Kofi Kingston: Where Does He Go Now?

[The Crock]

Bad luck has once again caught Kofi Kingston's tag team partner, as R-Truth has injured his foot, either seriously spraining it or breaking it. This puts Kofi Kingston in a bit of a strange situation, as he's still one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, but he can't tag with his partner, so WWE will be forced to get creative with him. They'll either give him a new partner or they'll let him go off and be a singles competitor, either way, they'll have to do SOMETHING with him.

Personally, I'd like to see the WWE push Kofi Kingston as a singles competitor. Right now, they're really lacking in the upper midcard department and they need guys who can step up and provide good feuds -- Kofi Kingston certainly fits the mold, doesn't he? Kofi's been there before, feuding with Randy Orton, he's a proven reliable hand, he's been a midcard champion, etc. Kofi Kingston has all the tools to be one of the guys to step up in WWE's time of need.

That being said, I don't think the WWE will just be able to neglect the tag team titles, either. There are two options here: They'll either give Kofi a replacement partner (Zack Ryder or Brodus Clay fit the bill) or they'll take the belts off of Kofi. I think the smarter road to take is to strip Kofi of the belts, or have Laurinaitis put him in an unfair 2 on 1 match defending the titles, that Kofi just can't win. That would allow them to further commit to a singles push and just let Kofi do his thing. I like him in his current role, but I just think that right now is the best time to see how far Kofi Kingston can truly go. He almost made it to main event status during his feud with Randy Orton before it was halted, but he can finally rekindle that right now. With his situation and all the injuries around him, it just seems natural to let Kofi loose.

So, what do you guys think? Should Kofi get a push up the card or stay in the tag division?

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

There was a time when Air Boom were going strong with their tag team run and then Bourne got his first suspension. Basically what happened was that Kofi went however long and just didn't defend the titles. I feel really bad for Kofi because he has a lot of talent but seems to always miss 'it' in order to be a bigger star than what he is. Depending on how bad R-Truth's injury is will determine what happens to the tag titles. Despite there being a few tag teams now, I doubt WWE even wants to just move the belts off of Kofi and Truth regardless that they can't defend them. I miss back in the day when if belts weren't defended for X amount of time, the champs were stripped of the belts. Now it seems that with how the WWE doesn't care about the tag division, they'll just let Kofi run around being half of the tag champs until R-Truth gets better.

I'd personally like to see Kofi either get a new partner or better yet strip Kofi and Truth of the belts and let another tag team have the belts whether it be the Uso's or Reks/Hawkins and let a young team run with the belts. Kofi on the other hand can get the US Belt since it's just rusting sitting around Santio's waist.

 

[avriltt234]

I would like to see Kofi Kingston and Brodus Clay continue as a team and eventually become known as the Wwe tag team Champions, then after a six or Seven month reign Kofi starts a rivalry with the Wwe Champion hopefully it will be Daniel Bryan because they could put on some electrifying matches for the title and hopefully he will win the Wwe Championship.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

It would be interesting if the gave Kofi a storyline for a few weeks of being a "one man tag team" just to stretch out time before they know really what is going with Truth's status in the team. Giving this storyline a couple weeks, they buy themselves some time to decide whether they'll give Kofi a new partner to replace Truth or take the belts off him. Another option would be to strip Kofi and Truth of the title and have a tag team turmoil, tag team battle royal, or a four tag team elimination match. There are many teams deserving of a shot at the titles, and a tag team battle royal would give an opportunity to bring back a tag team from the past. Maybe The Highlanders, Headbangers, New Age Outlaws (I'd mark out), Too Cool, and maybe even get John Morrison and Melina in for an appearance and bring Joey Mercury in and pair up MNM. Tag teams are definitely worth displaying leading up to the 1000th Raw and this would be a great opportunity to tie up some lose ends regarding the R-Truth injury and bring back a memorable team.

 

[LegendKiller716]

I would like Johnny to tell Kingston to find a replacement partner, or he'd be stripped of the belts (at the 30 day mark). Have Borne come out as his partner and they win. A few weeks later Truth returns and shows jealousy towards Borne and Kofi. During a tag title match Truth walks out and they loose the belts.

Truth and Kofi have a match the winner gets the title rematch with their own partner. Truth wins and goes on to take the tag titles with somebody (Johnny Curtis? JTG?). Now Air Boom start to chase the titles and we have a legit tag title feud. At some point more teams can get involved such as Reks/Hawkins and The Usos.

It can get real interesting if they let it.

