Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kofi Kingston.
Kofi Kingston | |
---|---|
Birth name | Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah |
Born | Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana | August 14, 1981
Alma mater | Boston College |
Spouse(s) | Kori Campfield (m. 2010) |
Children | 3 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Kofi Kingston Sir Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Kingston Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] |
Billed weight | 212 lb (96 kg)[1] |
Billed from | Ghana, West Africa[1] Kingston, Jamaica[2] |
Trained by | Chaotic Wrestling[3] Killer Kowalski[3] Ohio Valley Wrestling[2] |
Debut | 2006 |
After graduating from Boston College, he decided to pursue a professional wrestling career, and began performing on the New England independent circuit as a Jamaican wrestler by the name of Kofi Nahaje Kingston.[4] After signing a developmental deal with WWE in 2006, he shortened his ring name to Kofi Kingston. Kingston debuted in WWE in 2008 using the same Jamaican character as he did on the independent circuit. In late 2009, he stopped being billed from Jamaica and dropped the accent, although he kept his ring name. He then started being billed from his home country of Ghana.
From 2008–2013, Kingston became a four-time Intercontinental Champion and a three-time United States Champion. In 2014, he formed The New Day with Big E and Xavier Woods. The trio went on to break the record for the longest Tag Team Championship reign in WWE history when they held the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship from August 2015 to December 2016, while defending the titles under the Freebird rule.[5][6] All totaled, Kingston is a 14-time Tag Team Champion in WWE. In April 2019, Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship, giving him 22 total championships in WWE.
He is the first, and currently only, African-born world champion in WWE history. His WWE Championship win also made him WWE's 30th Triple Crown Champion and 20th overall Grand Slam Champion (13th under the current format).[7][8][9][10] In addition, Kingston himself holds the singular record for most days spent as a Tag Team Champion within WWE and is tied with Edge for having the most overall reigns as a Tag Team Champion in WWE history (excluding WCW as Booker T who is also tied) with 14. With the exception of a few months spent as a villain in 2015 with The New Day, Sarkodie-Mensah has been a heroic character for almost the entirety of his WWE career.
Early life
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah[11] was born in Kumasi, Ashanti on August 14, 1981 to Kwasi and Elizabeth Sarkodie-Mensah.[12][13][14][15] He has a brother, Kwame (who is a Twitch streamer under the name of Temp0), and a late sister, Nana Akua.[14] He 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.[16][17]
Professional wrestling career
Training and independent circuit (2005–2006)
Sarkodie-Mensah started training in late 2005 and made his official wrestling debut in 2006 for Chaotic Wrestling, when he faced Evan Siks on June 4 for the PWF Mayhem Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.[2] He competed primarily in the New England area, including stints in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) – New England (where he was briefly a member of Barry Ace's "A-List"), Millennium Wrestling Federation (MWF), New England Championship Wrestling (NECW), the Eastern Wrestling Alliance (EWA), and Chaotic Wrestling.[4]
Developmental territories (2006–2007)
In September 2006, he signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a Georgia-based developmental federation. He debuted in the new company, as Kofi Nahaje Kingston, in a dark match loss to Montel Vontavious Porter on September 21.[18] For the rest of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, he appeared in DSW, as well as its Kentucky-based sister promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was in a tag team dubbed the Commonwealth Connection with Harry Smith.[19][20][21]
In 2007, under the ring name Kofi Nahaje Kingston, he had his first exposure to the main WWE roster, when he worked dark matches on March 5 and 26 before episodes of Raw against Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch, respectively.[22][23] 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. He also worked live events, defeating Shelton Benjamin on May 5,[24] and Val Venis on May 6.[25] When the Florida-based developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened in June, Kingston was relocated there, appearing at their inaugural show on June 26 where he teamed with Eric Pérez against Keith Walker and Rycklon Stephens in a losing effort.[26] Kingston worked there for most of the remainder of the year.[26]
Debut and Feud with Randy Orton (2007–2009)
A series of vignettes for Kingston's television debut began airing on the weekly ECW on Syfy television show starting on December 6, 2007.[27] During this introduction phase, his videos, the official website and commentators noted he would be the first Jamaican to wrestle for WWE but he does not have any Jamaican ancestry, nor any connection to Jamaica.[lower-alpha 1][17][29] He is, however, the first African-born performer in WWE history. He debuted on the January 22, 2008 ECW as a face with a win over local wrestler David Owen in Charlottesville, Virginia.[30] After wrestling sporadic matches, Kingston was involved in his first major match, a 24-man battle royal during the WrestleMania XXIV pre-show with the winner receiving an ECW Championship match, but was eliminated by Mark Henry.[31] 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. After two straight losses, Benjamin got a win over Kingston on the May 20 ECW, ending his undefeated streak.[32] On the June 24 ECW, Kingston defeated Benjamin in an Extreme Rules match to end their feud.[33]
On June 25, 2008, Kingston was drafted to the Raw brand, as part of the WWE Supplemental Draft.[34] In his first match as a member of Raw roster, and first championship match in WWE, he defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions, after Shawn Michaels, whom Jericho was feuding with, attacked Jericho's manager Lance Cade.[35] The win made him the first African-born wrestler to hold a championship in World Wrestling Entertainment.[36] 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.[37]
At Unforgiven, he appeared backstage, coming to the aid of then-World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, who had been attacked by Randy Orton, Manu, and the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.[38] Soon after coming to his rescue, Kingston and Punk were paired together more often, and on the October 27 episode of Raw, the duo won the World Tag Team Championship.[39] He was also 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.[40] Kingston and Punk lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a live event on December 13.[41] When asked about his reign with Punk, he stated that "Punk took him under his wing when he didn’t have to and he was always grateful for that friendship".[42] At No Way Out on February 15, 2009, Kingston was scheduled to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber but was unable to officially enter the match as he was ambushed by Edge, who took Kingston's place and eventually won the match.[43] On the March 9 episode of Raw, Kingston defeated Chris Jericho after interference from Ric Flair, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 25, but the match was won by CM Punk.[44][45]
After winning a triple threat number one contender's match the week before, Kingston defeated Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) on the June 1 episode of Raw to win the United States Championship for the first time.[46] For the next several months, he went on to defend and retain the title at Extreme Rules,[47] Night of Champions,[48] Breaking Point,[49] and Hell in a Cell,[50] and on several episodes of Raw, until losing the championship to The Miz on the October 5 episode of Raw, ending his reign at 126 days.[51]
Intercontinental Champion (2009–2011)
On the October 19 episode of Raw, Kingston spoke without a Jamaican accent during a televised segment, dropped the Jamaican character and began being billed from his home country of Ghana.[52][53] At Bragging Rights, Kingston wrestled as part of the Team Raw, which lost the match after Raw teammate Big Show betrayed them by chokeslamming Kingston, allowing Chris Jericho to pin Kingston to pick up the win for Team SmackDown.[54] After Kingston interfered in a match between Randy Orton and John Cena for Cena's WWE Championship match,[55] Orton and Kingston feuded, including a 5-men Survivor Series team against each other where Kingston's team won after he was the sole survivor, last eliminating Orton.[56] and TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs,[57] where Orton defeated Kingston.[58] They also participated in a triple threat match which included John Cena to determined a challenger for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, which was won by Orton, who pinned Kingston.[59] He had a title match at Elimination Chamber, but was eliminated by the Champion Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVI, Kingston was unsuccessful as the Money in the Bank match, which was won by Jack Swagger.
