Examining Kofi Kingston's Direction, Upside and Long-Term Potential

Electricity hums through Kofi Kingston's performances.

How high he can climb will be determined by his ability to forge world championship gold from that electricity.   

Kingston is a likable, energetic guy with a smile that will earn him a number of magazine covers. He's a valuable asset as an exciting performer, but he will always be very good and not great.

Right now, Kingston is a midcarder challenging for midcard titles.

It's a familiar spot on the roster for him. In his five years with the company, he's won the Intercontinental Championship four times, the United States Championship three times and has three tag team titles on his resume.

At Night of Champions 2013, Kingston was Curtis Axel's surprise challenger for the IC title.

Some fans may have experienced deja vu seeing him strive for a championship he has been in contention for during a significant chunk of his career. With Kingston’s lack of talents beyond his impressive athleticism and leaping ability, WWE doesn't have much choice but to keep him in the midcard.  

Kingston is focused on "breaking into that top tier," as he told Slam! Sports. For him to do that, he's going to have to show us something we've yet to see from him.

He does have a stock of supporters who acknowledge all his pluses.

Hat Tip To Athleticism

Jim Ross' praise of Kingston centered around his physical ability.

He's right on here. Both Kingston and Dolph Ziggler are great athletes. There's never been a question about Kingston’s athleticism—it's world-class.

The formula for a top WWE Superstar requires more than that, though.

Curt Hawkins had good things to say about Kingston as well.

Again, there's no argument here. Kingston is good, but the WWE roster is brimming with good wrestlers. To stand out from them, one needs to be better than that.

Edge listed Kingston as one of the most underrated wrestlers in WWE.

The "underrated" tag often gets pinned on wrestlers who have all the physical gifts one could ask for but lack in the intangibles. Call it the Shelton Benjamin syndrome.

Benjamin could leap like an NBA player as well but never broke into the top tier that Kingston mentioned. He piled up midcard titles just like "The Wildcat" but didn't have the presence and star power of men who passed him by.

John Cena is not a better athlete than either Benjamin or Kingston, but his magnetism has made him a mainstay of the main event.

Kingston has to rely mostly on his legs.

I Can Fly

Watching Kingston perform in the ring is bound to have one's jaw drop at least once.

Even standard moves like the leapfrog turn into something dazzling when he does them.

There is not a better leaper in WWE today, and Kingston has consistently been one of the most exciting high-flyers during his career. He evokes memories of Ricky Steamboat soaring from the turnbuckle and chopping at his opponent's chest.

That ability has translated into some excellent matches, notably against Ziggler and Antonio Cesaro.

It was a battle against Ziggler that got Ross' attention, as previously mentioned. Speed and skill are always on display when those two meet. Kingston's most recent standout work was when he won Cesaro's U.S. title.

This was an exciting match powered by the contrast in Cesaro and Kingston's styles.

It shows how much Kingston has grown as a performer, but it's hard to imagine this bout serving as a marquee match of a pay-per-view. When WWE has men like Randy Orton, Cena, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk to choose from, as well as rising stars like The Shield, it will be difficult for Kingston to slip into the main event picture.

He simply doesn't offer enough beyond impressive ring work.

A Single Dimension

If Kingston had wrestled in the '80s, he would have likely been tossed into a tag team with Jim Brunzell and told to go out and impress the fans with fun matches every night.

Being one half of The Killer Bees doesn't require the acting chops and charisma to build a world championship feud.

In a company that employs such versatile talents, Kingston will struggle to surpass them. The following segment on Raw displays his average mic skills.

This was a serviceable speech but not nearly compelling enough to affect ratings. When the biggest stars in the business grab microphones, it becomes must-see TV. That hasn't been true for Kingston so far.

Naming the top five Kingston promos is difficult.

His best work outside of the ring, when he showed the most passion, was during his feud with Orton in 2009. Leading up their match at the first-ever TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston showed a touch of rage and wildness that remains the most interesting version of his persona to date.

The answer to maximizing our interest in Kingston is not turning him heel but funneling that same passion we saw against Orton into a face character.

Like Steamboat before him, Kingston exudes good guy. Having him play a villain would be like asking an eagle to wear a wolf's skin. That does make him one-dimensional in a sense, but there's plenty of talent for WWE to make use of.

Ceiling

Kingston's long-term potential doesn't look a lot different than his present.

He has the ring work to keep him around for a long time, but the lack of magnetic pull beyond that makes him a candidate for a lifelong midcarder. Success for Kingston won't be measured in world championships.

Those aren't coming his way.

Instead, his resume will be comprised of top-notch matches and his knack for stealing the show at the Royal Rumble.

Kingston has turned battle royals into his personal stage, using an office chair to save himself from defeat, pulling himself up in impressive fashion and walking on his hands.

Being able to do that will keep him near the spotlight, but Kingston fans hoping he eventually breaks through and takes a headlining spot at WrestleMania are going to be disappointed. There's no shame in being a consistent and exciting performer who only wins midcard titles.

Kingston is a Superstar you can't bet on ever being elite, but he is so likable and hardworking that you hope he proves you wrong.