 

[Headman]

Forget Kofi, I'm more concerned with what happens to the tag team titles. It's possible they're disappear for a while and that would be a shame. The best thing for the WWE tag team championship would be to strip Kofi and Truth and hold a tag team title tournament that spans about a month. Then the new champions can defend the titles against Kofi and Truth when Truth is back. Hopefully a tournament would put some focus back on tag teams and could help fill some of that extra hour they're adding to RAW.

As for Kofi, I liked Airboom but he and Truth do nothing for me. If they don't pair him back with Bourne I'd rather just see Kofi go it alone in the singles division.

I should also add I like Legendkiller's idea a lot.

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

I would like Johnny to tell Kingston to find a replacement partner, or he'd be stripped of the belts (at the 30 day mark). Have Borne come out as his partner and they win. A few weeks later Truth returns and shows jealousy towards Borne and Kofi. During a tag title match Truth walks out and they loose the belts.

Truth and Kofi have a match the winner gets the title rematch with their own partner. Truth wins and goes on to take the tag titles with somebody (Johnny Curtis? JTG?). Now Air Boom start to chase the titles and we have a legit tag title feud. At some point more teams can get involved such as Reks/Hawkins and The Usos.

It can get real interesting if they let it.

That's a really good way to start a good tag title feud, I'm really liking this idea.

The only bad thing about this, is WWE would probably have R-Truth partner with Little Jimmy. So we'd have a handicap feud for the Tag Titles, but if they found a legit partner, that maybe has a past history with Kingston or Bourne would make for a better personal feud

 

[Skinsley]

If Truth is going to be away for more than 3 Raws from now then WWE should hold a tournament involving some other Tag teams to fight for a Vacant title.

By giving the titles to a team like the USO's the Titles can then be contended on equal grounds.....they could have matches with any of the newly created Tag teams such as Kidd & Gabriel/Rekks&Hawkins and the matches would be good and we would struggle to prejudge who would win the match.
Currently whilst Kofi and Truth are the tag champs, the inferior lower card Tag Teams barely have a chance and the Audience always know that Kofi&Truth will win.

Kofi should become a singles competitor again, but for the US title or Intercontinental. The upper card needs strengthening now but also the Mid card is now weak and nobody wants those titles anymore. I dont think he is Heavyweight or WWE championship material.....and right now the Mid card just does'nt matter.

 

[tripleddd]

I think he will find an unlikely partner someone from left field(MARK HENRY) but I imagine that he will fit somewhere in the US /IC title picture

 

[KSECMPUNK]

See I always believe Kofi to be nothing more than a spot monkey, but time and time again he shows of some impressive matches. I'd say have him come out and complain about always being pushed around, never getting what he wants, just like the big show. Hes sick of his partners constantly failing on him, so he decides hes gunna do things his way, and litterally destroys his oponent. Have some members in the back try to reason with him, but doesnt work. Results in Evan coming back to confront him. After an argument and a match, Kofi goes nuts, destroys him and bourne is off TV again. This prompts Truth to come back and say if youd do that to him how do I know your not planning the same for me, they have a lengthy fued, which ultitmatly ends with Kofi proving his dominence, and sets him in a high leauge. First time ive ever done this so be as harsh as you want about this idea

 

[jerry20xx]

Well, like the report said, it's just a sprained or broken foot. It's not like Truth will be out too long. I think we're jumping the gun on this. He will probably miss 2 weeks, 4 at the most.
It's not like they were planning to defend the belts at the PPV anyway.

I'd like to see Kofi in singles competition against members from other teams.

 

[Duke]

Bad luck has once again caught Kofi Kingston's tag team partner, as R-Truth has injured his foot, either seriously spraining it or breaking it. This puts Kofi Kingston in a bit of a strange situation, as he's still one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, but he can't tag with his partner, so WWE will be forced to get creative with him. They'll either give him a new partner or they'll let him go off and be a singles competitor, either way, they'll have to do SOMETHING with him.

Personally, I'd like to see the WWE push Kofi Kingston as a singles competitor. Right now, they're really lacking in the upper midcard department and they need guys who can step up and provide good feuds -- Kofi Kingston certainly fits the mold, doesn't he? Kofi's been there before, feuding with Randy Orton, he's a proven reliable hand, he's been a midcard champion, etc. Kofi Kingston has all the tools to be one of the guys to step up in WWE's time of need.

