Kellie
11-04-2009, 05:25 AM
IT'S hard to question the fact that the biggest rising star in WWE, and perhaps the whole of wrestling, is Kofi Kingston.
The Ghanaian-born high-flyer has recently been allowed to not only acknowledge his genuine roots and heritage, but drop his Jamaican accent and use his real voice.
And the changes have coincided with the biggest push of his career. Kofi has quickly shifted from a grinning mid-carder to a serious top-level wrestler, cutting serious promos on Randy Orton and beating Chris Jericho on Raw.
SunSport caught up with the 28-year-old to discuss his surge to the top of the card, his thoughts on the Jamaican gimmick, and his dream match.
You must be feeling pretty good right now; it's been a big few weeks for you.
[Laughing] Yes. Yes it has.
Would you describe the last two weeks as the biggest in your career?
I guess so, man. The past couple of weeks have certainly had a lot of momentum, especially with last week destroying Randy's car. Just picking a fight with Randy Orton...you'll have to see what happens with me and Randy, but I'm positive some good matches will be occurring.
It has been a crazy few days. For me, career-wise, it's all about getting better. If you're not getting better, you're only getting worse. I'm just trying to step it up.
It was cool to be involved with the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, I thought it was very successful. The next day, being in the ring with Jericho, he's a veteran and a legend. It's cool to be involved in anything he is involved in.
And then destroying Randy's car. It was not only fun, but I think people are going to look back at it and remember it.
When did you find out you were going to be working a programme with Randy Orton — that must have been a great moment?
I'm always one of the last people to find out. This whole development has been pretty recent, I still don't know what's in store, except that there'll be some high-quality matches. You pick a fight with Randy Orton, you have to step up to the plate. I'm going to step up and try to hit a home run.
Randy is established as the Legend Killer, but he is very quickly becoming a legend in his own right. To be in there with him is going to be a great learning experience. The people he has been in there with — Flair, Triple H, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Edge.
I'm a student of the game, and have watched Randy for a long time. I've learned a lot just by watching. To be in the ring having matches against him, I'm sure I'm going to learn a whole lot from a different angle
A couple of weeks ago on Raw, you got the chance to speak to the world in your real — not the Jamaican one used as part of your character. Is it a relief to be able to use your own voice now?
I don't know if it's a relief. The whole Jamaica/Ghana thing, I've had a lot of questions about it. For me, growing up, I loved everything about the Jamaican culture, the heritage, the food, the music, the laid back attitude.
I've always felt a connection to Jamaica. When I think of Jamaicans, I think of them as my brothers and sisters. When I came to WWE, it was a about bringing something forth that no-one had seen before. I was able to take my love for the Jamaican culture and my love for wrestling, fuse all that and provide a character no-one had seen.
But, at certain points in guys' careers, it becomes less about playing a character, and more about who you are. Before Stone Cold there was Stunning Steve, before The Rock there was Rocky Maivia. Even Triple H was Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Terra Ryzin.
I think this is about me making a transition, a progression to the next level.
Is the dropping of the accent, and the taking on of a more serious persona, the necessary steps you needed to take to make that progression?
I don't know, to be honest. We all grow. In life, people grow as people, in WWE we grow as characters. In any good book, there is character development.
I think people like me because I do some unique things and that I'm pretty innovative, I can jump really high. I think those are things that drew people to me and my persona. I'm still those things, I'm not a completely different person, I'm just being myself a bit more. It's mainly just the accent. It's probably more of a change for you guys than me.
When you broke into WWE, you came through on ECW. It's been a much criticised show, but did you feel it was an important learning curve?
I think ECW is very underrated. There are a ton of superstars to have come through there. CM Punk came through ECW too. John Morrison was ECW Champion. Right now you have Tommy Dreamer, William Regal, Christian — these guys are legends. And there is so much new talent that comes through on ECW.
When I came up, a big part of it was when I began to feud with Shelton Benjamin. Shelton is arguably one of the most athletic guys in the history of WWE, so stand up with him, toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow, on a platform where I could show my athletic ability, was great. We tried to outdo each other, and it made for great matches.
I was very fortunate that I was in that position where I had someone like Shelton to work with. A guy who would set the bar so high I'd have to jump and reach it.