On the April 26 episode of Raw, Kingston was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the WWE draft.[60] He would win a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship on the May 14 episode of SmackDown. However, moments later, the title win was reversed when the title was returned to the previous champion Drew McIntyre.[61] Kingston would defeat McIntyre for the title at Over the Limit,[62] and retained in a rematch at Fatal 4-Way.[63] On July 18 at Money in the Bank, Kingston lost the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match when Kane grabbed the briefcase.[64] His Intercontinental reign would end on the August 6 episode of SmackDown, where he lost it against Dolph Ziggler. Kingston would have 3 title rematches at SummerSlam, Smackdown, and Night of Champions, but he didn't win the title.[65]
On the October 15 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Drew McIntyre to earn a spot on Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights. At Bragging Rights, Team SmackDown defeated Team Raw. On the December 3 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Jack Swagger to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed to win back the title when Swagger attacked him during the match. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston competed in a triple threat ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, which was won again by Ziggler. On the January 7, 2011 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Ziggler to become the Intercontinental Champion for a third time. Immediately following the match, acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered that Ziggler invoke his rematch clause straight away, but Kingston quickly pinned Ziggler again to retain his championship. Kingston then moved into a feud with Alberto Del Rio, which culminated in a non-title match at Elimination Chamber, which Kingston lost. On the March 25 episode of SmackDown, Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett.[66] On the April 1 episode of SmackDown, Kingston won his rematch against Wade Barrett by disqualification. At WrestleMania XXVII, after Vladimir Kozlov was injured at the hands of The Corre, Kingston was chosen as Kozlov's replacement in an eight-man tag team match involving Kingston, Kane, Big Show, and Santino Marella versus The Corre, which Kingston's team won.[67]
On April 26, Kingston was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft.[68] At Extreme Rules, Kingston defeated Sheamus in a Tables match to win his second United States Championship.[69] On the May 9 episode of Raw, Kingston successfully defended his championship against Jack Swagger.[70] At Capitol Punishment, Kingston lost the title to Dolph Ziggler.[71] Kingston faced Ziggler in a rematch for the title on the June 20 episode of Raw in a 2-out-of-3 falls match, but Ziggler retained the championship as the match ended with Ziggler being disqualified.[72]
Air Boom and teaming with R-Truth (2011–2012)
On the August 22 episode Raw, Kingston won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Evan Bourne, when they defeated David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty.[73] On the August 29 Raw, the duo was called "Air Boom", and they had their first successful title defense when they defeated Otunga and McGillicutty in a rematch.[74] At Night of Champions, Air Boom retained their titles against The Miz and R-Truth by disqualification after Miz attacked a WWE referee.[75] At Hell in a Cell and Vengeance, Air Boom retained their titles twice against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger.[76][77] Bourne was suspended throughout November for his first violation of the company's Wellness policy.[78] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Air Boom successfully retained their titles against Primo & Epico.[79] On January 15, 2012, Air Boom lost the Tag Team titles to Primo and Epico at a house show.[80] The following night on Raw, Air Boom were awarded a rematch but failed to regain the titles.[81] The following day, Bourne was suspended again for his second violation of WWE's Wellness Policy.[82]
At Royal Rumble, 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.[83] At Elimination Chamber, Kingston failed to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated third by Chris Jericho.[84] Kingston then began teaming with R-Truth. On the February 27 Raw, Kingston and Truth failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Primo and Epico in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match, also involving Ziggler and Swagger. On the April 30 Raw, Kingston and Truth defeated Primo and Epico to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. At Over the Limit, Kingston and R-Truth successfully defended the titles against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger and then again in a rematch on the May 28 Raw.[85][86]
The following night on Raw, they successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young).[87] At SummerSlam, Kingston and Truth defeated the Prime Time Players to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.[88] At Night of Champions, Kingston and Truth lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Daniel Bryan and Kane[89] and failed to regain the titles from the new champions the following night on Raw.[90] Both Kingston and Truth were defeated by The Prime Time Players in the first round of the Tag Team Tournament to determine the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships, causing both Kingston and Truth to disband as a team and each returning to being single competitors.
United States Champion (2012–2014)
On the October 17 episode of Main Event, Kingston defeated The Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time in his career.[91] Kingston then began feuding with Wade Barrett, when the two were placed on opposing teams in the traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match on November 18 at Survivor Series.[92] Kingston's team, led by Mick Foley, was defeated by Barrett's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, during which he was eliminated by Barrett.[93] The following night on Raw, Kingston was defeated by Barrett in a non-title match.[94] Kingston, still the Intercontinental Champion, received a shot at the United States Championship on the December 3 episode of Raw against Barrett, R-Truth, and the champion Antonio Cesaro in a fatal four-way match, but was unsuccessful after Cesaro pinned Kingston for the win.[95] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston successfully defended his title against Barrett.[96] Two weeks later on the December 31 episode of Raw, Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Barrett, ending his reign at 74 days.[97] Kingston received his rematch four days later on SmackDown, but lost the match.[98] On January 27, 2013, at the Royal Rumble, Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match, and after eliminating Tensai, he was pushed out of the ring, but 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.[99][100]
On the April 15 episode of Raw, Kingston defeated Antonio Cesaro to win his third United States Championship[101] but lost it on May 19 at Extreme Rules to Dean Ambrose.[102] On the May 31 episode of SmackDown, Kingston was written out of television, as he was undergoing elbow surgery and was expected to be out for four to eight weeks.[103] Kingston returned from injury on the August 5 episode of Raw, defeating Fandango.[104] At Night of Champions, Kingston faced Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship, but was defeated.[105] In the following weeks, Bray Wyatt would start delivering cryptic messages to Kingston after his matches,[106][107] leading to a match between the two at Battleground, which Wyatt won.[108] On the November 18 episode of Raw, Kingston teamed with The Miz to face The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger), but they lost after Miz turned on Kingston.[109] This led to a match at Survivor Series, where Kingston was defeated by The Miz.[110] In the upcoming weeks, the feud continued and culminated in a no disqualification match between the two at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which Kingston won.[111]
At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, 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.[112] At WrestleMania XXX, Kingston competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he would have a standout moment in the match, getting thrown of over the turnbuckles by Cesaro and to avoid elimination by keeping his toes on the steel steps, he would later be eliminated by Sheamus.[113] At Battleground, Kingston competed in the Battle Royal for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed to win the match.[114]
Formation of The New Day (2014–2018)
During the summer of 2014, Kingston was put in a team with Big E, and Xavier Woods usually as manager.[115] In November, WWE began airing vignettes for Kingston, Woods and Big E, with the stable now being billed as The New Day.[116][117] The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Curtis Axel, Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil.[118] They started a brief feud with Gold and Stardust, which Kingston and Big E defeated Gold and Stardust at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show on December 14.[119] At the WrestleMania 31 pre-show on March 29, 2015, they failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in a fatal four-way match as well as being eliminated by Big Show in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
On the April 6 episode of Raw, The New Day turned heel, which would mark Kingston's first heel turn in WWE ever since debuting in 2008.[120] At Extreme Rules, Kingston and Big E defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championships.[121] At Payback, The New Day defeated Kidd and Cesaro to retain their titles. At Elimination Chamber, The New Day defeated Kidd and Cesaro, The Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, Los Matadores, and the Prime Time Players to retain their titles in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match; all three members were allowed to compete in a pre-match stipulation.[122] However, they lost the titles at Money in the Bank against The Prime Time Players.[123] However, they would regain the titles at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, The Dudley Boyz made their WWE return and attacked the New Day with Woods being put through a table with the 3D. New Day lost to the Dudley Boyz via disqualification at Night of Champions but retained their tag team titles. The next month, at Hell in a Cell, they defeated the Dudley Boyz to retain their titles. At TLC, The New Day retained the title against The Usos and The Lucha Dragons in a Triple threat tag team ladder match.[124] The New Day retained the titles at Royal Rumble against The Usos.
