What Would You Do? #1 - Kofi Kingston

[BigBombB]

The first in a series of threads that asks you "What would you do if you were in charge of handling this superstar's future?" All you need to do is answer the following questions:

01. Push or Bury?
02. Revamp or Continue (their current character)?
03. How would you book them?

I'll start!

01. Push

02. Revamp

03. Kofi, the midcard hero, begins teaming with Daniel Bryan to support him in his fight against the authority. Then, in a complete 180, Kofi hits Bryan with a Trouble in Paradise during an important championship match and costs him the victory. Kofi says that Daniel Bryan isn't downtrodden, Daniel Bryan has been handed opportunity after opportunity while Kofi has been forgotten at the bottom of the card. Kofi says that Daniel Bryan isn't an underdog, he is simply in the way of stars like himself getting the spotlight they deserve. It is revealed that Kofi has nothing to do with the authority, he has simply lost his patience and is acting of his own accord. A longterm, heavy hitting feud develops over the coming months, treating Bryan as a top star trying to prove his worth against a "new" Kofi Kingston who realizes this may be his last chance to hit it big.

Now the important question, what would YOU do?

 

[TheOneAndOnlyGOAT]

Keep him in the mid card.

Kofi will probably go down in history as the most underrated talent ever.

I really hate WWE for this.

 

[MoxleyCrue]

Keep him in the mid card.

Kofi will probably go down in history as the most underrated talent ever.

I really hate WWE for this.

In terms of in-ring performance, I would agree he is one of the most underrated, however I've never found his personality to be that interesting. Maybe it's the way he's booked, or the character he's given, but I've never felt compelled when watching a Kofi promo/interview.

I think there are better talents out there than Kofi like Ricochet, who unfortunately probably won't even get a WWE slot, let alone a push. Hope I'm wrong.

Edit:

I'd keep Kofi going as is. I've not seen anything promo/character wise that shows he deserves anything more than an IC slot.

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

Seriously. Where are the mods for threads like this? This has been done over and over and over again. Especially with Kofi, Wade Barrett and Drew Mcintyre. Anyways to avoid being given an infraction, I will answer your questions.

1.) Push as the cruiserweight champ in the long rumored cruiserweight program on the WWE network

2.) Revamp as the arrogant champ who refuses to fight his competiton then when finally put into a match use all forms of cheating to win (i.e. Magnus in TNA)

3.) Tournament is set to crown a new cruiserweight champ. Kofi makes the finals vs Rey Mysterio. Mysterio pops Kofi with the 619 for the clean victory. Kofi snaps and decimates Rey. The back and forth continues for weeks with Kofi constantly humiliating Rey, until the rematch happens. Kofi wins by some sort of interference. Bam, Kofi is officially heel, yet maintains his ridiculous high flying persona

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I wouldn't do much more with them then what they are doing and have done in the past. I don't see a heel turn in his future because he would have to change his style. Kofi is one of those midcard level guys who can have the occasional good match here and there. There's nothing wrong with being mainly in the midcard for an entire career. Wrestlers with similar careers have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'm not saying Kofi is a Hall of Famer but he has had a decent amount of success for someone who's been in the WWE for a relatively short period of time.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

01. Push or Bury?

Give him a slight push to upper mid-card after Mania

02. Revamp or Continue (their current character)?

Revamp. Besides maybe a guy like Cena or Mysterio, Kofi easily has to be one of the most stale characters in the entire company right now. I really like the full tights look on him that he debuted last year & he is seemingly trying to add even more cool moves to his already really solid move-set. His only big issues are promo work & charcter work.