Do you feel like you could be a role model to any of the younger guys breaking through into WWE, to prove you can make it to the top?
I think coming into WWE everybody strives to be the best. It's very competitive to get into WWE as it is, and we know that once you make it, you have to keep running. There is no finish line.
You can follow my footsteps or not — there were guys who came before me, Punk being an example, who came through ECW and became world champ. You just have to find it within yourself and try to be the best.
We're getting very close to the UK tour, now. Looking forward to it?
We're actually kicking off in Dublin, Ireland on November 4. We'll be in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France. It's a hectic two weeks for us, but its going to be cool.
I always love to come over to Europe and see how energetic and how excited the fans are. We don't get to come to Europe all that often, so we always want to give you guys the best performance and we appreciate all the support we get given.
I know you guys love soccer. I love the soccer chants that go on in the crowd. It's just a different vibe, a different culture to be in. It's high energy, and I'm all about high energy.
We've just found out that Ricky Hatton is going to be the guest host for Raw in Sheffield. Are you a fan of the guest host concept, or do you think it takes some spotlight away from some of the wrestlers who need the airtime?
I think it's a cool thing. It's interesting, and hasn't been done with WWE before. I think it attracts a new type of audience who might not tune into wrestling usually.
We had Snoop Dogg a couple of weeks ago, and now we have Ricky Hatton in England. He's a legend over there, so a lot of people who might know Ricky Hatton but not necessarily know a lot about WWE might tune in for him.
The more people we can get to and the greater our audience is then the better. I think the guest host thing is a great idea, and seems to be working.
There must be plenty of people at the top of the card who you are anxious to work with, but who is the one man you'd pick out as being desperate to work a programme alongside?
There's a few, but growing up, Shawn Michaels was a big influence on why I watched wrestling and why I got into wrestling. He kept me tuned in every Saturday morning. To have a programme or even just a match with him would be awesome.
It would bring my career full circle, because he got me into wrestling, and now here I am pursuing my lifelong dream. He didn't train me or anything like that, but he's a guy backstage who will always try to help guys like me out.
To have a match with him would feel like the master and the apprentice. I'd definitely want to wrestle him before it's all said and done.
But I'll have to handle Randy first.
The Ghanaian-born high-flyer has recently been allowed to not only acknowledge his genuine roots and heritage, but drop his Jamaican accent and use his real voice.
And the changes have coincided with the biggest push of his career. Kofi has quickly shifted from a grinning mid-carder to a serious top-level wrestler, cutting serious promos on Randy Orton and beating Chris Jericho on Raw.
SunSport caught up with the 28-year-old to discuss his surge to the top of the card, his thoughts on the Jamaican gimmick, and his dream match.
You must be feeling pretty good right now; it's been a big few weeks for you.
[Laughing] Yes. Yes it has.
Would you describe the last two weeks as the biggest in your career?
I guess so, man. The past couple of weeks have certainly had a lot of momentum, especially with last week destroying Randy's car. Just picking a fight with Randy Orton...you'll have to see what happens with me and Randy, but I'm positive some good matches will be occurring.
It has been a crazy few days. For me, career-wise, it's all about getting better. If you're not getting better, you're only getting worse. I'm just trying to step it up.
It was cool to be involved with the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, I thought it was very successful. The next day, being in the ring with Jericho, he's a veteran and a legend. It's cool to be involved in anything he is involved in.
And then destroying Randy's car. It was not only fun, but I think people are going to look back at it and remember it.
When did you find out you were going to be working a programme with Randy Orton — that must have been a great moment?
I'm always one of the last people to find out. This whole development has been pretty recent, I still don't know what's in store, except that there'll be some high-quality matches. You pick a fight with Randy Orton, you have to step up to the plate. I'm going to step up and try to hit a home run.
Randy is established as the Legend Killer, but he is very quickly becoming a legend in his own right. To be in there with him is going to be a great learning experience. The people he has been in there with — Flair, Triple H, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Edge.
I'm a student of the game, and have watched Randy for a long time. I've learned a lot just by watching. To be in the ring having matches against him, I'm sure I'm going to learn a whole lot from a different angle
A couple of weeks ago on Raw, you got the chance to speak to the world in your real — not the Jamaican one used as part of your character. Is it a relief to be able to use your own voice now?
