What do you do with someone like Kofi?

[CyberPunk]

Amidst all the discussion of Road to Wrestlemania and aftermath, here I am, back with yet another "What do you do with..." discussion. This time, it's none other than...boom....boom....boom...Kofi Kingston.

Kofi Kingston showed up on WWE TV back in 2007 as a Jamaican wrestler (his vignettes started airing before his debut) on the ECW brand. He remained undefeated in singles competition for a long time before Shelton Benjamin finally beat him. When he was drafted to RAW in 2008, he ended up winning his first title in WWE in his first match on RAW, beating Chris Jericho for the IC title. He soon started tagging along with Punk (when he saved the then-World Champion Punk) and won the World Tag team title. A sort of Main event push came along his way when he briefly feuded with Randy Orton. many believed that this was his breakout moment.

After quiet sometime, he won his second IC championship and started a feud with Dolph Ziggler. They had a series of fantastic matches and traded wins and losses. Since then, Kofi has won the IC title 2 more times, and US championship 3 times. In all, he has 10 championship reigns, including 2 more WWE tag team title reigns. He is current involved in a feud with the Miz.

Did you see what I did there? After his initial career highlights, I kind of scooted through the rest of his career. And that's the point. Kofi's near 7 year long career with WWE has very little of note. He has been there and has been involved in all kind of matches, including matches for the world titles. However, it never seems like he'll ever win a world title in his life. With the unification of title, his chances of ever doing that seems even more remote.

So why is this guy caught up in the midcard? He is a career midcard face. I don't think he'll ever turn heel. He's mildly over, he is put into random matches and I have never seen him involved in any kind of real feud. Can you believe that in this day and age, he's never received a one o one world title match? For a man who has won as many titles as Kofi, it's just hard to believe. Writers have had nothing for him for a long time and it seems like when they need someone to carry one of the midcard titles, they recall Kofi.

In my eyes, he is a solid worker who seemingly has that "IT" factor missing. Every now and then he shows glimpses of charisma when he becomes more aggressive, but that's about it. He is just there, and if he is taken off TV for sometime, I am not sure if anyone would miss. He is thrust into pointless midcard title matches without even being promoted. His feuds have been few and far between and he just either gets jobbed out to your upper midcard and main event players or is challenging or carrying one of the midcard titles. There's no harm being a career midcard, but it just seems that no one has ever tried anything different with Kofi.

So, what do you do with Kofi Kingston? Do you think that he'll ever go beyond where he is? Do you put him in another pointless tag team to bolster your tag team line-up? Do you see anything at all in Kofi at this point?

What do you guys think?

 

[Wald]

Honestly I don't see him making it as a singles star at this point. He's being doing the same schtick for 6 years now and has never moved beyond lower midcard for any significant period of team.

I'd honestly either stick him in an Air Bourne type of tag team (not with that waste of space Evan Bourne though) or release him. If Rey is adamant he wants to do more damage to his knees he could be protected in a high flying tag team with Kofi

 

[DietPepsiRocks]

Kofi just doesn't have IT....He's just like Shelton Benjamin, amazing in the ring, awful every place else.
Only certain small guys have IT.....Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan....the rest of the small guys on the roster like the Tyson Kidds of the world, is where Kofi belongs. They are the type of guy that can start off the show on a good note and get the crowd going and get ready for the rest of the show...They're not main event material.
Guys like Punk and Bryan are the exception because they can hang with anyone in the ring and they have so much charisma they stand out amongst a ramp of people (like on Raw when they clearly wanted Bryan and no one else when they were all on the ramp). You need to stand out in the wrestling business...there are already enough ring technicians.

 

[#MrScissorsKick]

I'll admit it. I'm a Kofi Kingston fan. I say that with no regret whatsoever. I often ask myself, why in the hell am I Kofi fan? To me, it's more than just him going out there for anywhere between 5-15 minutes and entertain the fans. His move set and in-ring skills have entertained me to the least of my expectations. Kofi is a guy that will more than likely never be a Main Event player but in his character I don't think Kofi cares. Sure, all mid-carders would love that push towards the top. However, there are very few people who can get that spot.

But to answer the OP's questions:

So, what do you do with Kofi Kingston?

Keep him where he is at. Off-topic for a minute, but isn't there a unified World Champ right now that was crowned just 24 hours ago? I doubt the WWE had plans to push Kofi or do anything with him after TLC. Back to the topic. Kofi, like I've said, is doing perfectly fine as a mid-carder.