At Fastlane, The New Day turned face by mocking The League of Nations, starting a feud. They retained their titles at Roadblock against The League of Nations. At WrestleMania 32, The New Day were defeated by The League of Nations in a six-man tag team match.[125] The following night on Raw, they successfully retained their title against The League of Nations, ending their feud.[126] After WrestleMania, they retained their title at Extreme Rules against The Vaudevillains, and at Money in the Bank against Gallows and Anderson, The Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a Fatal-4 Way Tag Team match.
On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Kingston, along with his fellow The New Day teammates, was drafted to Raw. Three days later, on July 22, Kingston, along with Big E and Xavier Woods, became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, breaking the record of 331 days previously set by Paul London and Brian Kendrick. After SmackDown established the SmackDown Tag Team Championship after the brand split, the titles held by The New Day were renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship. They would retain the titles against Gallows and Anderson at SummerSlam and Clash of Champions. Their reign ended at Roadblock: End of the Line, where they lost the title to Cesaro and Sheamus, thus ending their record breaking championship reign at 483 days.[127]
On January 29, 2017, Kingston participated 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. Instead, he fell directly behind the ring post, grabbed on to the top rope of it and managed to hang on. The New Day were revealed to be the hosts of WrestleMania 33. The night after WrestleMania on Raw, The New Day issued an open challenge to any team which was accepted by The Revival, who were moved up from NXT, and lost to them. After the match, Revival attacked Kofi Kingston. On April 10, it was announced that Kingston had suffered an ankle injury due to the attack of Revival which would require surgery.[128]
On April 11, 2017, The New Day were moved to the SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up.[129] The New Day debuted on "Talking Smack", the post-show for SmackDown Live on May 23, however, they did not wrestle or make an appearance on SmackDown Live itself due to Kingston's injury.[130] The New Day made their official return on May 30 episode of SmackDown Live, announcing their objective to defeat The Usos and win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The two teams faced off at Money in the Bank, where Big E and Kingston emerged victorious when The Usos purposely got themselves counted out, thus keeping their titles. A rematch took place at Battleground, where Kingston and Woods were successful in capturing the titles, thus making Kingston the first wrestler to hold the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship (both its previous and current incarnations), and the original World Tag Team Championship. A month later at the SummerSlam pre-show, however, The New Day (represented by Big E and Woods) dropped the titles back to The Usos, ending their reign at 28 days. On September 12 at the episode promoted as Sin City SmackDown, Kingston and Big E represented New Day and defeated The Usos to win back the championship for their second reign in a "Sin City Street Fight", but lost them again to The Usos at Hell in a Cell. On the October 23 episode of Raw, The New Day along with other talent of SmackDown ambushed the Raw locker room. They again appeared on the November 6 episode of Raw in the crowd, which led to distraction of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and costing them the tag titles. On the November 14 episode of SmackDown Live, The Shield led an attack with Raw Superstars and invaded SmackDown similar to the one led by SmackDown and attacked everyone including The New Day. At Survivor Series, The New Day was defeated by The Shield.[131] The New Day failed to regain the titles from The Usos at Clash of Champions in a Fatal-4-Way tag team match also involving the team of Rusev and Aiden English, and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin.[132]
At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, Kingston entered the match as the 16th entrant, but was eliminated by Andrade "Cien" Almas. At Fastlane, The New Day faced The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, but went to a no contest after inference from The Bludgeon Brothers.[133] Two weeks later, it was confirmed that at WrestleMania 34, The New Day would face The Usos and The Bludgeon Brothers in a Triple Threat tag team match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships.[134] The New Day failed to capture the titles at the WrestleMania, which were won by The Bludgeon Brothers. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live, The New Day were defeated by The Usos in a match to determine which team would challenge The Bludgeon Brothers at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. The New Day competed in a tag team tournament, defeating Sanity in the first round, while The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) defeated The Usos. The New Day then defeated The Bar the following week on SmackDown Live to earn the right to face The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam, where they won the match by disqualification, meaning The Bludgeon Brothers retained their titles. Two days later on SmackDown Live, however, The New Day defeated The Bludgeon Brothers in a no disqualification match to capture the titles for a third time.[135] At Hell in a Cell, The New Day successfully defeated Rusev and Aiden English to retain the titles.[136] A few weeks later on October 6, at Super Show-Down, The New Day again retained their titles by defeating The Bar.[137] At SmackDown 1000, The New Day lost their titles against The Bar.[138] They would fail to regain the titles at Crown Jewel event.[139]
WWE Champion (2018–2019)
Two weeks later, they made up part of Team SmackDown in a 5-on-5 tag-team elimination match at Survivor Series, in which they defeated Team Raw.[140] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, The New Day failed to win the championship from The Bar, in a triple-threat tag team match, also involving The Usos.[141] At Royal Rumble, Kingston was eliminated by Drew McIntyre.[142]
On the February 12 episode of SmackDown Live, Kingston was selected to replace Mustafa Ali in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay–per–view after Ali suffered an injury.[143] While Kingston lost the Elimination Chamber match against Bryan, his good performance during a one-hour gauntlet match at SmackDown[144] and the Elimination Chamber[145] translated in a huge support by the public. The following months, Kingston was involved in a storyline during the road to WrestleMania, known as KofiMania, where he tried to win the WWE Championship, but Mr. McMahon put obstacles. At Fastlane, Kingston was apparently granted a title match by McMahon, but it was instead a handicap match against The Bar, which Kingston subsequently lost.[146][147][148][149] After Fastlane, Mr. McMahon told Kingston he would earn a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania if he beat Sheamus, Cesaro, Rowan, Samoa Joe, and Randy Orton in another gauntlet match,[150] but after Kingston succeeded in beating the five men, McMahon inserted Daniel Bryan in the match who would defeat him.[151] In what was the last chance for 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 Kingston his championship match against Bryan at WrestleMania 35.[152][153] At WrestleMania, Kingston defeated Bryan and won the WWE Championship for the first time, becoming the first African-born WWE Champion in history, as well as WWE's 30th Triple Crown and 20th Grand Slam champion.[154][155][156]
