Is It Kofi Kingston’s Time to Shine?
The New Day should choose their veteran member to enter the Money in the Bank.
Xavier Woods recently responded to a fan’s tweet asking if he would make himself world champion if he had “all powers.” A silly premise, but Woods gave a serious (well, partially serious) answer.
Because I would be happier seeing @TrueKofi become heavyweight champion than I would be if I became heavyweight champion. He deserves it more than anyone on the roster. My dream as a child was to become King of The Ring. So we are trying to move to the UK for the tournament 🤣 https://t.co/cCwtB2X4O3
— Austin Creed (@XavierWoodsPhD) April 25, 2018
That’s right, Woods, the creator of the popular “UpUpDwnDwn” YouTube channel, one-third of The New Day and co-author of The Book of Booty, would rather see the veteran member of the group be the one to ascend to world championship glory. Woods may be a bit biased in pointing out that his friend and tag team partner “deserves it more than anyone on the roster,” but that is not a crazy claim, especially if Kofi Kingston’s career and accomplishments are properly examined.
At 36 years old, Kingston has been with the WWE main roster for just over ten years, debuting in 2008 for the ECW brand. Since his arrival, Kingston has accrued a tremendous number of championships, 14 in total. He has pretty much done it all: Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, Smackdown Tag Team Champion, and part of the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history. A Hall of Fame-caliber resume, but at the same time, it’s missing something that has alluded Kingston his entire career: a world title.
Kingston has never had a one-on-one match for the World Heavyweight Championship. An astonishing stat especially when we take into account that Jinder Mahal and Jack Swagger are former world champs. It’s disappointing because there was a time in Kingston’s career where it seemed as though he was well on his way to the top, and that was his feud with Randy Orton almost a decade ago.
On November 15, 2009, Raw was held at Madison Square Garden. Kingston stood atop a guardrail with the MSG crowd behind him, overlooking a prone Viper. Kingston made the biggest leap of his career delivering a Boom Drop to Orton as New York City roared. If Kingston could make it in the Garden, he could make it anywhere, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRfnGsk7RGE
The Jamaican sensation followed up that memorable moment six days later by being the “sole survivor” on his Survivor Series team, defeating two World Champions in Orton and CM Punk within the span of 30 seconds. He seemed well on his way to superstardom… and then it just stopped.
The reason for why Kingston’s push stopped in early 2010 has never really been known. Some cite a botch in a match with Orton as the reason why, or maybe management didn’t feel he was ready for the spotlight at the time. Only Kingston and a few other people would be privy to that information. That was eight years ago, though, and right now he is more than ready for a main event run.
With the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on the horizon, a familiar environment for the dazzling veteran, the time is now for Kingston to make a splash. Now that The New Day has defeated The Bar and earned a spot for one member of the trio to enter the MITB match, it’s time for Woods to back up his words and urge his partner to give it one last shot.
As for Kingston, is this the time that his most memorable move in the match won’t be jumping off the top or using two broken pieces as stilts, but pulling down the magical briefcase?
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