1. Kofi Kingston is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston and is part of The New Day and is one-half of the World Tag Team Champions.
52 Facts About Kofi Kingston
1. 2.
Kofi Kingston debuted in WWE's brand ECW in 2008 using the same Jamaican character as he did on the independent circuit.
3.
Kofi Kingston then started being billed from his home country of Ghana.
4.
From 2008 to 2013, Kofi Kingston became a four-time Intercontinental Champion, a three-time United States Champion, a one-time World Tag Team Champion with CM Punk, and a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Evan Bourne and R-Truth.
5.
In total, Kofi Kingston is a 16-time tag team champion in WWE.
6.
Kofi Kingston is the first, and currently only, African-born world champion in WWE history.
7.
Kofi Kingston has gotten some distinction through his numerous methods of avoiding elimination during the Royal Rumble.
8.
Kofi Kingston Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah was born in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana on August 14,1981, to Kwasi and Elizabeth Sarkodie-Mensah.
9.
Kofi Kingston has a brother, Kwame, and a late sister, Nana Akua.
10.
Kofi Kingston moved with his family to the United States and eventually settled in the greater Boston area, where he graduated from Winchester High School in Winchester, Massachusetts, and then Boston College, majoring in communications.
11.
When he returned to the developmental federations, he shortened his original ring name to Kofi Kingston and continued to alternate between both ring names throughout his duration there.
12.
Kofi Kingston worked there for most of the remainder of the year.
13.
Kofi Kingston is the first African-born performer in WWE history.
14.
Kofi Kingston debuted on the January 22,2008 ECW as a face with a win over local wrestler David Owen in Charlottesville, Virginia.
15.
Kofi Kingston remained undefeated in singles competition in ECW for months and was placed into a feud with Shelton Benjamin at the end of April 2008.
16.
On June 25,2008, Kofi Kingston was drafted to the Raw brand, as part of the WWE Supplemental Draft.
17.
Kofi Kingston held the championship until SummerSlam, where he and Women's Champion Mickie James both lost their championships in an intergender "winner take all" tag team match to Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix.
18.
Kofi Kingston was involved at Survivor Series in the traditional ten-men elimination tag team match on the side of Team Batista, but was eliminated by Randy Orton.
19.
At No Way Out on February 15,2009, Kofi Kingston was scheduled to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match but was unable to officially enter the match as he was ambushed by Edge, who took Kofi Kingston's place and eventually won the match.
20.
Around a week earlier, on the January 4,2010 episode of Raw, Kofi Kingston botched the finish of a match with Orton, and kept getting up despite the plan having been to take a punt kick on the ground from Orton.
21.
Orton was reportedly insulted by this, delivered a stiff RKO, and Kofi Kingston reportedly had a push stopped following complaints from Orton.
22.
Kofi Kingston would remain a mid-carder for the next decade.
23.
Kofi Kingston competed in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, but was eliminated by the champion Sheamus.
24.
At WrestleMania XXVI, Kofi Kingston was unsuccessful in the Money in the Bank match, which was won by Jack Swagger.
25.
Kofi Kingston would have three title rematches at SummerSlam, Smackdown, and Night of Champions, but he did not win the title.
26.
Immediately following the match, acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered that Ziggler invoke his rematch clause straight away, but Kofi Kingston quickly pinned Ziggler again to retain his championship.
27.
Kofi Kingston then moved into a feud with Alberto Del Rio, which culminated in a non-title match at Elimination Chamber, which Kofi Kingston lost.
28.
At Extreme Rules, Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus in a Tables match to win his second United States Championship.
29.
At Capitol Punishment, Kofi Kingston lost the title to Dolph Ziggler.
30.
At Royal Rumble, Kofi Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match and although he did not win, he had a stand-out moment when he saved himself from elimination by walking on his hands to reach the ring steps and re-enter the ring.
31.
At Elimination Chamber, Kofi Kingston failed to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated third by Chris Jericho.
32.
Kofi Kingston's team, led by Mick Foley, was defeated by Barrett's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, during which he was eliminated by Barrett.
33.
Kofi Kingston received his rematch four days later on SmackDown, but lost the match.
34.
On January 27,2013, at the Royal Rumble, Kofi Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match, and after eliminating Tensai, he was pushed out of the ring, but Kofi Kingston jumped on Tensai's back, landed on the announce table and used a commentary chair from John "Bradshaw" Layfield to hop to the ring apron, before being eliminated by Cody Rhodes.
35.
At Night of Champions, Kofi Kingston faced Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship, but was defeated.
36.
At the Royal Rumble on January 26,2014, Kofi Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match, where he avoided elimination by landing on the crowd barricade and made an 11-foot jump to get back in the ring, but he was later eliminated by Roman Reigns.
37.
At Battleground, Kofi Kingston competed in the Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed to win the match.
38.
On January 29,2017, Kofi Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match in which he was standing on the top-rope when Baron Corbin tried to push him backwards to eliminate him from the match.
39.
At the Royal Rumble on January 28,2018, Kofi Kingston entered the match as the 16th entrant, but was eliminated by Andrade "Cien" Almas.
40.
At Fastlane, Kofi Kingston was apparently granted a title match by McMahon, but it was instead a handicap match against The Bar, which Kofi Kingston subsequently lost.
41.
In what was the last chance for Kofi Kingston, McMahon announced a gauntlet match for Big E and Xavier Woods, who were able to defeat five other teams, including Bryan and Rowan to give Kofi Kingston his championship match against Bryan at WrestleMania 35.
42.
At WrestleMania, Kofi Kingston defeated Bryan and won the WWE Championship for the first time, becoming the first African-born WWE Champion in history and his first world championship win in his career, as well as WWE's 30th Triple Crown and 20th Grand Slam champion.
43.
Kofi Kingston then started a feud with the returning Dolph Ziggler, retaining the title at Super ShowDown in a singles match and at Stomping Grounds in a steel cage match.
44.
Kofi Kingston defended his title against Randy Orton at SummerSlam, where the match ended in a double count out.
45.
In October 2019, Kofi Kingston returned to competing in tag team matches.
46.
On January 26,2020, at the Royal Rumble, Kofi Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Brock Lesnar.
47.
At WrestleMania 36, Kofi Kingston, who represented The New Day, failed to win the titles back from Morrison, who represented himself and Miz, in a triple threat ladder match, involving Jimmy Uso, who represented The Usos.
48.
In January 2021, Kofi Kingston stated that he was sidelined with a jaw injury.
49.
At Elimination Chamber, Kofi Kingston competed in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, eliminating Randy Orton, before being eliminated by Sheamus.
50.
Woods and Kofi Kingston began feuding with Karrion Kross and his stable The Final Testament.
51.
Kross attempted to form a wedge between the two tag team competitors, claiming that Kofi Kingston was holding Woods back from having a successful singles career, leading to several on-screen and backstage bouts between the two factions.
52.
Kofi Kingston's first name is the traditional name in Ghana for people born on a Friday.