Kingston then successfully defended the title against Daniel Bryan on the May 6 episode of Raw,[157] and against Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank.[158] Kingston then started a feud with the returning Dolph Ziggler, retaining the title at Super ShowDown in a singles match[159] and at Stomping Grounds in a steel cage match.[160] At Extreme Rules, he retained the championship against Samoa Joe,[161][162] while Big E and Woods won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a record-tying fourth time for New Day (which also technically made Kingston a double champion, as WWE counts all of New Day's Tag Team Championship reigns as individual reigns for all three members under the Freebird rule).[163][164] At Smackville, he successfully defended the title against Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe in a triple threat match.[165] Kingston defended his title against Randy Orton at SummerSlam, where the match ended in a double count out.[166] The two had a rematch at Clash of Champions, where Kingston was victorious.[167] On the September 17 episode of SmackDown Live, Brock Lesnar confronted Kingston and challenged him to a championship match on the October 4 episode of SmackDown, which Kingston accepted.[168] At the 20th Anniversary of SmackDown on October 4, Lesnar defeated Kingston in 8 seconds to win the championship, ending Kingston's reign at 180 days.[169]
Return to the tag team division (2019–present)
After losing the title, Kingston returned to compete in tag team matches, where he teamed with Big E and Woods to defeat The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) on the following week on SmackDown.[170] At Crown Jewel, Kingston and Big E competed in a tag team turmoil match for the WWE Tag Team World Cup, but they failed to win the match.[171] On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Kingston and Big E defeated The Revival to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, becoming four-time champions as a team, and record fifth reign for The New Day as a stable.[172] At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston and Big E successfully defended the titles against The Revival in a ladder match.[173] On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble, Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Brock Lesnar.[174] At Super ShowDown, Kingston and Big E lost the championships against John Morrison and The Miz[175] and failed to regain the titles at Elimination Chamber.[176]
At WrestleMania 36, 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, also involving Jimmy Uso, who represented The Usos.[177][178] A rematch took place on the April 17 episode of SmackDown, where Big E, who represented The New Day, won the titles back from Miz, who represented himself and Morrison, in a triple threat match, also involving Jey Uso, who represented The Usos, and this makes The New Day six-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions.[179] At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on July 19, Kingston and Big E lost their titles to the team of Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura in a tables match after being powerbombed through two tables.[180] while Kingston would suffer a legitimate back injury, thus being out for nearly three months.[181]
On the October 9 episode of SmackDown, both Kingston and Woods returned from injury and defeated Cesaro and Nakamura, winning their seventh SmackDown Tag Team Championship.[182] After the match, as part of the 2020 Draft, Kingston and Woods were drafted to the Raw brand, splitting them from Big E, who remained on the SmackDown brand.[183] On the October 12 episode of Raw, New Day would exchange tag team titles with Raw Tag Team Championship holders The Street Profits, who were drafted to SmackDown. This would mark Kingston and Woods' third reign with the Raw titles as a team (fifth for Kingston individually), New Day's 10th tag team championship reign in WWE as a team, and Kingston's 13th tag team championship reign individually.[184] On December 20, at TLC, Kingston and Woods lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin).[185] In January 2021, Kingston stated that he was sidelined with a jaw injury.[186] Kingston returned to the ring on the February 8 episode of Raw, teaming with Woods to defeat Retribution (T-Bar and Mace).[187] At Elimination Chamber, Kingston competed in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, eliminating Randy Orton, before being eliminated by Sheamus.[188] On the March 15 episode of Raw, Kingston and Woods would defeat Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin to win back the Raw Tag Team Championship, the New Day's 11th tag team championship, and Kingston's 14th individually. They would hold the championship until WrestleMania 37 where they lost the titles to AJ Styles and Omos.
On the May 17 episode of Raw, Kingston defeated Randy Orton, and then WWE Champion Bobby Lashley on the same night. The following week on Raw, he faced Drew McIntyre in a singles match with a stipulation in which the winner will face Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell, and the match ended in a no contest. A rematch between him and McIntyre was scheduled on Raw next week with the same stakes, where Kingston would lose. On the June 21 episode of Raw, Kingston interrupted Lashley and challenged him for the title, Lashley accepted and the match was scheduled for Money in the Bank.[189] At the event, he lost the match.[190]
As a part of the 2021 Draft, Kingston and Woods were drafted to the SmackDown brand.[191] In October, Kingston entered the King of the Ring tournament, where he lost to Jinder Mahal in the first round.[192] Woods, however, went on to win the King of the Ring tournament. Woods in turn changed his ring name to "King Woods",[193] and he knighted Kingston as "Sir Kofi Kingston", the Hand of the King.[194]
Other media
Kingston, under the nickname Mr. 24/7, frequently appears on fellow WWE wrestler, Xavier Woods' YouTube channel UpUpDownDown. In May 2019, he defeated UpUpDownDown Champion Gentleman Jack Gallagher in a game of Mortal Kombat 3 to win Gallagher's championship.[195] Kingston lost the title one month later to Jey Uso in a game of Tetris.[196]
In 2012, he guest-starred in an episode of Disney XD's karate sitcom Kickin' It.[197] In 2016, he appeared with his New Day teammates on a Christmas Family themed Let's Make a Deal.[198] In 2017, he published The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It with fellow New Day members Big E and Xavier Woods.[199]
Along with Xavier Woods, Kingston appeared on episode #33 of Smosh Pit's, from the Smosh family on YouTube, Try Not to Laugh Series. The Smosh members joining them were: Ian Hecox, Shayne Topp, Damien Haas, and Mari Takahashi.[200]
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Countdown | Himself | Uncredited |
2016 | Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon | Himself | Voice |
2021 | The Main Event | Himself | Cameo |
2021 | Escape the Undertaker | Himself | Main star[201] |
Video games
Year | Title |
---|---|
2008 | WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 |
2009 | WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 |
2010 | WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 |
2011 | WWE All Stars |
WWE '12 | |
2012 | WWE '13[202] |
2013 | WWE 2K14[203] |
2014 | WWE 2K15[204] |
WWE SuperCard | |
2015 | WWE 2K16[205] |
2016 | WWE 2K17[206] |
2017 | WWE 2K18[207] |
WWE Champions | |
WWE Mayhem | |
WWE Tap Mania | |
2018 | WWE 2K19[208] |
2019 | WWE 2K20 |
2020 | The King of Fighters All Star[209] |
WWE 2K Battlegrounds | |
Gears 5 | |
2022 | WWE 2K22 |
Personal life
Sarkodie-Mensah married Kori Campfield on September 11, 2010. Their son Kai was born in 2013. They welcomed another son, Orion Kingsley on April 28, 2016.[210][211][14] Their daughter Lotus Selene was born on November 23, 2021.[212]
Sarkodie-Mensah's favorite wrestler growing up was Shawn Michaels.[213] In a June 2019 interview, he stated that Dolph Ziggler was "one of my favorite opponents of all-time, if not my favorite. Not to toot my own horn or our horn, our matches have always been off the chain. We have really good chemistry."[214]
Sarkodie-Mensah has tattoos of Ghanaian Adinkra symbols along his spine.[215][216] His first name (Kofi) is the traditional name in Ghana for people born on a Friday.[217]
Championships and accomplishments
- CBS Sports
- Best Moment/Angle of the Year (2019) – Winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35[218]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Tag Team of the Year (2012) with R-Truth