03. How would you book them?

I hate to go with the easy IWC answer for everything but I think it might be time to turn him heel. Unless the WWE decided to give a HUGE push & a world title, he isn't going anywhere as a babyface. Here is how I would book Kofi's initial heel turn:
- Wrestlemania XXX: Kofi takes part in the Andre the Giant Battel Royal, does some cool tricks as usual & even reunites the team of Kofi & R-Truth with Xaiver Woods helping out as well.
- Extreme Rules: For the Pre-Show, Kofi, Truth & Woods team up to take on 3MB in some sort of PG version of an "extreme rules" 6-man tag team match, I'd even make it tornado tag as well.
- Payback: In the opening match, Kofi, Truth & Woods continue their 6-Man partnership & take on the newly formed heel faction of The Disgruntled Guys (Dolph Ziggler, The Miz & Zack Ryder).
- Money In The Bank: Then at MitB, since there is only one world title now I would book a 2nd ladder match full of teams like Kofi/Truth/Woods, Miz/Ziggler/Ryder, Rybaxel, 3MB, Los Matadores, etc. & have them fight for a contract for the tag titles instead. & in that match I would have Kofi turn on Truth & Woods & completely destory them with aerial moves & ladders.
- Battleground: After weeks of explaining how he always hated Truth for the Little Jimmy B.S. & resents Woods for being Truth's new protege, Kofi faces Woods at Battleground & gets a decisive victory.
- Summerslam: This leads to a big No DQ match between Truth & Kingston for the opening match at Summerslam. The video package could include their entire history including when they retained the tag titles at Summerslam just years ago together all the way up until the current program of Kofi vicously attacking Truth & calling him a lunatic.

I think that could be a really solid program & once & for all give the details needed to the powers that be on whether or not Kofi could make it as a heel & possibly move on to bigger & better things.

 

[ADLegend21]

1.) Push
2.) slightly revamp
3.) Booking:
Kofi defeated Randy Orton clean which usually gets a title shot when you pin a champion, but it was after the Royal Rumble so the main event was set. Bryan (presuming there's no swerve this time and he wins the title) is going to be a fighting champion and agrees to fight Kofi, with the title on the line, but have Bryan think Kofi's not ready yet. sort of similar to the Edge Jeff Hardy feud. Kofi does highlight reel things to stay in the Rumble, doesn't win it. as great moments in Money in the Bank, doesn't win it. He's flash not substance. that of course pisses Kofi off and in the build up he beats some top contenders to get Bryan to take him completely seriously. They have he match after Orton's rematch at like Payback and it's a 45 minute classic with Bryan ducking a SECOND trouble in paradise in the Knee+/Busaiku knee to retain.

The next month Kofi rides that momentum into winning Money in the Bank. In a sad, come full circle kinda deal, he cashes on on Daniel at Summerslam and cuts a promo on how He's following in the footsteps of Ron Simmons and Mark Henry to become the next African American World champion and how he worked hard and kept his focus on getting better and he and Bryan have some great return matches culminating at Survivor series in like a 2 out of 3 falls match where Bryan regains the title for next years Mania season.

The title pictures stays fresh and it rewards Kofi for all the work he's done and the time he's put into improving.

 

[resignedknight]

For one thing can we please get rid of the black Jamaican guy cultural stereotype as his gimmick? The WWE desperately needs to stop falling back on these cliches--see Alexander Rusev. There's absolutely no need for this limited and lazy booking. Rusev isn't Drago, and Kofi is unlikely to have been on the Jamaican bobsled team, since he's from Ghana.

 

[enviousdominous]

1. PUSH!!

2. CONTINUE!!

5. LOUD NOISES!!

Whew. Well, with the prospect of Daniel Bryan being the next guy at the top becoming a more plausible reality every day, it thus seems more likely that guys like Kofi will get their opportunity to main event in an attempt to win the world heavyweight championship.

On RAW after Daniel Bryan became the WWE WHC, Daniel is walking proudly through the back stage when he's met by Kofi. Kofi shakes his hand and asks if he can hold the belts for a second, Daniel obliges. Kofi notes how good the look, but says that they look a lot better on Daniel and hands them back. Kofi notes how things seem to be changing for the better since Daniel became champ, and Daniel notes that in his humble opinion nobody is a more impressive athlete than Kofi Kingston. Kofi thanks him and they part ways.

That night on RAW there's a battle royal main event to determine the number one contender for Daniel Bryan's championship. Kofi is almost eliminated twice, but pulls of his usual over the top theatrics. At one point Kofi lands on the shoulders of a ref after a near elimination, the ref wobbles to and fro under Kofi's weight, keeping the audience gasping and he eventually puts Kofi back in the match. R-Truth is eliminated, but sticks around to argue with the refs. The last two men are Kofi and Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns throws Kofi out and celebrates, but Kofi is caught by R-Truth and put back in the match. Kofi eliminates Roman Reigns and is the new number one contender for the WHC at Extreme Rules. R-Truth enters the ring and embraces Kofi, Daniel comes to the ring and congratulates Kofi. RAW closes with all three men raising each other's hands in victory.

