Eleven Years: Kofi Kingston’s Unique Journey to the Top
Deon Egenti
If you had told me five years ago, three years ago, or even a year ago that Kofi Kingston would become WWE champion at Wrestlemania, I would’ve called you a liar. I probably would have to eat those words later on, but I wouldn’t mind it because of how important the moment was. Prior to the beginning of 2019, the Ghanian-born wrestler Kofi Kingston had pretty much done it all in the WWE. He is a 4-time Intercontinental champion, a 3-time United States champion, a multi-time tag team champion, and is a part of one of the most popular tag teams of the decade “The New Day.” The New Day consists of Kofi Kingston, Big E., and Xavier Woods. They have won multiple championships together, created incredible TV moments, and they have their own cereal box called “Booty-O’s.”
However, with all the Hall of Fame accomplishments under his belt, it always seemed that Kofi Kingston would never reached that brass ring. It always felt like Kofi Kingston would never climb that mountain. It just seemed like it was never meant to be and I guess people, including myself, were okay with that.
Then February 12th, 2019 happened…
On that episode of Smackdown, Kofi Kingston replaced Mustafa Ali to compete in the WWE championship Elimination Chamber match due to Ali suffering an injury. I’m going to be completely honest. I don’t think anyone thought much of it. Injuries happen all the time. Kofi will enter the match at Elimination Chamber and probably get eliminated first or second. Nothing to see here, right? Wrong. Later on that night, Kofi Kingston entered a gauntlet match in which you have to last as long as you can until you get beaten by an opponent. Keep in mind: Kofi Kingston has always been a great wrestler, but I don’t believe anyone expected to see what we saw that night. On February 12th, 2019, we saw Kofi Kingston put on the greatest performance of his life at that point. He lasted over an hour amongst some of the greats of the wrestling business. Although he didn’t win that gauntlet match, we knew we saw something special that night. The fans gave him a standing ovation while chanting his name as he exited the stage. You could feel the energy of that crowd. They were behind Kofi. They were behind Kofi so much that the idea of him winning the championship didn’t see so far-fetched anymore. It felt believable. It felt possible.
Kofi Kingston didn’t end up winning the Elimination Chamber match, but his performance in that match was just as spectacular. At that point, we were hooked. We wanted to see Kofi win the championship on the biggest stage of wrestling: Wrestlemania. The hashtag #KOFIMANIA was being used every time Kofi popped up on our TV screens. Following the weeks to Wrestlemania, Kofi and his partners the New Day would be put through multiple obstacles to not only put Kofi down, but to see if he really deserved the title match. Every single time they would step up to the plate and every single time the fans were behind them. Ultimately a week before Wrestlemania, the fans got what they wanted. Kofi Kingston was going to have a championship match against Daniel Bryan on the grandest stage of them all.
It’s Wrestlemania. April 7th, 2019. The match is set. The fans are feeling it, I’m feeling it (as I was watching the match with my Kofi Kingston shirt), and Kofi is feeling it. KOFIMANIA signs are all over the arena. The crowd is cheering his name as he makes his way towards the ring. You feel like a proud family member that is watching your child take that long walk to get their diploma. However, that long walk Kofi takes to the ring consists of time as a fan to doubt. Are they going to make the right move? Are they really going to let Kofi win or are they luring us in for disappointment? If you’ve been a WWE fan as long as I have, you’ve been disappointed by this company at some point of your life based on booking decisions. You’ve seen this story before. They could very well flip the switch if they wanted to. The bell rings and your heart is racing after every move is being made. Near fall after near fall. Finisher after finisher. The crowd is on their feet. I’m on my feet. Is he going to do it? Could he be making history in front of our very eyes? 23 minutes later and the ref goes down for the count. 1.. 2… 3. The match was over. It had finally happened.
The crowd stood up, my sisters stood up, and I stood up. Everyone is screaming and crying tears of joy. Kofi Kingston had finally reached the mountain top. He finally could say that he became WWE Champion at Wrestlemania. As an Nigerian who is a fan of the WWE, you don’t get too many moments like this. Someone that has the same color as you and looks like you is holding the most important title of that industry. I have goosebumps just explaining this feeling. It felt organic. It felt important. It gave other black wrestlers hope that it could be you holding that championship one day. Kofi represents people like that. Kofi represents people like me. This moment was Kofi cementing his legacy. This moment was Kofi proving to all the naysayers that it could be done. This moment was Kofi telling us that hard work pays off no matter how long it takes. Eleven years and it was worth every single second. Thank you Kofi.
