Kofi Kingston: Breaking Down WWE Star's Upside, Direction & Long-Term Potential
It might surprise some fans to know that Kofi Kingston is one of the most decorated superstars on the WWE roster currently. He has yet to win a world title, but Kingston has won the Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship and Tag Team Championship on multiple occasions.
There hasn't often been a time in Kingston's career where he has been without gold of some sort, so that suggests that the powers that be are comfortable with his ability to hold down the midcard. Every wrestling fan realizes that Kingston is a strong midcard performer, but the true question is whether or not he can ever become something more.
Keep reading for the latest installment of my daily WWE superstar series in which I analyze the upside, direction and long-term potential of every current and rising star in the company. Today I'll break down Kingston's chances of becoming a world champion in the WWE.
Origins
Prior to signing a developmental deal with the WWE in 2006, Kingston was a relative unknown in the wrestling business. From 2006 through 2007, Kingston honed his craft in a number of the company's developmental territories, including Deep South Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling. After spending a year in the minors, Kingston made the jump to the big time.
Kingston debuted on ECW in 2007 under a Jamaican gimmick and was given a big push immediately, as he went on an impressive winning streak. Kingston was eventually drafted to RAW, where he won the first wrestling title of his career by beating Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship.
Kofi would go on to win several more midcard titles while dropping the Jamaican gimmick in the process, as he is now properly billed from Ghana, West Africa. Kingston has developed into more of a tag-team competitor over the past year, as he held the titles with Evan Bourne for quite some time before Bourne received a suspension for violating the wellness policy. Now Kingston is one-half of the Tag Team Champions with R-Truth.
Current Storyline
With the Tag team Championships becoming less and less important with each passing week, Kingston's role has become quite uncertain. He and Truth are fan favorites who get a pretty good reaction, but Kofi hasn't really been utilized much. His current storyline involves he and Truth getting squashed by Big Show as part of the giant's attempt to flex his muscle ahead of his match with John Cena at No Way Out.
Aside from that, Kingston and Truth aren't actually feuding with anyone over the Tag Team Championships, which seems strange.
There are a few other teams in the company with potential if they are built up correctly, and if we're supposed to take the product seriously, then it's hard to believe that none of those teams would be chasing the titles. Otherwise, what is the point of even forming a team?
Kingston was put into a tag team with Bourne last year because he didn't have much to do after losing the United States Championship to Dolph Ziggler. Now there isn't much for Kingston to do as a member of a tag team or in the midcard.
Kofi is in a tough spot right now, and you have to wonder what is on the horizon for him.
Strengths
Kingston's biggest strength would have to be his pure athleticism in the ring. Sometimes his wrestling is a little too much style and not enough substance, but he can do some things that few others can. His vertical leaps from off the top rope are an absolute spectacle and his high-flying offense in general is something that keeps his matches exciting.
Kofi also brings a lot of energy to the table. Rather than simply going through the motions and being deliberate, he is constantly leaping around and doing something to get noticed. If nothing else, he truly is a good face, as he knows how to get the crowd involved and how to keep them interested. Perhaps the one issue with that, though, is that he is too formulaic at times.
The WWE has to love the fact that Kingston gets a reaction from the crowd.
Sometimes there are superstars, regardless of how big of a push they are given, who simply can't get over. That has never been an issue for Kofi, though, as he has long been a fan favorite. Kids and adults alike enjoy Kingston and his enthusiasm, however, so it is understandable why he is constantly in possession of a title since he is a very safe choice.
Weaknesses
Kofi's biggest detriment at this point is that he brings next to nothing to the table in terms of mic skills. Part of the reason for that may be because he isn't given any time to speak, but when he does talk, he just doesn't seem comfortable. I'm sure the creative team would like to allow him to cut promos, but he isn't somebody who can be trusted in that regard.
Even if he was perfect in every other area, the lack of ability on the stick is a huge negative in Kingston's quest to ascend higher up the card. Speaking well and cutting promos are integral to a superstar's success in the WWE and in some ways, it even trumps in-ring skills.