Do you think that he'll ever go beyond where he is?

I think he's fine where he is right now. Am I wrong? Pushing guys too fast can be major let downs for the potential future of the given wrestler. Look at Wade Barrett, Curtis Axle, Ryback. I could see Kofi moving towards the higher mid-card spots, but we'll let the pieces fill in the rest of the puzzle first.

Do you put him in another pointless tag team to bolster your tag team line-up?

You have the Shield, Uso's, Rhodes, Real Americans, 3MB, Los Matadors....Pointless Tag-Teams? What the.... No. Kofi is fine with what he's doing right now in the midcard.

Do you see anything at all in Kofi at this point?

Athletic ability, in-ring work ability....Yeah he's not the type of guy that will drop pipebombs during the broadcast. He's a good worker and a very entertaining one at that.

 

[shafe_41]

Kofi? Simple. Leave him in the mid-card to get his weekly pops from the younger crowd and keep feeding him the IC Title and US Title every now and again to keep him occupied. He doesn't have that "it" factor that will ever get him a legit world title shot unless something serious happens. Maybe he can turn heel and surprise the world but I wouldn't count on it. He sells some merch. He gets some pops. Just your everyday mid-card crowd pleaser. He probably won't be anything more.

 

[L@RISANO]

Kofi Kingston:

A good enough Mid Card high flyer, who might find himself in some sort of 6 match World title at some point in time, and be the first one eliminated. Other than that, he continues to remain in the mid-card with the occasional Mid Card title run and maybe tag team runs every now and then...If anything I see him and Seth Rollins as a possible team in the future.

 

[Da Solo]

To be honest, on these boards I feel like the biggest Kingston fan, and I'm always willing to step in and defend him if need be. In my opinion, he's the best wrestler in the midcard at the moment, and one of WWE's best in-ring workers out of the current roster. He's also pretty underrated on the mic. People love to say he sucks just because they never see him on the stick, but when he is there, he holds his own (besides, Khali can hardly form full sentences and he had a World title).

What to do with him? Kofi's at the stage of his career where his job is definitely safe, but he desperately needs a breakout opportunity. He had many of them in the past (feud with Randy, IC title run last year, breakup with Truth), but creative squanders it. I honestly think they are too comfortable with how dependable he is, and making him ME would make booking harder on them. But at this point, he can very well make it on the WM card with a solid feud. He has a bit of momentum at least from a win on PPV against Miz, and consistent booking as stronger than Miz anyway. Plus, it's about time for the Rumble, and EVERYONE knows that's his one time to shine. Hell, there's even time for a heel turn if they finally grow some balls and do it.

Will he advance? Yeah. He will main event one day, I'm willing to bet. As I've said before, greater superstars have had worse circumstances. Edge was nearing 10 years in before he had his first world title. Eddie, even for a WCW steal, took a while to win it. Booker's run as WHC in WWE took entirely too long to happen as well, but it did happen. Kofi will get his one day bases on the fact that he is constantly over, sells merch with the kids and puts on clinics. I give it maybe 2 more years.

Tag Team? Maybe. But if they do it, his next should be his last. From there, give him the boost. It seems every time they break up a tag with him, they give him a small push before hurting him some more. When Air Bourne broke up, he got into the Chamber and won the tag title with Truth. When they broke up, he got an IC title win and a small push . But now he's past the point of making 3 or 4 more teams. He can stand about one more.

There is a lot to invest in Kofi. The IWC just doesn't see that because they sour on whoever isn't a constant in the product.

 

[lifelongfan]

im sorry to person above but kofie kigston is not in the same leage as edge booker t and eddie g. not even close he will stay where he is in the mid card before he is compleatly played out and gets relesed. he is fine in ring but outher than the miz over and over he has not had one desent fude in how many years. its not a bad carrer tho. better than a lot of men

 

[GeneralKarim]

I have no clue.His moveset and personality is just one of your average mid-card high-flying crowd pleaser.

I would really like to see him heel for the sake of seeing if there is anything there.The side of him in the feud with Orton was to me very telling that the guy can do more.

But I think he is the victim of "Creative has nothing for you".I mean clearly the dude can be more aggressive than he is and show more personality and can talk on the mic pretty decent.I mean if he even got as much mic time as Ryback has in general that would be cool.

I just dont think he will ever get the chance to be more than a mid card guy, which is fine.Being a solid and dependable mid-card guy is ok.Not everyone can be in the main-event.I mean hell who is the main event atm?Cena and Orton and trailling behind Punk and Bryan.Sure not that many people, but u can see how creative and vince struggle to even book those 4 the right way.