The build for Extreme Rules is that R-Truth announces in a promo that his good friend Kofi is going to be the next WHC, and that he's very excited to know that he'll be the first one to get a title shot after that happens. Kofi seems hesitant at the idea of giving R-Truth a title shot, suggesting that R-Truth would need to get in line. Kofi has a match against John Cena prior to Extreme Rules, and the two men put on a barn burner. Through the match, John's knee gets twisted taking a bad bump. John insists on fighting on, despite Kofi pleading with him to get help for his knee. The two men continue the match, Kofi deliberately avoids attacking the knee. John attempts the AA, but can't hold the weight of Kofi with a bad knee and collapses. R-Truth comes down to the ring. Kofi hits trouble in paradise and goes for the pin, John puts his foot on the ropes. R-Truth pushes John's foot off the rope and pulls the ring rope back. Kofi is declared the winner.

R-Truth goes into the ring and congratulates Kofi once again. Daniel Bryan comes down to the ring with an angry face and explains to Kofi what happened. R-Truth admits what he did, but protests that he did it for Kofi. Kofi storms out of the ring, and R-Truth attacks Daniel Bryan leaving him laying in the ring. Kofi doesn't look back while he leaves. R-Truth DDTs Daniel Bryan on a chair and grabs a mic. R-Truth shouts that as long as he's around, Kofi can't lose and that Daniel Bryan's days as champion are numbered.

At Extreme Rules, Kofi asks R-Truth to please stay away from the ring. R-Truth becomes upset and lashes out, saying that he's going to just go back to his hotel room then. R-Truth tells Kofi to think about all the success he's had recently, and that if he leaves then Kofi's chances of winning go with him.

Kofi and Daniel Bryan put on an epic match. The two trade high spots back and forth. Daniel Bryan eventually goes for the running knee, and Kofi rolls under him. R-Truth runs to the ring just as Kofi manages to hit Trouble in Paradise on Daniel Bryan. Kofi goes for the pin, but R-Truth grabs Daniel Bryan's foot and puts it on the ropes. The ref sees Daniel's foot on the ropes and breaks up the pin at 2, R-Truth plays innocent. Kofi flips out and tells R-Truth to get the Hell out of there, R-Truth puts his hands up and slowly backs away. Daniel Bryan waits until Kofi is ready again, and the two continue the match. Daniel Bryan eventually hits the running knee, and makes the pin.

Daniel Bryan and Kofi are absolutely gassed, they make it to their feet and shake hands, Kofi raises Daniel Bryan's hand. The next night on RAW, R-Truth says that he's the only reason Kofi ever made it to the big time and now he's going to be the only reason that Kofi never makes it there again. The two have a huge feud for the next couple PPVs.

 

[$Mr. 100%]

Honestly i never really liked kofi. N ring ability is ok at best as he just has aerial moves. His Mic work is terrible and him character bland. He has da look i say repackage him completely. He needs 2 add wrestling lives and not aerial moves. I can c him b more of a submission wrestler if he started 2 add a few submissions and holds. Also let him either turn heel or at least have an attitude. Im tired of seeing his happy go.lucky milk toast attitude. I would book him as a swarmy heel after this and have him elevate da midcard titles and if he is successful after that then maybe a main event run. If he however continues on this path then he is just a better koko b ware

 

[WarroBODFan]

I like seeing change, and seeing different guys get their shot, so I'd be happy to see Kofi have a climb up the card.

However, the reality suggests to me the WWE will keep him where he is. He still might get the occasional chance in a big match just to remind people he's still there (e.g. Elimination Chamber every so often), but he seems like he's the dependable guy who probably won't kick up a fuss backstage that he's not been given a real chance yet. I've never heard of any backstage stuff to suggest he's ever caused problems or thrown his toys out the pram. WWE are probably extremely comfortable having good ol' reliable Kofi as and when they need him. Whether it's to job for a new character, or hold a title as a stopgap while they actually think of something to do with it.

That's not me talking down Kofi either, he's a very dependable glue guy who's had a really solid career. Maybe he needs to throw a few tantrums backstage to get up higher on the card, I dunno. I wouldn't be against him getting involved in something for the WWE WHC title, even if it was just a one-time deal.

 

[Blade]

Are people really still clinging to the hope that Kofi Kingston will ever be anyone relevant?

Kofi is a good midcarder who features on WWE TV regularly, has won several midcard titles and seems to be well liked backstage. That's more than most people ever get. Let him stay there, make decent money and have a decent, albeit forgetful career.