- Tag Team of the Year (2015, 2016) with Big E and Xavier Woods
- Ranked No. 4 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019[219]
- Ranked No. 8 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with Big E and Xavier Woods[220]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Gimmick (2015) – The New Day, shared with Big E and Xavier Woods[221]
- WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Championship (1 time)[222]
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 times)[35]
- WWE United States Championship (3 times)[223]
- WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (6 times)[lower-alpha 2] – with Evan Bourne (1), R-Truth (1), Big E and Xavier Woods (2) and Xavier Woods (2)[224]
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Big E and Xavier Woods (6) and Xavier Woods (1)[225]
- World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with CM Punk[226]
- Thirteenth Grand Slam Champion (under current format; Twentieth overall)
- Thirtieth Triple Crown Champion
- Bragging Rights Trophy (2010) – with Team SmackDown (Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Edge and Tyler Reks)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2010)[227]
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament (2018) – with Big E and Xavier Woods[228]
- Slammy Award (2 times)
- WWE Year-End Award (2 times)
Notes
- Kingston's Jamaican gimmick actually predates his tenure in WWE, and was developed when he was training in Boston. He had been constantly listening to Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock around this time, and decided to test out a Jamaican character in promo class with guest trainer Ric Flair. Shortly afterwards, he had a tryout at his training school in which WWE talent scouts noted that the Jamaican character had not been done before.[28]
- Big E, Kingston, and Woods defended the title under the Freebird Rule.
References
- "Kofi Kingston's WWE profile". WWE. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
- Xamin, Mark (August 28, 2008). "Kofi Kingston". Slam! Wrestling Bios and Stories. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
- Chris Bergeron (August 16, 2006). "Wrestle mania". The Milford Daily News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
- "Kofi Nahaje Kingston". Chaotic Wrestling Profiles. Chaotic Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- Benigno, Anthony; Murphy, Ryan; Artus, Matthew (July 23, 2016). "The New Day claims longest WWE Tag Team Championship reign of all time". WWE. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- Laboon, Jeff (September 25, 2018). "Kofi Kingston breaks record for most days as Tag Team Champion". WWE. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- Chipepo, Elias (September 4, 2017). "Africa: WWE Superstar Wants More African Atheletes [sic] to Join Sport" – via AllAfrica.
- "WWE Championship". WWE.
- "Universal Championship". WWE.
- "World Heavyweight Championship". WWE.
- Dailey, Ryan (July 23, 2016). "Q&A with WWE superstar Kofi Kingston". Tallahassee Democrat. Gannett Company. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
- Guillot, Gene (February 6, 2014). "WWE superstar Kofi Kingston spent part of his youth in New Orleans". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- "WWE on Twitter – There's a lot to celebrate today if you're @TrueKofi ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KOFI KINGSTON!". August 15, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2019 – via Twitter.
- Mwangi, Winnie (May 30, 2019). "Kofi Kingston wife, kids, nationality, wrestling career" – via Tuko.
- Akwei, Ismail (May 30, 2019). "WWE star Kofi Kingston returns home to Ghana after 26 years [Photos]" – via Face2Face Africa.
- Carraggi, Mike (September 26, 2009). "Winchester star reborn". Boston.com – via The Boston Globe.
- Goffee, Leslie (July 2, 2008). "Wrestling's Ghanaian from Ghana". BBC News. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
- "DSW results – 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- "OVW results – 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- "DSW results – 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- "OVW results – 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
- "RAW results – March 5, 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
- "RAW results – March 26, 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
- Simpson, Thomas (May 6, 2007). "WWE house show report 5-5 Greenville, SC". Wrestling Observer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- "WWE house show report 5-6 Roanoke". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. May 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- "Florida Championship Wrestling results – 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
- Rote, Andrew (December 6, 2007). "ECW Results 12/06/2007". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
- Barrasso, Justin (July 6, 2020). "What's in a Name? For Some Wrestlers, It Can Be Everything". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- Bluth, Michael (December 7, 2007). "Kofi Kingston Debuts On WWE TV: News On Who He Is". Rajah.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Medalis, Kara (January 22, 2008). "Ain't no stoppin' him". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
- "Big Red Champion". World Wrestling Entertainment. March 30, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
- "ECW results – May 20, 2008". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
- "Mark Henry makes a huge statement". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- "Official 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 25, 2008.
- "WWE Intercontinental Championship history". WWE. June 29, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- "WWE Night of Champions 2008". Online World Of Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- "SummerSlam 2008". Results. Online World of Wrestling. August 17, 2008. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
- "Punk possibly unable to compete?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "Just Desserts". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
- "Team Orton def. Team Batista (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match)". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 13, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "History Of The World Unified Tag Team Championship – The Miz & John Morrison". World Wrestling Entertainment. December 13, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
- Bajpai, Anutosh (June 19, 2019). "Kofi Kingston On His Tag Team Championship Reign With CM Punk". Sescoops. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- "Edge wins World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. February 15, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "In Your House". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
- "CM Punk wins Money in the Bank Ladder Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 5, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "Crime against nature". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
- "United States Champion Kofi Kingston wins Fatal Four Way Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. June 7, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- "United States Champion Kofi Kingston def. Primo, MVP, Carlito, Jack Swagger and The Miz (Six Pack Challenge)". World Wrestling Entertainment. July 26, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- "United States Champion Kofi Kingston def. The Miz". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 4, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "United States Champion Kofi Kingston def. The Miz and Jack Swagger (Triple Threat Match)". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 4, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- Golden, Hunter (October 5, 2009). "Raw Results – 10/5/09". Wrestle View. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
- Nemer, Paul (October 19, 2009). "Raw Results – 10/19/09".
- "Kofi Kingston Explains Why He Dropped The Jamiacan Accent". Wrestlezone. October 31, 2009.