What I would do with him, is stop trying to present him as a singles star, when he is basically a glorified jobber at this point and put him in a tag team.I meah hell if Big E flops ( just cause he has the IC title doesnt mean shit and everyone knows that ) they could make a pretty cool tag team with both of them being very fast and either getting the hot tag would make for nice moments.

But if Big E. doesnt flop , I cant think atm who he can tag with, besides Evan Bourne.Since they are both such colourful characters, him and ryder could team up, but knowing WWE they would take the place of 3MB as the jobber tag team only this one will get some pops.

 

[Trail_Blazin]

I'm not huge on pairing up guys who were singles wrestlers first unless there is a significant reason for it. The tag division needs legit tag teams (Ascension, American Pit Bulls) not slapped together duos. If they put him in a tag team, they need him to disappear for awhile and come back with a tag partner. It's doable, but WWE would have to book it correctly.

Kofi should stay where he is. He's got some value to the midcard and will do quite well there.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

You do the same thing that the WWF and NWA did with guys like Ricky Steamboat. That WCW did with Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero. You let him go out and wrestle good matches every single week, keep him on TV consistently, and let the crowd do the rest of the work. And if he wants to talk, if he has something to say, let him say it. When he's hot, book him in a title match. WHen he's not, feed him to a heel that needs the rub.

THis is actually what WWE has been doing with Kofi Kingston for years, they just need to find consistency. They have so many mid-card talents, and so many more that have come and gone, that could be more over than they are/were. Just put guys out there every week, let them wrestle, and we the fans will let you know if it works. And if it doesn't, re-assess the situation, and try again.

Guys like Jericho and Steamboat go put in high profile Intercontinental/Cruiswerweight title feuds because they went out, wrestled great matches every week, and the crowd liked them so much their respective companies couldn't afford to continue ignoring them. It's as simple as letting things evolve organically, rather than deciding for the fans who the next big thing is going to be that month. In general, fans just want to cheer and boo for good wrestlers, with fun characters they can get behind/against. It's not a hard process. WWE just needs consistency.

Let Kofi go out there with Evan Bourne and Tyson Kid and various members of the Shield, and Daniel Bryan, and The Usos. Let him just wrestle for the sake of wrestling, instead of always feeding a heel. Simple.

 

[Dagger Dias]

There are three different routes that they can take with Kofi. All of which lead to success, all of which are doable should WWE decide to go in that direction.

King of the Midcard
This is the most likely of the three routes. Kofi has already held both the Intercontinental and United States Championships before. He can get the crowd excited during a title defense and he has the skills to deserve holding either belt again. They would not have to change a thing about him, he could be fighting for the midcard belts for the rest of his career and be 100% believable in the role. It would be exciting although some of Kofi's fans want to see him further up the card than this.

More Giant Pennies!
Kofi had an awesome run as part of Air Boom. If WWE brings back this team, or places Kofi in a similar team, then you have your top face tag team. They could be the focal point that the division will need once The Shield inevitably move on. The Rhodes Brothers will eventually move on too. Kofi and Bourne (or a similar tag team partner) could be the mainstays that the division could be centered around. Put them in a feud with The Real Americans where they can steal the show!

Kofi Kingston - World Champion
Yes, it CAN happen. The lack of the World Heavyweight Championship will make it even tougher for Kofi to grab the brass ring but it can be done. They need to bring back the Kofi that we saw during the Randy Orton feud in 2009. The aggression and anger that we saw when he destroyed Orton's car showed a different side of Kofi. That Kofi can main event, the Kofi we have seen for 90% of his career will not. Especially not now that we only have one world title again. Being happy and doing cool maneuvers in the ring can only get you so far. It can be done if WWE let him show his more aggressive side and allowed him to show what he can truly do. If Punk and Bryan can do win the WWE Championship, then with the right push so can Kofi. I highly doubt it would happen though sadly.

 

[Mcase7187]

Every is saying Kofi "doesn't have it" but yet when he had that feud with orten a few yrs ago everyone thought he was great till orten became a baby and said he didn't want to work with him anymore so he got tossed to the back of the line I think a good heel run would do him good

 

[Vance Ryan]

No I think it's cuz he's black to be honest I do not see anything wrong with the guy he has decent mic skills he's amazing in the ring. Like wake up people how many wwe champions other than the rock have been wwe champion( not wwe world champ). I believe this if dolph can get a run kofi can because really think about this what is the difference between them minus the gimmick. Thank you

 

[Raptor93]

Its simple. Keep doing what hes doing. He gets the crowd a bit pumped and puts on some good spots but essentially hes a stepping stone not quite a zack ryder jobber but not like beating a cody rhodes ether, so when you have a heel you who needs more then a jobber win but you dont want to damage any of your current solid mid carders you bring kofi out.

