CM Punk on Kofi Kingston's WrestleMania 35 Win: Should've Happened 10 Years Ago

Former WWE Superstar CM Punk said Monday that Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday night was long overdue. 

Punk, who left the WWE in early 2014 and has since appeared in two UFC fights, spoke about 'Mania on Stadium's Sauce & Shram show (via Marc Middleton of Lords of Pain).

"It should've happened 10 years ago," he said. "You know, that's what I'll leave with. And it's one of those things where yes, I'm stoked that it happened now, but again, be ahead of the curve instead of behind it."

Kingston signed with the WWE in 2006 and joined the ECW brand the following year. He joined Raw in 2008 and spent the past 11 years mostly in mid-card feuds and, while he'd enjoyed his most successful run to date as part of The New Day stable, individual accolades had remained elusive.

The 37-year-old Ghana native started to gain a surge of crowd support in recent months, however, and it eventually helped him land a place opposite Daniel Bryan—who followed a similar story arc leading to his WrestleMania 30 breakthrough—in one of Sunday's top matches.

With New Day teammates Big E and Xavier Woods at his side, Kingston finally captured one of wrestling's top championships by pinning Bryan.

It completed a long and winding journey to the WWE mountaintop. One that included more frequently being used for his terrific creativity, highlighted by his numerous Royal Rumble highlight-reel moments over the years, than his in-ring ability, which he's finally had a showcase more often in recent weeks.

Punk is right, the main-event title run should have come long ago for Kingston, but it's certainly better late than never for the dependable veteran and budding fan favorite.