- "Team SmackDown def. Team Raw". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 25, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- "John Cena def. WWE Champion Randy Orton (One Hour, Anything Goes WWE Iron Man Match)". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 25, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- "Team Kingston def. Team Orton (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match)". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 22, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- "Texas two-stomp". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
- "Randy Orton def. Kofi Kingston". World Wrestling Entertainment. December 13, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "Tyson's rope=a-dope". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
- "The new faces of SmackDown". World Wrestling Entertainment.
- "With help from above". World Wrestling Entertainment.
- "Kofi Kingston def. Drew McIntyre (New Intercontinental Champion)". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- "Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston def. Drew McIntyre". World Wrestling Entertainment. June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "Kane won SmackDown Money in the Bank Ladder Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. July 18, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- Hillhouse, Dave (August 21, 2010). "Smackdown: Time for 2010, part two". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- Tucker, Benjamin (March 22, 2011). "WWE News: Smackdown spoilers 3/25 – Quick Smackdown results for Friday's show including a significant development". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
- "Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella & Kofi Kingston def. The Corre". WWE. April 3, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- "WWE News: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of WWE Supplemental Draft – Daniel Bryan first draft pick". Pro Wrestling Torch. April 26, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
- Murphy, Ryan. "Kofi's Red, White and Boom". WWE.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 5/9: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live Raw – Three-way #1 contender match, Over the Limit hype". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
- Passero, Mitch. "Red, White and Blond". WWE.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 6/20: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live three-hour Raw – "Power to the People" theme, PPV fall-out". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 8/22: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Cena-Punk #1 contender re-match, new tag champions, lies & conspiracies". PW Torch. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 8/29: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw on USA Network". PW Torch. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
- Adkins, Greg. "WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne def. The Miz & R-Truth by Disqualification". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Hell In A Cell PPV Results 10/2: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- Caldwell, James. "Caldwell's WWE Vengeance PPV Results 10/23: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Triple H & Punk, Cena vs. Del Rio, Henry vs. Show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- "Evan Bourne suspended". WWE. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
- Melok, Bobby (December 18, 2011). "WWE Tag Team Champions Air Boom def. Primo and Epico". WWE. Retrieved December 18, 2011.
- "Primo & Epico crowned WWE Tag Team Champions at WWE Live Event!". WWE. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 1/16: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Kane-Cena latest, Jericho Week 3, Clay Week 2". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
- "WWE Suspends Evan Bourne". WWE. January 17, 2012. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE ROYAL RUMBLE REPORT 1/29: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Rumble match, Punk-Ziggler, Cena-Kane, steel cage". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
- Herrera, Tom (February 19, 2012). "WWE Champion CM Punk won the Raw Elimination Chamber Match". WWE. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
- "WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler". WWE. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- "Raw SuperShow results: The World's Largest Athlete goes on a rampage". WWE.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 7/16: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw #998 – MITB PPV fall-out, Cena's announcement". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE SUMMERSLAM PPV REPORT 8/19: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Lesnar vs. Triple H, Punk vs. Cena vs. Show". www.pwtorch.com.
- "Zack Ryder won a Pre-Show Battle Royal to become No. 1 Contender for the United States Championship". WWE. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/17: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – PPV fall-out, Cena & Sheamus vs. Punk & Del Rio "super main event"". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CUPACH'S WWE MAIN EVENT RESULTS 10/17: Kingston captures IC Title, WM29 preview?, Mike's Reax". www.pwtorch.com.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 11/18: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Punk-Cena-Ryback". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 11/18: Complete "virtual time" coverage of live PPV – Punk-Cena-Ryback". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 11/19: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Survivor Series fall-out". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 12/3: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – McMahon returns, Punk takes a Test". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE TLC PPV RESULTS 12/16: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of final 2012 PPV – Cena vs. Ziggler main event, Shield makes a statement". www.pwtorch.com.
- Murphy, Ryan (December 29, 2012). "Wade Barrett wins the Intercontinental Championship". Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- "PWTorch.com – PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1/4: Complete coverage of Friday night show, including Sheamus & Orton vs. Big Show & Cesaro (updated w/Box Score)". www.pwtorch.com.
- Knight, Cain A. (November 20, 2013). "Match Times: WWE Royal Rumble 2013 Edition". Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- "30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 4/15: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw – Lesnar returns, Punk walks away, WM29 fallout, new U.S. champion, more". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE EXTREME RULES PPV RESULTS 5/19 (Hour 1): Jericho vs. Fandango, U.S. Title change, Strap match". www.pwtorch.com.
- Jason Namako (May 29, 2013). "Kofi Kingston out one to two months with an elbow injury".
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 8/5 (Hour 3): The Shield vs. Cena & Bryan & Orton main event, Ziggler vs. Big E." www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE NOC PPV RESULTS 9/15 (Hour 1): Del Rio vs. RVD World Title match, plus IC & Divas Title matches, Hunter-Heyman opens the PPV". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE RAW RESULTS 9/30 (Hour 1): Punk opens the show, Los Matadores debut, Kofi, more". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – CALDWELL'S WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS 10/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of Big Show getting a payday vs. The Shield, final Battleground PPV hype, more". www.pwtorch.com.
- "PWTorch.com – BATTLEGROUND PPV RESULTS 10/6 (Hour 2): Rhodes Bros. vs. The Shield in a big tag match". www.pwtorch.com.
- "Raw: November 18, 2013". wwe.com. November 18, 2013.
- "Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz (Survivor Series Kickoff Match)". WWE. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
- Caldwell, James. "CALDWELL'S WWE TLC PPV RESULTS 12/15". PWTorch. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- "Batista won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
- "Andre the Giant memorial battle royal". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- Clapp, John. "Intercontinental Championship Battleground Battle Royal". WWE. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
- Tedesco, Mike. "WWE Raw results – 7/21/14 (Brock Lesnar returns)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- "SHOW RESULTS – 8/22 WWE in Stockton, Calif.: Cena's in-ring return post-Summerslam, three title matches, more". PWTorch.com. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
- "SHOW RESULTS – 9/13 WWE in Springfield, Mass.: Cena returns to college in main event, Ushow vs. Wyatts, NXT Title, more". PWTorch.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- Tedesco, Mike (November 29, 2014). "WWE Smackdown Results – 11/28/14 (Daniel Bryan appears)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- Artus, Matthew (December 14, 2014). "The New Day def. Gold & Stardust". WWE.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
- "Shows". WWE.
- "Extreme Rules 2015". WWE.
- Caldwell, James (May 31, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WWE E. CHAMBER PPV REPORT 5/31: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of WWE Title match, Cena vs. Owens, two Elimination Chamber matches, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
- Burdick, Michael. "WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Prime Time Players". WWE. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
- "WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2015 results". WWE.
- Chiari, Mike. "New Day vs. League of Nations: Winner and Reaction from WWE WrestleMania 32". Bleacher Report.
- "WWE Raw results, April 4, 2016: Who emerged from Fatal 4-Way as the No. 1 contender?". WWE.
- Tedesco, Mike (October 31, 2016). "WWE RAW Results – 10/31/16 (Live from Hartford, Goldberg returns, Hell in a Cell fallout, Survivor Series teams)". WrestleView. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- "WWE on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
- Rob Goldberg. "The New Day sent to WWE SmackDown in Superstar Shake-up". Bleacher Report.