 

[Mark Henry's Beard]

What Kofi have you guys been watching? "He's fine just where he is". Bullshit. He was twice as over two or three years ago. His character has stagnated and even the casual fans know it. Seven years and literally the only character development he's had is "Well, he's not really Jamaican".

I'm not saying Kofi should be a main eventer. That ship has probably sailed and I'm not sure Kofi ever had what it took to be a player on that scale. But he's certainly capable of more than what he is: a pleasantly generic babyface with 10 absolutely forgettable and meaningless mid-card title reigns for himself.

I could personally couldn't care less if Kofi ever shows up on my screen again and that's not on Kofi. That's on creative.

 

[enviousdominous]

Being an acceptable member of the top card requires that you be accepted by two malcontent entities; you have to be universally accepted by the crowd and you have to have the full faith of WWE management. Earning the crowd is a matter of having every part of your body language screaming out to them that you are 100% living a gimmick that they're genuinely interested in. Earning the faith of WWE management is a matter of making their coffee perfectly and not spilling it on them.

First off; whatever Kofi ends up doing in terms of the next chapter of his character's career, he needs to live the role of someone from Ghana. Just basically have him go out there in a track suit and have him speak in a very eloquent manner, done. Ghanese pride themselves on being intellectuals, I've met a few.

If I was a writer for the WWE and they dropped a folder in my lap titled "Plan for Kofi's Main Event Push", here's what I would do:

The fans are groaning with frustration as Natalya and Tamina have just arrived to the ring to compete in a sing-off, Lawler is standing in the ring with his shit eating grin and a microphone. Kofi's new theme hits the speakers, something like "Hate me now" by Nas. Kofi, wearing a dark track suit and sunglasses, enters the ring and stomps right up to Lawler before knocking him down with a right hook. Lawler stares up at Kofi in disbelief and Kofi snatches the microphone from him. Kofi cuts an angry promo about how he's given years of blood sweat and tears for a company that just wants to promote something as stupid as a sing-off.

With the World Cup approaching, Kofi wears jackets promoting the Ghana Black Stars. Kofi rips on the US soccer team, in doing so he might refer to it as football and if they give him the time on the mic he could cut a promo on the stupidity of the American definition of football.

To set up a fued; perhaps Kofi makes mention of Ghana being the superior African nation and that it's reputation is dragged down by inferior nations like Ethiopia. Big E comes out proudly sporting his pride of his Ethiopian heritage. Obviously most crowds are too apathetic toward African politics to get too deep into a fued like this, but at least it's something plausible.

Nobody has used a megaphone in a long time in pro-wrestling. Perhaps Kofi develops into the character of an angry zealot on behalf of his deserving a higher spot on the card. He barks his esoteric idioms and declares himself something of a pious spokesperson unto those who WWE management abandoned.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Kofi seems destined for the middle, not that there's anything wrong with that. He has his own style of wrestling and performs it very well. He seems the perfect good guy because we've never seen anything else from him. As a reward for his continual good performance, he gets an occasional push to championship status..... but only mid-card titles since he's never appeared to be big enough, fierce enough, or interesting enough to contend for a major championship.

The thing with Kofi is: he's never involved in storylines, at least none I can recall. Creative hasn't been instructed to build anything around Kofi; he just goes out there and wrestles.

Fans seem to like him, and I presume management does, too. That's all Kofi needs to carve out a nice middle-of-the-road career.

 

[Da Solo]

First off; whatever Kofi ends up doing in terms of the next chapter of his character's career, he needs to live the role of someone from Ghana. Just basically have him go out there in a track suit and have him speak in a very eloquent manner, done. Ghanese pride themselves on being intellectuals, I've met a few.

I'm not against it, but ever since the Natio proposal from Elijah Burke back in the day, WWE seems a bit scared to try any African nationalist kind of gimmick because it will more than likely lead to something racial. Not because it has to, but because it's what has happened before, and Creative honestly isn't skilled enough to book around that.

