mexican born Champ. And I am not talking about the belt Mark Henry or Booker T had. That’s Ric Flair’s old belt. And that title doesn’t even exist anymore. I’m talking about Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan’s belt. We’ve had our first Black President serve out two terms and we still haven’t given the top belt to a Black wrestler. WWE has been slow to give woman their just due, but now that they are finally making up for past oversights with women wrestlers, it should extend to black wrestlers too.
Oh, and don’t hand me some bs story about no Black wrestlers being worthy. That’s code for saying only certain people get to be champ. Which is code for something else. Be very leery of these pro wrestling “journalist” who have a rulebook of what constitutes a World Champion. Study when and who they apply that rule to. Tradition has trained them well.
But, if they wanna debate about Kofi, I’ll play along.
You never hear this man complaining about his spot. This may be one of the reasons he has been running in place for so long. Vince loves ambition, and if you don’t have ruthless aggression then you are just lazy, or even worse complacent. Kofi is a humble guy, but I’m not, so I’ll list his attributes for him.
Kofi has stayed over for 11 years. Not because he was Samoan, or blonde, or some indie darling. The reason he has remained popular is because we sense he still understands how lucky he is to have this career. Oh, and he’s entertaining as Hell.
This man has no wellness violations, never embarrasses the company, can do interviews on Good Morning America or The Tonight Show. And everyone loves him. Even CM Punk loves Kofi. We all know CM Punk doesn’t like anyone.
He also takes care of his partners in the ring and has never been one of those chronically injured wrestlers we always hear about. (Not that it stops them from getting pushed. I don’t need to name names.) With 15 championships to his name, he is a lock for the WWE Hall of Fame as a singles act, as well as for his tag work with the history-making New Day.
No one can ever say Kofi Kingston does not have what it takes to be a top guy. He proved it on the microphone, in the ring, and with the fans. Do not allow him to go back to selling pancakes with a unicorn horn on his head. He is and has always been too good for that.
A World title would put him in Grand Slam territory.
Life gives us very few happy endings. That’s what the arts are for.
I am actually glad Kofi lost at Elimination Chamber because his apex should happen at Wrestlemania.
Besides who else is gonna face “The New” Daniel Bryan, if not Kofi?
Randy Orton and AJ Styles are likely going to feud. It’s too late to throw Kevin Owens in the mix. Samoa Joe is a heel, who has already had several chances. Jeff Hardy, god bless him, has become a jobber. And Mustafa Ali is still too green.
Smackdown Live just ended and Kofi will get his first one on one match for the WWE Title at Fastlane on March 10th at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Could we be seeing the rise of KofiMania? And could Kingston actually enter Wrestlemania as World Champion?
Do the right thing, Vince. Do not waste this man’s talent again. At the age of 37, this will likely be his last chance. Kofi deserves this and so do we.