I don't know if it's a relief. The whole Jamaica/Ghana thing, I've had a lot of questions about it. For me, growing up, I loved everything about the Jamaican culture, the heritage, the food, the music, the laid back attitude.
I've always felt a connection to Jamaica. When I think of Jamaicans, I think of them as my brothers and sisters. When I came to WWE, it was a about bringing something forth that no-one had seen before. I was able to take my love for the Jamaican culture and my love for wrestling, fuse all that and provide a character no-one had seen.
But, at certain points in guys' careers, it becomes less about playing a character, and more about who you are. Before Stone Cold there was Stunning Steve, before The Rock there was Rocky Maivia. Even Triple H was Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Terra Ryzin.
I think this is about me making a transition, a progression to the next level.
Is the dropping of the accent, and the taking on of a more serious persona, the necessary steps you needed to take to make that progression?
I don't know, to be honest. We all grow. In life, people grow as people, in WWE we grow as characters. In any good book, there is character development.
I think people like me because I do some unique things and that I'm pretty innovative, I can jump really high. I think those are things that drew people to me and my persona. I'm still those things, I'm not a completely different person, I'm just being myself a bit more. It's mainly just the accent. It's probably more of a change for you guys than me.
When you broke into WWE, you came through on ECW. It's been a much criticised show, but did you feel it was an important learning curve?
I think ECW is very underrated. There are a ton of superstars to have come through there. CM Punk came through ECW too. John Morrison was ECW Champion. Right now you have Tommy Dreamer, William Regal, Christian — these guys are legends. And there is so much new talent that comes through on ECW.
When I came up, a big part of it was when I began to feud with Shelton Benjamin. Shelton is arguably one of the most athletic guys in the history of WWE, so stand up with him, toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow, on a platform where I could show my athletic ability, was great. We tried to outdo each other, and it made for great matches.
I was very fortunate that I was in that position where I had someone like Shelton to work with. A guy who would set the bar so high I'd have to jump and reach it.
Do you feel like you could be a role model to any of the younger guys breaking through into WWE, to prove you can make it to the top?
I think coming into WWE everybody strives to be the best. It's very competitive to get into WWE as it is, and we know that once you make it, you have to keep running. There is no finish line.
You can follow my footsteps or not — there were guys who came before me, Punk being an example, who came through ECW and became world champ. You just have to find it within yourself and try to be the best.
We're getting very close to the UK tour, now. Looking forward to it?
We're actually kicking off in Dublin, Ireland on November 4. We'll be in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France. It's a hectic two weeks for us, but its going to be cool.
I always love to come over to Europe and see how energetic and how excited the fans are. We don't get to come to Europe all that often, so we always want to give you guys the best performance and we appreciate all the support we get given.
I know you guys love soccer. I love the soccer chants that go on in the crowd. It's just a different vibe, a different culture to be in. It's high energy, and I'm all about high energy.
We've just found out that Ricky Hatton is going to be the guest host for Raw in Sheffield. Are you a fan of the guest host concept, or do you think it takes some spotlight away from some of the wrestlers who need the airtime?
I think it's a cool thing. It's interesting, and hasn't been done with WWE before. I think it attracts a new type of audience who might not tune into wrestling usually.
We had Snoop Dogg a couple of weeks ago, and now we have Ricky Hatton in England. He's a legend over there, so a lot of people who might know Ricky Hatton but not necessarily know a lot about WWE might tune in for him.
The more people we can get to and the greater our audience is then the better. I think the guest host thing is a great idea, and seems to be working.
There must be plenty of people at the top of the card who you are anxious to work with, but who is the one man you'd pick out as being desperate to work a programme alongside?
There's a few, but growing up, Shawn Michaels was a big influence on why I watched wrestling and why I got into wrestling. He kept me tuned in every Saturday morning. To have a programme or even just a match with him would be awesome.
It would bring my career full circle, because he got me into wrestling, and now here I am pursuing my lifelong dream. He didn't train me or anything like that, but he's a guy backstage who will always try to help guys like me out.
To have a match with him would feel like the master and the apprentice. I'd definitely want to wrestle him before it's all said and done.
But I'll have to handle Randy first.