- "The New Day arrives to Team Blue: WWE Talking Smack, May 23, 2017 (WWE Network Exclusive)". May 23, 2017. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube.
- "Full Survivor Series 2017 results". WWE.
- Dilbert, Ryan. "WWE Clash of Champions 2017 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report.
- "WWE Fastlane: The New Day Vs. The Usos (SmackDown Tag Team Title Match)". Wrestling Inc. March 11, 2018.
- Anthony Benigno. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers (Triple Threat Match)". WWE.
- Chiari, Mike. "New Day Upsets Bludgeon Brothers to Win WWE SmackDown Tag Titles". Bleacher Report.
- Powell, Jason (September 16, 2018). "Powell's WWE Hell in a Cell 2018 Kickoff Show coverage: New Day vs. Rusev and Aiden English for the Smackdown Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- Bristout, Ralph. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day def. The Bar". WWE. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
- Wade Keller (October 16, 2018). "10/9 WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: Keller's report on Smackdown 1000 including Evolution reuniting, Rey Mysterio vs. Shinsuke, Miz vs. Rusev, Batista, Ric Flair". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- Melok, Bobby. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar def. The New Day". WWE. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- Powell, Jason (November 18, 2018). "Powell's WWE Survivor Series 2018 Kickoff Show coverage: Raw vs. Smackdown 10-team Survivor Series elimination match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- Benigno, Anthony. "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar def. The Usos and The New Day (Triple Threat Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
- Powell, Jason (January 27, 2019). "Powell's WWE Royal Rumble 2019 live review: Men's and Women's Royal Rumble matches, Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor for the WWE Universal Championship, Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Championship, Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- Barnett, Jake (February 12, 2019). "2/12 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Daniel Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles to determine who will enter last in the Elimination Chamber match, McMiz TV with The Usos, final hype for Elimination Chamber". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
- Trionfo, Richard (February 12, 2019). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: WHO IS THE LAST IN THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH?, WHO IS FIRST IN THE WOMEN'S TAG MATCH, AND MORE". PWInsider.
- Trionfo, Richard (February 17, 2019). "WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV REPORT: TWO CHAMBER MATCHES, SIX TITLE MATCHES, DID BECKY LYNCH DO ANYTHING, AND MORE". PWInsider.
- Trionfo, Richard (March 10, 2019). "COMPLETE WWE FASTLANE PPV COVERAGE: THE SHIELD ONE LAST TIME, WRESTLEMANIA IS TAKING SHAPE, MANY TITLE MATCHES, AND MANY ELIAS APPEARANCES". PWInsider.
- "The Bar def. Kofi Kingston (2-on-1 Handicap Match)". WWE. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
- Johnson, Mike (February 18, 2019). "KOFI KINGSTON RESPONDS TO LAST NIGHT'S FAN SUPPORT, BECKY ON IRELAND, BIANCA DISCUSSES WHAT SHE'S OVERCOME TO MAKE IT IN PRO WRESTLING, PEDRO MORALES AND MORE". PWInsider.
- Johnson, Mike (February 18, 2019). "THE WOMEN WHO REALLY UPPED THEIR GAME LAST NIGHT, KOFI KINGSTON'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, WHAT SHOULD BE NEXT, ENOUGH WITH BARON VS. BRAUN, WWE HAS TO GO WITH THE THREE WAY AT WRESTLEMANIA NOW & MORE: LOOKING AT THE 2019 WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV". PWInsider.
- Barnett, Jake (March 19, 2019). "3/19 Barnett's WWE Smackdown Live TV Review: Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Rowan in a gauntlet match, The Miz addresses Shane McMahon's attack, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. The Iiconcis". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- Trionfo, Richard (March 19, 2019). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: THE GAUNTLET AND MORE". PWInsider.
- Trionfo, Richard (March 26, 2019). "WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT: DANIEL BRYAN HAS AN OPPONENT, WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH, NEW STIPULATIONS FOR WRESTLEMANIA". PWInsider.
- "WWE SmackDown LIVE results, March 26, 2019: The New Day run the Gauntlet for good, granting Kofi his WrestleMania opportunity". WWE.
- Carapola, Stuart (April 7, 2019). "COMPLETE WRESTLEMANIA 35 COVERAGE: NEW CHAMPIONS ARE CROWNED, TRIPLE H PUTS HIS CAREER ON THE LINE, DOES KOFI GET HIS MOMENT, THE WOMEN MAKE HISTORY WITH ALL THE GOLD ON THE LINE, AND MORE". PWInsider.
- Powell, Jason (April 7, 2019). "WrestleMania 35 results: Powell's live review of Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw and Smackdown Women's Titles, Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship, Batista vs. Triple H, AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- Konuwa, Alfred (April 7, 2019). "WWE WrestleMania 35 Results: Kofi Kingston Makes History, Wins WWE Title". Forbes. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- Powell, Jason (May 6, 2019). "5/6 WWE Raw Results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns returning to Raw, the build to Money in the Bank continues". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- Benigno, Anthony. "WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Kevin Owens". WWE. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- Melok, Bobby (June 7, 2019). "WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler". WWE. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
- Powell, Jason (June 23, 2019). "WWE Stomping Grounds results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin with a special referee for the WWE Universal Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler in a cage match for the WWE Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans for the Raw Women's Title, Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet the U.S. Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- Powell, Jason (July 14, 2019). "WWE Extreme Rules results: Powell's live review of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch vs. Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans in an Extreme Rules match for the WWE Universal Championship and the Raw Women's Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- Benigno, Anthony. "WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Samoa Joe". WWE. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
- "Why The New Day is the greatest faction in WWE history". WWE.
- Benigno, Anthony (December 4, 2019). "Kofi Kingston surpasses 1,000 days as Tag Team Champion". WWE. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
- MacDonald, Josiah (July 18, 2019). "WWE Smackville live results: Kingston vs. Joe vs. Ziggler". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
- Van Boom, Daniel (August 12, 2019). "WWE SummerSlam 2019: Results, new champion, match rankings and full recap". CNET. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- Benigno, Anthony. "WWE Champion Kofi Kingston def. Randy Orton". WWE.com. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
- Pappolla, Ryan. "The New Day def. Randy Orton & The Revival; Brock Lesnar emerges to challenge Kingston to a WWE Title Match". WWE.com. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- Pappolla, Ryan. "WWE Champion Brock Lesnar def. Kofi Kingston before Cain Velasquez emerged and took down The Beast". WWE.com. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- Bath, Dave (October 11, 2019). "WWE SmackDown live results: The draft begins". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- Melok, Bobby (October 31, 2019). "The O.C. win the Tag Team Turmoil match to capture the WWE Tag Team World Cup and become the best tag team in the world". WWE. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- Johnson, Mike (November 8, 2019). "SPOILER: TITLE CHANGE IN UK". PWInsider.
