WWE: 5 Realistic Ways to Get Kofi Kingston out of the Purgatory He's in

I had planned on writing this article before last night's episode of Monday Night Raw, but Kofi Kingston threw a wrench into those plans.

Out of nowhere, he and R-Truth got a WWE Tag Team Championship match and actually went on to win the match and the titles.

Admittedly, I didn't see that coming. But at least the title win gives Kingston something to do--other than make the WWE's top heels look good every week, that is.

Still, Kingston has been stuck in No Man's Land for awhile now, and I'm not sure that a run with the tag team titles is necessarily going to change that.

Here are five realistic ways to get Kofi Kingston out of the purgatory he's been in for the last several months.

5. Give Him Another Run with a Mid-Card Title

Mid-card titles obviously don't mean as much as they once did, but they can if booked right or if they're put on the right person.

And Kofi Kingston is the perfect choice to hold either the United States or Intercontinental Championship.

He's the shining example of what a baby face mid-carder or even a mid-card champion should be: Someone who can put on good matches on a consistent basis that keep the crowd entertained throughout.

While I don't think the WWE is going to make mid-card titles a major priority anytime soon, Kingston is going to do much more for the secondary title scene than someone like Big Show ever would.

I know that giving Kingston another secondary title run isn't going to please his biggest fans, but it would almost guarantee him a consistent spot on TV.

That's better than nothing, right? 

4. Let Him Work the Mic to Get Himself Even More over

The main reason why I think Kofi Kingston hasn't been given an extended main event run?

We never hear the dude talk.

Aside from that great feud with Randy Orton in late 2009, Kingston has hardly ever grabbed a mic and cut a promo, whether it be backstage or in the ring.

While the fans are almost always into his matches, Kingston is going to have a hard time making it to the main event for the long haul if he doesn't get a chance to speak every once in a while.

And guess what? I put the blame for Kingston's lack of mic time solely on the creative team.

I'm not saying that Kingston is great on the mic, but in the little I've seen from him, he's looked at least halfway decent and could undoubtedly improve if given more opportunities to speak in front of the crowd.

That, in turn, would give us another reason to like Kingston besides his amazing in-ring skills.

3. Move Him to Smackdown

Last night's Raw episode proved once and for all that the brand split is dead without actually being dead.

But still, if I was a WWE superstar, I'd much rather be on Smackdown right now.

As we saw on Raw, Smackdown stars get a lot more TV exposure than Raw stars do, and thus, they have a better opportunity to rise up the card.

Up-and-comers like Sheamus and Daniel Bryan are where they are now in large part because they can appear on both Raw and Smackdown, and as a result, become more familiar to the WWE audience.

That's why I think Kofi Kingston would benefit in a major way from moving to the blue brand.

There is a much better opportunity for advancement if you're on Smackdown, and that's been evidenced by the World title wins of Bryan, Mark Henry and Christian.

As I've said about 356 times before, Smackdown is "the land of opportunity," and Kingston is going to be much more likely to get a golden opportunity if he's on that show rather than Raw.

2. Give Him an Actual Feud or Storyline

Hey, here's a bright idea: How about giving Kofi Kingston an actual feud or storyline for a change?

I don't think Kingston has had a singles feud or storyline since he lost the United States Championship to Dolph Ziggler last summer, and I can't honestly remember the last time he was the centerpiece of a major angle.

That's pretty ridiculous.

The only way a baby face is truly going to accomplish something is if he, you know, actually feuds with a heel every once in a while.

I thought this was "Wrestling 101," but apparently, WWE's creative team never feels the need to put Kingston in a legitimate feud or storyline, unless he's in a tag team.

I always point back to that Kingston/Orton feud in 2009 as a shining example of what Kingston can accomplish if the WWE just makes the effort to turn him into something more than a mid-carder who's a good wrestler.

Give this guy a damn feud every once in a while, and perhaps he'll go somewhere.

1. Turn Him Heel

I really want to see this happen.

Although I think Kofi Kingston is a great baby face, he's been in that role since debuting with the WWE in 2008 and has never been given an opportunity to turn heel.

Why not give it a try?

I'll admit that I'm not sure how Kingston would perform as a heel, but do we really think that it's going to run his WWE career? I sure don't.

Kingston is now in the perfect situation to turn heel because he's teaming with R-Truth, and splitting up a tag team often results in one of the guys turning heel on the other.

If I'm on creative, I seriously consider using Kingston's pairing with Truth to turn him into a bad guy and see what happens.

After all, you never know what something's like until you try it.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him onTwitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.