If I was a writer for the WWE and they dropped a folder in my lap titled "Plan for Kofi's Main Event Push", here's what I would do:

The fans are groaning with frustration as Natalya and Tamina have just arrived to the ring to compete in a sing-off, Lawler is standing in the ring with his shit eating grin and a microphone. Kofi's new theme hits the speakers, something like "Hate me now" by Nas. Kofi, wearing a dark track suit and sunglasses, enters the ring and stomps right up to Lawler before knocking him down with a right hook. Lawler stares up at Kofi in disbelief and Kofi snatches the microphone from him. Kofi cuts an angry promo about how he's given years of blood sweat and tears for a company that just wants to promote something as stupid as a sing-off.

Miz already used Hate Me Now, but I like the idea for the theme. He needs a new one badly. But no one is touching Lawler after the heart attack, and no one should.

With the World Cup approaching, Kofi wears jackets promoting the Ghana Black Stars. Kofi rips on the US soccer team, in doing so he might refer to it as football and if they give him the time on the mic he could cut a promo on the stupidity of the American definition of football.

To set up a fued; perhaps Kofi makes mention of Ghana being the superior African nation and that it's reputation is dragged down by inferior nations like Ethiopia. Big E comes out proudly sporting his pride of his Ethiopian heritage. Obviously most crowds are too apathetic toward African politics to get too deep into a fued like this, but at least it's something plausible.

Perfect idea considering Americans already hate soccer, but you were right: Americans would be hard pressed to be fully invested in a battle between 2 African nations, or any 2 nations that don't involve the US somehow. Big E. in there is reaching too much. Sure, he wears the lion, but I'm willing to bet few in the crowd know what it means, and I doubt WWE would just up and make him an African out of nowhere for one feud.

Don't get me wrong though, I really love the gist of this plan.

 

[Jay Jayerson]

There are 3 things a wrestler needs to be successful. The Look. The Moves. The Promos.

Now Kofi Kingston has "The Moves" in spades. This guy legitimately flies around the ring and long time fans know it. Dude did the handstand walk to keep from being eliminated at the Rumble. We all know Kofi is capable of giving us great spots and this is the one thing that has kept him employed.

The look. Well he doesnt look bad per say. But unfortunately the look is a big part of the "it factor". Some people just command attention when they walk in a room. Kofi does not. So I wouldn't call his look a negative, but it isnt much of a positive either.

The promos. Im pretty sure anyone reading this already knows that Kofi kingston does not have a history of cutting promos that really excite people. In fact they almost never let the guy speak because he isnt much of a speaker. Of the 3 qualities this is the only one where he is in the negatives. He talks so little that fans are aware of it.

So in general if you break it down into these 3 categories. You will realize most top superstars today only have 2 of the 3. And thats fine. I would go so far as to say its the minimum required to be a star in fact.

Now looking at recent history, I would say WWE is very much aware of this. Hence the somewhat recent change back to leggings over shorts (I preferred the shorts personally).

But the real question you are asking here is where does he go from here? Me personally. I get the impression Kofi is a bit of the quiet type in real life. That doesn't necessarily mean he never talks. But he is used to taking a back seat in conversations and letting the people who want to run their mouths do it. If I really wanted to do my best to turn Kofi into a main event player. I would give him a gimmick where he has to wear a suit. Turn him heel. Make him like an evil business man or something. Maybe a "hitman for hire". Other heels can pay him to do run ins. Have him screw a few of the main event players and see if it picks up.

Either way, I respect what Kofi does in the ring, and wish him all the best of luck.

 

[kadroan]

Kofi just doesn't have IT....He's just like Shelton Benjamin, amazing in the ring, awful every place else.
Only certain small guys have IT.....Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan....the rest of the small guys on the roster like the Tyson Kidds of the world, is where Kofi belongs. They are the type of guy that can start off the show on a good note and get the crowd going and get ready for the rest of the show...They're not main event material.
Guys like Punk and Bryan are the exception because they can hang with anyone in the ring and they have so much charisma they stand out amongst a ramp of people (like on Raw when they clearly wanted Bryan and no one else when they were all on the ramp). You need to stand out in the wrestling business...there are already enough ring technicians.

Yeah, I could see it. He is kind of bland. I wonder what he be like if he had a manager like Heyman talk for him if he turned heel. Him and Punk would have been an interesting feud. I believe I read before they are road buddies.

 

[kumarjtk]

kofi is a mid card wrestler, wwe used him as a baby face for marketing their products in his country, he wins atleast 2 titles per year and a mid card fued with his tag team partner. I even doubt him as a heel.