- Benigno, Anthony (December 15, 2019). "SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day def. The Revival (Ladder Match)". WWE. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
- Powell, Jason (January 26, 2020). "WWE Royal Rumble results: Powell's live review of the Royal Rumble matches, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan in a strap match for the WWE Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- Garretson, Jordan (February 27, 2020). "The Miz & John Morrison def. The New Day to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Titles". WWE. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
- Oestriecher, Blake (March 8, 2020). "WWE Elimination Chamber 2020 Results: Kofi Kingston Continues His Dramatic Fall Since WrestleMania 35". Forbes. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- Garretson, Jordan (April 4, 2020). "SmackDown Tag Team Champion John Morrison def. Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso in a Triple Threat Ladder Match". WWE. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (April 4, 2020). "WrestleMania 36 results: Powell's live review of night one featuring Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship, Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler for the Raw Women's Championship, Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens". Pro Wreslting Dot Net. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- "Friday Night SmackDown Results: April 17, 2020". WWE. April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- Chiari, Mike. "Cesaro and Nakamura Beat New Day to Win Tag Titles at WWE Extreme Rules 2020". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (July 24, 2020). "7/24 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus in a Bar Fight, Naomi on Miz TV, Sasha Banks and Bayley address the championship landscape". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (October 9, 2020). "10/9 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the 2020 WWE Draft night one, Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women's Championship, The Fiend vs. Kevin Owens, Big E vs. Sheamus in a Falls Count Anywhere match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- WWE.com Staff (October 9, 2020). "See all the results from the 2020 Draft". WWE. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (October 12, 2020). "10/12 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of the 2020 WWE Draft night two, Dual-Brand Battle Royal for a shot at the Raw Women's Championship, Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black in a No DQ match, Seth Rollins says farewell to Raw, Mustafa Ali's first promo as Retribution's leader". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (December 20, 2020). "WWE TLC results: Powell's review of Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens in a TLC match for the WWE Universal Championship, Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles in a TLC match for the WWE Championship, The Fiend vs. Randy Orton in a Firefly Inferno Match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- Currier, Joseph (January 12, 2021). "WWE announces Kofi Kingston dealing with jaw injury". F4WOnline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (February 8, 2021). "2/8 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton in a non-title match, Charlotte Flair and Lacey Evans meet face to face, follow-up to McIntyre being Brogue Kicked by Sheamus". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- "McIntyre survives Elimination Chamber with gutsy victory". WWE. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (June 21, 2021). "6/21 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle, Ricochet vs. AJ Styles, Randy Orton vs. John Morrison, Asuka and Naomi vs. Eva Marie and Doudrop, and Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler in Money in the Bank ladder match qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (July 18, 2020). "WWE Money in the Bank results: Powell's review of the MITB ladder matches, Roman Reigns vs. Edge for the WWE Universal Championship, Bobby Lashley vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair for the Raw Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
- Powell, Jason (October 1, 2021). "10/1 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the first night of the WWE Draft, Belair vs. Sasha Banks, Edge returns, fallout from Extreme Rules". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (October 11, 2021). "10/11 WWE Raw Results: Powell's live review of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks, WWE Champion Big E and Drew McIntyre meet face to face, King of the Ring and Queen's Crown opening round matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (October 22, 2021). "10/22 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair swapping title belts, the coronation of Xavier Woods as King of the Ring". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- Powell, Jason (October 29, 2021). "10/29 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss in a Trick or Street Fight, and more". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- "KOFI KINGSTON vs. JACK GALLAGHER: UpUpDownDown Championship Match". Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via www.youtube.com.
- https://youtube/JPFT58X4jg4
- "Kickin' It – GUEST STAR: Kofi Kingston – On Our Own Pt2 – HD". April 28, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube.
- "The New Day is ready to make a deal". WWE.
- "The New Day's story is coming to bookshelves everywhere". WWE.
- "Try Not To Laugh Challenge #33 w/ WWE's New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)". November 19, 2019. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021 – via YouTube.
- "Netflix's Escape The Undertaker Review: An Underwhelming Undertaking". GameSpot. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
- "Roster – WWE '13 Wiki Guide". IGN. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "'WWE 2K14' full roster revealed". WWE.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "WWE 2K15 Character Art:photos". WWE.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "Superstars and Divas featured on WWE 2K16 roster list". WWE.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "Superstars to be featured on WWE 2K17 roster". WWE.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- "WWE 2K18 roster: Meet the Superstars joining the list of playable characters". WWE.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- Elfring, Mat (October 11, 2018). "WWE 2K19 Roster Full List: 200+ Confirmed Wrestlers & DLC Superstars". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- "KOF ALLSTAR×WWE COLLABORATION – THE KING OF FIGHTERS". kofallstar.netmarblw.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- "It's a boy! Kofi Kingston welcomes second child". WWE. April 30, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
- Satin, Ryan (April 30, 2016). "Kofi Kingston – It's a New Baby, Yes It Is!".
- Rumsey, Connel (November 26, 2021). "Kofi Kingston's Wife Gives Birth To Third Child". Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- Chris Jericho (August 2015). "TIJ – EP166 – New Day". Mixcloud (Podcast). Chris Jericho. Event occurs at 51:13. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- Fishman, Scott (June 5, 2019). "WWE Champ Kofi Kingston Reflects on 'Powerful' Trip Home to Ghana After 26 Years". TV Insider.
- Donkor, Elijah (May 28, 2019). "Photos: WWE champion Kofi Kingston has releases a beautiful back tattoos Adinkra symbols from his Homeland Ghana". Ghanawish Radio.
- "Kofi Kingston And His Wife Welcome Third Child Together (Photos)". E-Wrestling.com. November 26, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- Kofi Kingston "Je dois trouver comment gagner le titre féminin" – Catch Off, archived from the original on December 12, 2021, retrieved August 14, 2021
- Campbell, Brian (December 24, 2019). "How Adam Cole went from main event substitute to clear choice for 2019 Wrestler of the Year". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- Lambert, Jeremy (August 29, 2019). "Seth Rollins Tops Annual PWI 500". Fightful. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- Middleton, Marc (November 18, 2020). "FTR Takes Top Spot On The Inaugural PWI Tag Team 50 List". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 46. ISSN 1083-9593.
- "WWE Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- "WWE United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- "WWE Tag Team Championship history". WWE. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
- "WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships". WWE. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- "World Tag Team Championship history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- Kreikenbohm, Philip. "WWE Intercontinental Title Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- "Matches « WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- Benigno, Anthony (December 17, 2012). "Kofi Kingston won the "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year Slammy". WWE.com. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- "2020 SLAMMY Award winners announced". WWE. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- Mendhe, Abhilash (December 25, 2019). "WWE Year End Awards 2019: Analyzing each award category – Seth Rollins should have won Male Superstar of the Year". Sportskeeda. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
External links
- Kofi Kingston on Twitter
- Kofi Kingston on WWE.com
- Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah at IMDb
- Kofi Kingston's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
- Kofi Kingston Records at WWE NEWS