That being said, I don't think the WWE will just be able to neglect the tag team titles, either. There are two options here: They'll either give Kofi a replacement partner (Zack Ryder or Brodus Clay fit the bill) or they'll take the belts off of Kofi. I think the smarter road to take is to strip Kofi of the belts, or have Laurinaitis put him in an unfair 2 on 1 match defending the titles, that Kofi just can't win. That would allow them to further commit to a singles push and just let Kofi do his thing. I like him in his current role, but I just think that right now is the best time to see how far Kofi Kingston can truly go. He almost made it to main event status during his feud with Randy Orton before it was halted, but he can finally rekindle that right now. With his situation and all the injuries around him, it just seems natural to let Kofi loose.

So, what do you guys think? Should Kofi get a push up the card or stay in the tag division?

Kofi showed alot of heart when he called out Big Show. I think that he will move back into singles action, he really look uncomfortable when he and Truth make their entrance and even when they enter the ring. I also think that he is not really into the "little jimmy" thing.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I agree that this should be the time to test how far Kofi can go. With all the guys out right now, its certainly couldn't hurt WWE to try. He always gets a decent reaction and can put on a decent match as well. We saw how good he can be during his feud with Orton and I think now is the time to push him. Not saying he should win a World Title but start pushing him to the level where he could reasonably be in contention for #1 Contender while never actually earning a title shot, much like Christian was for the last several years before his feud with Orton.

The only problem is the lack of heels who are at that same level for him to work with. Del Rio would have been a decent feud to get things going for him but he's out too. The only heels who are above the midcard are all in feuds currently; Kane, Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Cody Rhodes or out injured; Mark Henry, Del Rio. Ziggler could be considered in that category as well but I feel like he's only above the midcard when he's facing someone else above the midcard, if that makes sense. A Ziggler/Kofi feud would just seem like the rest of the midcard feuds they had. I say get Kane away from the Punk/Bryan story line and have Kofi feud with him. Kane is not what he used to be but he's willing to put guys over and is still a recognizable and somewhat popular name amongst the fans, would give Kofi some more credibility if he gets a few wins over him.

 

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

I see this going either way.
I can see him continuing the tag team championship reign with Clay...
But I would prefer he enter the singles area. IMO, WWE's Tag division is a bit of a hellhole with little or not to gain from it. Kofi, as mentioned prior, can easily hold his own in singles. He would do just fine...
But I would prefer him on SD to feud with, say, Cody Rhodes. It would be a stretch, but I can see wonders come from the both of them in that rivalry.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

The best way to see if Kofi Kingston has a main event cape is to pull a surprise championship on him. Kind of like the championship that Mick Foley won during the main event wars.

Have a match happen. Then create a situation where the title has to be defended. Does it sound weird. Maybe, but Mick Foley reached new heights after that moment. Hell, it changed the course of the Monday Night Wars.

Do it a couple weeks before a pay-per-view. So, if doesn't get over, you can have him lose the belt at the next pay-per-view. That's what I think would work. Haven't had the surprise world title change in quite sometime.

Maybe change his crappy music. Ray Gay doesn't work!

 

[stillboy21]

WWE needs to put on a 3 or 4 team tag match for the titles including Kofi and Truth. This way they can plan on not even having Truth wrestle at all and hopefully no one will notice since there will be so much action in the ring. Then Truth can heal up and Kofi could tag with someone new for a while or win Money in the Bank.

 

[iwinulose]

The wwe needs to stop putting Kofi in tag teams.... Like all punk WM opponents, all of kofi's partners get injured and/or suspended. That should be a sign that Kofi is not meant to be a tag team champ, no, he needs to be pushed into the main event scene, he can put on great matches, he has in ring skills, his promos can be improved, he has all the potential (no don't say he doesn't look the part, Orton isn 't a large man, he is still a 9 time world champ so there is no excuse). It shouldn't matter that he is black (no racism meant but the wwe seems to use white men for the big gold) well Kofi should be the guy to break the trend, I mean come on, Punk and Bryan are both fairly small, they are currently the 2 of the most popular guys in the wwe right now (don't hate, you know what I mean), so why not bring kofi up there? Currently Kofi's talent is being wasted and it has to stop, cause the wwe needs more main eventers because all of their top stars are getting injured/suspended.

