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WWE’s Kofi Kingston thinks he might have quit wrestling or been released without The New Day
Kofi doesn’t think his WWE Championship run would have happened without his teammates (Photo: WWE)
WWE superstar Kofi Kingston doesn’t think he’d still be working with the company today if it wasn’t for The New Day.
The former world champion had been on the main roster in Vince McMahon’s promotion for six years by the time the group was formed with Xavier Woods and Big E, and it helped transform all three performers into one of the most beloved acts in wrestling history.
Even beyond their success in front of the camera, Kofi also credits the team with revitalising his career at a point when he as seriously considering his future in WWE and the business as a whole.
He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘When Woods and E approached me about being part of this group, I was at a point in my career where I was like, “Ah, this isn’t really fun anymore. I’ve been around a long time. I’m just coming up, having good matches, then losing matches”.
‘It was really very cookie cutter and routine, so I wasn’t really having a lot of fun. Who knows? And who’s to say I would have stuck around for another six years doing the same thing? I might have been let go, who knows?
‘Without Woods and E and without the New Day, I’m probably not here right now. They play a huge role in where I am in my career, obviously. Undoubtedly, without them, I wouldn’t be here right now.’
Kingston also feels New Day played a vital part in KofiMania in 2019, and his fairy tale rise to the top of the mountain when he defeated Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.
He couldn’t imagine his career-defining moment any other way (Photo: WWE)
‘So, KofiMania – and I hate when it comes out of my mouth because it doesn’t sound cool when I say it, it sounds so stupid when I say it. Everything about that was extremely serendipitous,’ he said, pointing to it being his first ever world title shot.
‘If I had gotten the title when I first came in and won, it would’ve been cool but then it wouldn’t have had nearly as much meaning. It wouldn’t have drawn nearly as much emotion. With Woods and E, we struggled so hard to get onto television when people told us that we sucked, and then they adored us.’
Their journeys went side by side and played into Kofi working his way to a major career high, which came after years of sacrifice when it came to his family too – all of which combined to make his big moment even more special when New Day and his loved ones enjoyed that victory together.
‘My family has sacrificed so much for me. Me being away all the time, me missing birthday parties and sporting events, and weddings and holidays, all that. Leaving the day after Christmas, or later Christmas Day to go and wrestle on the road,’ he said.
‘They got to be there for that, the flowers of the sacrifice. They got to be in the ring with me and experience that energy.’
The win also led to a trip home to Ghana with the title, when he met the president Nana Akufo-Addo, which added to the special atmosphere around it all.
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So too did him facing Daniel Bryan, who had been in a similar position within the company before his own WrestleMania triumph a few years earlier.
‘There’s so much serendipity that was involved with KofiMania. I don’t think that could have ever happened any other way. It had to happen exactly the way it happened,’ he pondered.
‘So yes, without New Day, that moment doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean as much. I don’t even know if I would still be wrestling at that time.’
*WWE Raw airs Mondays at 1am on BT Sport 1.
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