Nobody will ever confuse The Miz with Shawn Michaels in the ring, but because he is so smooth and convincing on the microphone, he received a run with the WWE Championship.
May consider his title reign to be a failure, but the point is that Kofi may never even get a chance to take the ball and run with it if he doesn't improve drastically.
On top of that, Kingston sometimes manages to be boring despite the fact that his move-set is supposed to make him exciting. The problem is that Kingston has been around long enough that fans know what to expect now, so it's time for him to shake things up somehow and become more unpredictable.
Greatest Match
Kingston has certainly had his fair share of solid matches, but in terms of the total package of in-ring work and importance, his bout with Randy Orton at TLC in 2009 has to top them all.
Kingston enjoyed a brief run near in the top in a high-profile feud with Orton a few years back and it resulted in several important matches. Orton ultimately dominated the feud, but it was a good learning experience for Kofi.
If not for a botch in a match against Orton on RAW, who knows how far Kingston might have went? Orton was visibly upset with Kofi on that occasion, and the general thought was that Orton's backstage pull resulted in Kingston being de-pushed. Before that, however, Kingston was having a really nice feud with Orton, who was the biggest heel in the company at the time. That allowed Kofi to get plenty of fan support.
Orton is currently looked at as one of the best in-ring workers in the company, but Kingston more than held his own in that regard during their feud. His performance at TLC in 2009 was an excellent one, and he looked like a legitimate threat to knock off The Viper.
Kingston hasn't received another big opportunity since that feud, but against Orton he showed that perhaps he can be a believable main-eventer if put in the right situation.
Career Potential
I always love to see talent get pushed to new heights because it keeps things interesting in the WWE, but I'm afraid that Kingston has reached his ceiling.
There are a lot of great aspects about Kingston, as he has good in-ring ability, good energy and a solid following, but just being good shouldn't be enough to make someone a main-eventer or a world champion.
Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase and Jake "The Snake" Roberts weren't world champions, so why should Kofi ever be one?
The simple answer is that he shouldn't. Not everyone can be a world champion, nor should they. The WWE tries and fails when it comes to trying to get talent over by giving them a world title all the time. Most consider the title reigns of The Miz, Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio, to name a few, to be disappointments, although The Miz is far from a consensus.
Whatever the case, Kingston doesn't seem to have any discernible attributes that would make him a better world champ than any of them.
Kingston has already accomplished a lot during his career in winning each of the midcard titles on multiple occasions, and there is no shame in that being the pinnacle of what he achieves. Perhaps he can fill in at some point in the main event if injuries strike or something of that nature, but it shouldn't be something permanent and he shouldn't be a world champion in the WWE.
How He Gets There
Since Kingston has already done everything I believe he can, there isn't really any magical way to make him better. One way to freshen up his character, though, would be a heel turn. I realize that some wrestling fans want everyone to turn heel for no good reason, but Kofi has been face for his entire career and will eventually need to have a heel run in order to keep the fans interested.
I've been fairly bored of Kingston for quite some time, so I think a character overhaul is long overdue.
The simple way to have Kofi turn heel would be to have him burn slowly against R-Truth. Perhaps the team can lose their titles to Primo and Epico at some point with Truth getting pinned. Kofi would be visibly frustrated, but nothing would come of it. Truth would get pinned again during the rematch, though, and that would result in Kingston attacking Truth and turning heel.
He could say that Truth and Bourne had been holding him back from his pursuit of a world title. Maybe that could result in a brief feud with someone like CM Punk, John Cena or Sheamus, with Kingston coming out on the losing end. Despite the fact that I'm not the biggest Kofi fan, I wouldn't mind that at all, and I believe it would be something new and fresh that the fans would enjoy in small doses.
Check back daily for new entries in this WWE 25-superstar countdown. Here is how the list looks thus far:
25. Damien Sandow
24. Alex Riley
23. Antonio Cesaro
22. Drew McIntyre
21. Ryback
20. Kharma
19. Brodus Clay
18. David Otunga
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