The Curious Case of Kofi Kingston

[Froggy]

Been watching a few WWE DVD's recently on Netflix, and what struck me about these guys was that they all had a couple of things in common with one another. They all developed their characters multiple times in their careers, and they all had an unquenchable thirst to be the man in pro-wrestling.

Kofi Kingston to me is lacking both those attributes.

I like Kofi as a performer, and I think he could potentially handle himself well enough on the mic for that side of things not to be an impediment to his potential, so what gives? He's athletic, mobile, can work many match styles IMO and has a moveset the fans at least enjoy.

Yet; He's been stagnant for so, so long. You know preciesly what you're gonna get from him, whether it be as a mid-card success-story with a belt, whether it be as a sacrificial jobber to somebody getting a push, or whether it be in tag-team competition.

Even so, I'm sure the majority of us will remember the impetus he had in his cool feud with Orton, and his Boom Drop in MSG. He proved, in theory and in practice...he has the ability to go to the next level.

Yet...there's been nothing but faffing since then IMO. Is it that he's happy with his role in the company, happy beneath this glass ceiling, a potentially self imposed glass ceiling? Has he, for example, ever battered down the boss' door and suggested turning himself heel, insisting he's called, 'Kingston' from now on and at least trying that?

Right now, I think he's destined to continue to drift to the end of his contract and then disappear without trace or fanfare. For me; that's a waste of a talent. Is he to blame? Are the bookers? Is he in fact maximising the talent he has?

Thoughts?

[Todd]

I don't rate him, I'll preface this post by saying that.

He has likeability in his demeanour, bordering on charisma. He is fantastically athletic.

He does not sell well in layers. He sells impact pretty well, but not fatigue, not injury, not struggle in my view. His offence is very weak looking, which is a shame at it is very cool looking. When you put him in there with someone like Ziggler, that's a stroke of genius because Kofi's athleticism looks like it packs a punch. However, the roster is not full of Zigglers. As a result, too often he doesn't look like a heavyweight contender. And I've always said, to make it as a top guy when you're seen as that much of an underdog and that much of a small man, you need to be very, very good to get around it - Jericho, Bryan, Mysterio, Guerrero, Michaels, etc.

Kofi is not of that quality, and is destined to be mid-card fodder for the rest of his career IMO.

[Froggy]

Good points well made.

Do you think though that he has even tried to right those wrongs though, Todd? You can't be the only one to have those reservations about him, so I'd like to think he knows about them. What has he done in the past five years to try and better himself in those aspects? Why has his selling not improved? Why has he not altered his move set to make it look harder hitting? Is Kofi just accepting the average, and if so; is that acceptable?

I am old school in that I believe if you're in WWE, your main goal, your main focus and your main motivating factor is to be WWE Champion. Regardless of theatricies, showmanship, politics, height, weight etc - that should be true for all competitors IMO. I don't believe Kofi has bothered working on his shortcomings to ever know if he could have attained that goal, and for me; that's not good enough. Right now I agree with Todd that he's destined for mediocrity and nomansland. However, I do think he should be doing everything in his power to attempt to change how I (and IMO many others) perceive him.

We know he can do this stuff (as he's been doing exactly this for years) - so show us if you can do something else. Even if it fails - at least try.

[Falcone]

Orton killed his career.

We all know how Vince works. One VInce gets it into his head you can't main event, you'll never main event, unless your name is Chris Jericho and you're just that damn good that he has to change his mind.

[BigRed]

Kofi's just there. He's basically a good mid-card role guy. He's not particularly memorable, IMO nor is he a detriment, as he can help guys get to that next level. He's neutral, boring, safe, and maybe, getting at Froggy's point, perhaps he's okay with being that role guy. Does that make him complacent or satisfied? A thin line for sure.

I know it gets looked down upon to think of a heel turn as the solution, but I dig the idea, Froggy, of a heel turn for Kofi where he goes by just "Kingston." Character-wise, that's a nice change of pace and may make a difference towards being known as merely a mid-card role guy. Of course, he has to do something about his in-ring skills...

[Todd]

Steve Austin and Jim Ross, among other respected voices within the business, claim it is a major problem, arguably the single biggest problem in the company/business today - the complacency of the roster and the lack of ambition in comparison to the Attitude era. I do think this business has a place for those who will never make it to the top. However, I have to agree with you - there is no place for those who don't want to make it to the top.