Should Kofi be aiming for more? Sure. You should always be aiming for more. Will he ever get there? No. He's not good enough. The only time he ever came close was during his great feud with Orton back in 2011, but WWE chose to have Orton win that feud. I don't necessarily agree with it, but it happened.

Kofi, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes. That whole 2007-2009 generation has failed. Let's move on.

 

[oldschool26]

Kofi is exciting but its the same routine.
I don't like his rumble spots lol.
Its time to be a heel. Either tag with someone.
Or join the shield. Lets say wwe go with the triple threat
At mania. Have Ambrose turn on reigns and Rollins.
Mason Ryan, Cory graves,Mojo rawley,drew mcintyre and
Kofi Kingston as the new candidates.
After mania I myself would have Ambrose win money in the
Bank . Shield -ambrose,Ryan,McIntyre,Kingston,graves.
Ambrose Much better as a bossy leader. Have Kingston
Cost him the title to go face again. Other then that enjoy
Your mid card and rumble spot career

 

[Doctor Awesome]

He's a hard guy to turn heel and I'm sure that's everyone's first thought is "how do you do that"? His entire moveset (sans finisher) would have to change and he would have to be more of a sinister character than cocky. Maybe have a heel turn him heel. Beat him up and cut his dreads off and continually humiliate him until he turns to the darkside. haha Personally, I'd leave him just the way he is with the exception of his outfits.. They just look dumb and the dew rags suck.

 

[Kitten Cutter]

I'm sorry, but really?! That's everyone big push for Kofi? Turn him heel? That is just lame and lazy booking. There's a real way to push Kofi Kingston to the main event, and it just requires some long-term booking and story-telling. It doesn't even require a music change or a character change or even a name change.

First off, have him WIN matches! Have him be on RAW and just win matches. And like Bryan or Ziggler, put him in there for longer matches and against better opponents and have him win. Have him finally beat Del Rio. Have him not tap out to Jack Swagger or not get brutalized like Wade Barrett. Have him outsmart The Miz and move his way up in opponents and get actual feuds against upper card guys like Batista or Orton when they're not champion.

He doesn't need to win Money in the Bank, but the announcers can play up that he's building up lots of momentum and keeps getting wins until they don't even seem like upsets anymore. He just keeps on winning good matches until after Survivor Series when he wins a huge, decisive match and everyone is cheering like crazy.

After TLC, he submits his name for the Royal Rumble and starts cutting promos how he's been through a lot and he's ready to represent the WWE Universe as the first true African American WWE World Heavyweight Champion, to which a heel can scoff at the suggestion and laugh him off, as most probably would.

The Royal Rumble - Kofi comes in at a real early number, like #5, and he spends a good amount of the match looking good until someone big hurts him bad. He gets tossed over, only he finds an inventive way to say in. Nothing silly, but cool looking and unique. And this will be how it is the ENTIRE Royal Rumble. Kofi gets the shit kicked out of him, but he's resilient and keeps narrowly escaping getting thrown out or evades attempts. That's why it should be an early number; the crowd will start to realize, "holy shit, Kofi's been there a long time!" Even to the point where the final four is Kofi, another face, and two heels (let's say, as an example, it's Kofi, Sheamus, Batista and Dean Ambrose) The two heels lay to waste the other face, and they almost toss out Kofi, but one betrays the other and Kofi superkicks the other over the top rope. Crowd goes CRAZY because Royal Rumble crowds love two things: 1.) Dominant guys, and 2.) guys that survive a long time.

The road to Wrestlemania - Kofi is indeed the underdog, especially if the champion is someone bigger than him, while the promos don't need to be HHH-racist (like with Booker T), they can definitely hint toward a lack of respect to Kofi's size and ability. They could even let Kofi have another feud with someone trying to steal his spot, and have Kofi win a one-on-one match at Elimination Chamber to secure it.

Wrestlemania XXXI - The championship match is long and grueling. Kofi is beat down, bloody and looking despondent. The heel champion continually crushes him and tries to humiliate him, only Kofi resiliently comes back and breaks out a huge Wrestlemania moment, like a Shooting star Pres or a 450 Splash, something brand new no one has seen out of him, and he uses it to get 1-2-3 and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion!

That's what I miss about Wrestlemania: the guy who's never been a World Champion becoming one at the biggest stage of them all. And all it would take: some good old fashioned storytelling.