 

[LeviCook]

I'm not the biggest Kofi Kingston fan but i definitely recognize he has talent. I have thought for the longest time he deserves more than he has gotten. With this being said my ideal situation is Kofi Kingston competing for an opportunity for a world title. I think first off they need to allow his character to show a more intense side like we previously saw in his short feud with Randy Orton. After that just have him chase not a title but the opportunity of getting a title shot. Have him compete with superstars like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, etc. By doing so he will grow on the fans more and more and they will want him to get a title. Basically a similar situation to Jeff Hardy before he finally became world champion in WWE. Now i'm not saying Kofi can get that over, but a similar situation would be entertaining in my opinion. When he finally wins it after chasing it forever. With how packed Raw is he would most likely need to go to Smackdown for this. And with Randy Orton gone they should definitely do so.

If they were going to keep him in the Tag Team division i would say maybe have Big Show "take him out" for a few weeks until Evan Bourne can return. Then they can have this little in ring segment where Kofi welcomes him back and they pick up right where they left off kind of deal. Otherwise if they are going to put him in a new tag team i wouldn't mind seeing him team with Tyson Kidd. Tyson is another superstar who deserves more and can also put on good matches. Kofi and Tyson could be a pretty exciting team. Other then that i can't think of anyone else i would want to see him team with. Maybe Sin Cara? But that's even more of a thrown together team. Only point of that would be to have the High Flying Tag Team.

 

[IHW]

Kofi will never see the main event, unless its an Elimination Chamber or a match with multiple guys. He is, at best, an upper mid-carder. Now this could be considered a bad thing, or a good thing. But, either way its true.

What should they do? Give him a push to the top of the midcard... again. This time around, he has guys like Christian and Rhodes to face. A few interesting feuds can come out of Kofi as a singles competitor. I loved his angle with Orton back in '09. That is the Kofi I want to watch every week. He gave us a bit of a character, more than a black man who can jump really high and smile a lot. Kofi needs to channel that inner aggression that we have seen glimpses of from time to time.

 

[bonded_by_bud]

In my opinion to get to the next level Kofi needs a lot of things. First of all he is in desperate need of new theme music, second he needs to have that intensity again almost tweener like when he was feuding with Orton. Lastly if he wants to make it to that next level and run with the main event guys and be taken seriously a shocking heel turn is pretty much inevitable, and lets face it The Trouble in Paradise is not a believable finisher to take down guys like Big Show and even Super Cena. A roundhouse kick is not going to win you the World or WWE Championship, he needs to tap into that ruthless intensity if he is going to ever make it above mid-card status. On a side not I guess we can all be thankful that he doesn't talk like Bob Marley anymore.. Having him put in make shift team after make shift is not getting him anywhere, it seems like they just keep throwing him a tag partner that they don't know how to book and put both on the back burner. His team with Punk was pointless, oh look they are both faces they would make great tag team champs. Air Boom was at least halfway interesting until Bourne got in touch with his inner afro-man and the current team with Truth is again completely random and holds really no context.

 

[Skinsley]

Kofi's music is great...dont change it. Although I dont get why he is billed as from Ghana, West Africa(where he was born), then has a Jamaican theme tune, when he has lived in Boston most of his life?
(Yes I know he was billed as Jamaican in other Wrestling companies...but its still redundant).
Anyway...the Music is catchy...and the music gets a pop. He does not need a new theme. Remix it to add a shock value Rif at the start maybe(stone colds broken glass/Cm Punks Static) but nothing more.

I like the idea of a shock championship though....as I said, I think Kofi should remain mid-Card and make some feuds for the U.S. or I.C. titles meaningfull. But if you guys want him to be a WWE or WH champ then I still believe he would deserve it.
A money in the bank win or a #1 contender win and a short lived reign would still do wonders for his career.

 

[bonded_by_bud]

For the last 2 years it seems they have just been using him as a safe champion. As in oh well we need to get the belt of this guy so lets have Kofi go over him. A shock championship win could be a great idea but at the current rate he is being used I don't see him winning the big one anytime soon.

 

[JimmyTehFreak]

Agreed with bbb - Kofi is a safe guy that will likely end up as developmental talent - albeit he isnt used like a jobber - he is a stepping stone guy to get others to look good.. it's nice he's getting a push and a belt every now and then but he's no ron simmons, rocky johnson, etc. his ceiling is rather low.

 

[DANIELBRYANrealwrestler]

i think its a sign that Kofi should fight in singles competition. Kofi just needs to improve on the mic and i think he'll be a good IC or US champion, maybe a heel turn could start him off.

 

[TempestH]

i think its a sign that Kofi should fight in singles competition. Kofi just needs to improve on the mic and i think he'll be a good IC or US champion, maybe a heel turn could start him off.

A heel turn might help, but Kofi has won both multiple times. For the past 4 to 5 years Kofi has been the "token midcard face champion" of whichever brand he was on.