I don't think Kofi is being pushed by anyone (and by pushed, I mean in the encouragement sense, not the wrestling-politics sense). I think management is more than happy that they have a mid-card guy with a good fanbase and good heat, that seems on the face of it to be a very nice guy, as someone they can use to promote more important talent or perhaps fill a spot on a show. It's fine that they are satisfied with this, but Kofi shouldn't be.

[Froggy]

I mean, he may be totally cool with it. I'm sure the kids love it when his music hits and he probably sells a bit of merchandise as well. I could see why he'd be a young kid's favourite wrestler, genuinely. He may be absolutely fine with working the same style with the same guys every week, and the office may be fine with that, too. The mid card will always exist, right? I don't know, I just think that that attitude...if he has it...just isn't good enough. You've gotta want that top spot with everything you have if you're gonna get it, and in the role he's in now - that just cannot happen. He needs to want change and insist on it (not publicly like Punk, that's not what I mean) - I'm not convinced he wants it, nor has asked about it.

Hey, maybe he'll write a book about his career one day and I can find out. It'd be on page 4.

Page 1: Getting my break in WWE
Page 2: Orton feud
Page 3: Rest of WWE career
Page 4: Was I happy with how it went (yes)

[Falcone]

I do agree with the points you make. It's good to see guys like Jack Swagger will stand up and say something like "Hey, I can be of use to you, give me a shot, if not, I'm gone." More guys need to nut up and say this to Vince. I mean, Jericho did it, and it bought him another month as Undisputed Champion.

[Todd]

Punk is a good example because like what he did or not, he took a chance and gave it one last shot at becoming a top guy. And he had his Austin 3:16 moment. 18 months later, he's the longest reigning WWE champion of the modern era, headlining PPVs with the Rock. He had courage, he had ambition, he had drive. HE is what Steve Austin and Jim Ross are talking about.

[T-Money]

And Kingston was there with him through all of that if we go by Punk's DVD. They were on the road together when Punk was going through that whole phase so for us to question Kofi's desire - he's seen it happen to his contemporaries. Wouldn't he want to make it as well?

[Falcone]

Thats a good point. It does no good to sit there and complain about not getting a shot (unless you're Ryder, but we're not getting into that), you should be either demanding a shot, or making your own shot. Hell, look at Del Rio. He's on the main roster, a 2 time WWE Champion, Royal Rumble Winner, World Champion and is heading into one of the main events of Wrestlemania, all because back in FCW, he stood up and said "Hey, either put me on the road or fire me already!"

[Todd]

Thats a good point. It does no good to sit there and complain about not getting a shot (unless you're Ryder, but we're not getting into that), you should be either demanding a shot, or making your own shot. Hell, look at Del Rio. He's on the main roster, a 2 time WWE Champion, Royal Rumble Winner, World Champion and is heading into one of the main events of Wrestlemania, all because back in FCW, he stood up and said "Hey, either put me on the road or fire me already!"

Exactly.

It applies to Swagger too.

[Froggy]

Yeah. Lots of good posts from you all there. As I said, I don't know this has anything to do with Kofi being complacent. What I do know though is that Punk, Jericho, Edge and Steve Austin (they were the DVD's I watched btw) all worked, scratched and fought their way into contention...but they also changed their characters many times over. They took chance after chance to get / stay fresh / current. Jericho said he would beg Bischoff before Nitro for a 30 second promo slot after his match. IMO I can't imagine Kofi ever doing that, but of course; it's nothing more than my opinion having watch him churn out the same stuff for all this time.

Swagger's a good example, and so is ADR as well. Cool choices guys.

[BigRed]

I do agree with the points you make. It's good to see guys like Jack Swagger will stand up and say something like "Hey, I can be of use to you, give me a shot, if not, I'm gone." More guys need to nut up and say this to Vince. I mean, Jericho did it, and it bought him another month as Undisputed Champion.

I dig this so much. Even though I'm not a Swagger fan, I respect the hell out of doing just this. Some guys just want it more.

[iron maiden]

Orton killed his career.

We all know how Vince works. One VInce gets it into his head you can't main event, you'll never main event, unless your name is Chris Jericho and you're just that damn good that he has to change his mind.

You can only blame Orton and Vince so long for his short comings. He has been given more chances than most and is still seen on Tv more than most BUT as talented as he is, he is still missing something.

