Rumor: Kofi Kingston Heel Turn

[Jack-Hammer]

If Kofi turns heel, it's hard to say how WWE will go with him. We've seen Kofi in the midst of significant pushes in the past only for Vince to lose interest somewhere in the middle of things. As a result, it's hard to really get a firm grip on where WWE would come from. After all, Kofi has spent his entire career in WWE as, basically, just a generally happy & energetic babyface.

At this point in time, Kofi's biggest ally is R-Truth. The age old means of turning someone heel is to have them betray their closest friends and stab them in the back. The downside to this is that, at least for me personally, I have no desire to see Kofi Kingston waste his time feuding with R-Truth. I'm not saying that he should immediately be bumped up and going after a World Champion, but a feud with Truth isn't going to elevate Kofi all that much.

To elevate Kofi, a good feud to put him in would be against Chris Jericho. Jericho excels and putting over other wrestlers while still looking like a million bucks himself. Kofi is someone whose shown ability on the mic but if he still needs work, which I imagine he does, then Jericho can easily carry his own weight & much of Kofi's during promos. As for the matches, I think it's safe to say that Kofi vs. Jericho as part of a real feud is a potential show stealer.

Another potential path would be to reignite his feud with The Miz. They had some great matches on Main Event for the IC title. At the same time, Miz is someone that crowds love & hate. Depending on where they go at it, Kofi would be massively cheered as a face while Miz was booed. Again, part of the trouble with smarky crowds.

Maybe Kofi could feud with Antonio Cesaro for a bit, take the US title from him and then ultimately go heel. Cesaro has worked his ass off for WWE but I have a feeling that Vince has ultimately lost interest in him.

Other potential feuds leading to a heel turn, or coming about as a result of one, could be Orton or Sheamus, possibly even Triple H. The last one is the most unlikely, but would certainly be a show of proof that WWE is seriously behind Kofi as a heel.

[brochester8]

I think the best way for him to turn heel is to win the Money in the Bank Briefcase and immediately cash it in on Cena.

[SonicReducer]

I like thedancingheel's idea of having Kofi "attack" Little Jimmy.

Given his African roots, they should exploit common African stereotypes. Maybe they could get Slick to launch a "Hakim" v. 2.0 for a new millenium! ... but darker (no pun intended).

Maybe Papa Shango could be brought in to mesmerize him in some voodoo gimmick. R-Truth could intervene backstage to try to snap him out of it, leading to a Kofi attack on Little Jimmy. At the end of Kofi's heel run, he could simply snap out of it, and return as a face.

Or they could go with the route of African warlord. Anyone remember the "Kofi 2012" scam? WWE could have mocked the movement by having Kofi (Kingston) play an over-the-top warlord. He could have even borrowed some of Zeb Colter's khaki outfits! (j/k)

Speaking of Zeb ... why not have him go total racist and have him pulling the puppet strings as Kofi's overlord?

Now I'm just rambling. Anyway, those are my ideas for a Kofi heel turn.

[Dr.]

Originally Posted by brochester8

I think the best way for him to turn heel is to win the Money in the Bank Briefcase and immediately cash it in on Cena.

I'm not sure if that will turn the people against him. Frankly, if he were to do that this summer, I'd make a small shrine to him in my home with one of those Mexican saint candles burning 24/7 in front of a picture of him with the title.

I'd want Kofi to do more and more heelish things over time; explaining them away or apologizing for them at first but eventually making the full turn. Once the crowd has turned against him enough, then he can explode and turn on an ally or give a scathing promo. Kofi is just too much of a face to try and turn overnight, though. I think it has to be a slow turn, where the fans want to boo him by the time it's obvious he's a heel rather than being told to boo him because all of sudden he's angry. Also, if he does a "you people," promo, then creative can get bent.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Kofi used to get a pretty good pop, even when he wasn't doing much. Nowadays you don't even know if he's getting one because his entrance is done during commercials... He's died down that much. The point is, if no one cares about him now, no one will if he were to turn heel.

Kofi is stuck in a bad spot. His character is easily face material. He genuinely looks like a nice guy. He's not very "scary," so that aspect of heelism is out the window. Also, his moveset would have to completely change. No one wants to boo the guy doing a plethora of high flying moves because they're fun to watch.

His best option is to stay face and become very aggressive, like they've teased before. You can't say you weren't excited briefly when he started that program with Randy Orton. I don't know why they're afraid to push forward with him. Orton's feud wasn't the only time they started a Kofi push and stopped it abruptly. It makes me wonder if he's too bad on the mic. From what I've heard, which admittedly is very brief, he doesn't sound too bad. Very scripted, but he still manages.

It's a shame really because I'd like to see how he would do given the proper push.

But really, I don't see a heel turn as the answer for him. He doesn't scream heel at all to me, or anyone in the WWE Universe I think. That doesn't mean they won't do it, but I don't see it working, or even lasting long.

[Da Solo]

Here's an idea: African King Kofi. And I don't mean like a King Booker, I mean like a straight up badass no nonsense totalitarian Idi Amin type monster of a heel. Imagine:

King of the Ring is set up for 2013. Kofi beats his friend Evan Bourne or Truth in the semi-final
Kofi beats a high-on-the-card heel (Swagger, Dolph, Henry) with help from Evan/Truth and becomes KoTR
He embraces the honor and "finds his African roots", slowly transitioning into the African King
He gets a world title shot that he wins thanks to Evan/Truth again, but sees him as a subject and treats him like crap until they snap on each other and feud with Kofi bringing in the also African Justin Gabriel or even an NXT upstart as a new subject (Xavier Woods?) and holds the title hostage as a tyrant.

[Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.]

If it means they are getting serious about Kofi, FUCKIN' DO IT!


Kofi is one of my perennial favorites since his debut in ECW. A heel turn would give him some edge. They had a cool thing going with the Wild Cat stuff a few months ago on Main Event but it never really went anywhere. I want him to be WWE champion one day.