I have seen him live many times and while his posts and athleticism are indeed impressive and he can make the crowd 'ooh' and 'ahh' with some of his spots, he still doesn't know how to hone his character. He hasn't made the majority of the audience want to get behind him past seeing a few cool spots. His character is just a fun guy doing fun things in the ring but theres no story there. There's no plight or fight. He comes out, he does his thing and that's Kofi and frankly, that's not enough to be champion.

[Lony]

I'm a big fan of Kofi Kingston and well I'd like to see him in the main-event picture, there's nothing wrong with being in the midcard/upper midcard occasionally challenging for the WWE/World heavyweight title in big matches like the Elimination Chamber.

[iron maiden]

True enough, Lony. I mean who knows, maybe he's happy this way being no more than a good worker, who can work great matches and entertain the audience. Maybe he's happy with that and if he is, good for him. Any company needs those kind of workers.

[Michinokudriver]

Kofi doesn't have the best position on the roster, but it's certainly a comfortable one. He gets a little time for guaranteed highlights at the Rumble and in ladder matches, he's a fairly solid merch seller and basically dude's got a job for life unless he screws it up.

If he wants to move up, then all the weaknesses others have mentioned come to the forefront. (I was never as impressed by that Orton-car-destroying promo as everyone else seemed to be. He was comfortable on the mic; competent and effective but not good enough to put him on the map.) If he goes heel, then there goes his merchandise. It's a very very calculated risk and I wouldn't blame him if he's comfortable where he is.

[UltimateSavior]

I've said it before in another Kofi-oriented thread, but I believe he's perfect where he's at. It's a pretty decent position for someone like him: the pure athlete.

Solid performer but not an actor, and there's nothing wrong with that. He's done pretty well in the spot he has.

[MKPunk]

Kofi's closest chance was the Orton feud. He was put on a stage and given a shot and whether it was Orton crapping on him or what (I haven't seen any of this) Kofi is still in the RVD spot where he is the guy that pulls off the amazing spots but not much more. I think Kofi could be a decent World champion but not a WWE guy unless he shocks me and alot of other people as well.

[Mercury]

I would not turn Kofi heel. Here are the five things I would to transform Kofi Kingston into a legend:

1. As mentioned above, he is no longer Kofi Kingston. He is simply Kingston, and with such a name comes the regal bearing of a king.

2. Shave his head or cut his hair really short.

3. Give him a pointy goatee.

4. Tweak his moveset to where he maintains his speed and agility, but is more cunning and methodical.

5. Make him WWE's version of the legendary Marvel superhero Black Panther with an outfit similar to this:

[Murphy]

my nephew loves the guy...he doesn't really care about him main eventing or lingering in mid-card land...he just likes the guy and gets excited for his matches.

I personally don't care for the guy, me's mid grade talent....and he's got weird pecs.

[Ice]

I Agree with a lot of the things said in this thread. I do. But I dont like the idea of saying Kofi doesn't t have the drive to make it to the top, or is fine where he's at. How can we ever really say that for sure? Yes not much has changed since he got here but I dont think that automatically means he's not trying or doesn't want it.

And to me, 5 years really isnt that long. Lets say he busts through to the main event this year and stays there for the remainder of hos career. Would we really, truly, be able to say that it took a long time? Correct me if im wrong here bu five years in the midcard isn't ridiculous to me.

[TempestH]

Orton killed his career.

We all know how Vince works. One VInce gets it into his head you can't main event, you'll never main event, unless your name is Chris Jericho and you're just that damn good that he has to change his mind.

Orton didn't bury Kofi

Orton is in the dog house right now. If Orton buried Kofi, they would be pushing him right now simply because Orton's opinion doesn't matter anymore.

[KLockard23]

Kingston to me belongs in the mid-card division. Why? I'm trying to picture him in promos with Cena and Punk and even Rock (hey, no one ever thought Punk would face Rock either, did they?) and I just don't see it. He hasn't got an ounce of the charisma required that would make me think he could headline against these guys and keep people interested.

People need to just accept that wrestling isn't about 'paying your dues' or what you supposedly deserve because of how long you've been on the roster. It's about drawing money and I'm not convinced Kofi could do that in a top spot. At the very least, there are others who are just as good or better choices as future main event players, so that only pushes Kofi further down the list for me. At best, he'd only end up as WHC anyway, and we all know that's pretty much the modern day Intercontinental Title. The WWE Title is the only "world" title that actually feels like one.