With the company desperately needing new superstars, WWE has made a very wise decision in elevating Kofi Kingston.
The Rise of Kofi Kingston
During the first half of 2008, Kofi Kingston was introduced to WWE fans through the ECW brand.
The 28 year star was given a pretty solid push (including a nice winning streak), and the fans reacted pretty well to him.
Despite not being given a run with the ECW Heavyweight Championship, the company still viewed Kofi Kingston as someone that was ready to be elevated.
During the summer of 2008, Kofi Kingston was drafted over to the Raw brand.
He was immediately given a nice push. In his very first match, he was given an upset victory over Chris Jericho at the Night of Champions pay per view to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Kofi Kingston was given a nice subtle push for the next few months.
At the Bragging Rights pay per view, though, the company decided that it was time to drop the "subtle" and go with the "sudden".
WWE decided to elevate Kofi Kingston by putting him into a program with the top heel on the brand, Randy Orton.
By doing so, the company finally delivered a fresh feud for Randy Orton (whose long feud with John Cena was reminding older fans of the century long feud between Ric Flair and Lex Luger).
They also gave Kofi Kingston an opportunity to see what he can do against a top level star. If he can generate even more fan interest in this feud, then brighter days are in store for him.
Talk the Talk
One of the simple things that WWE did to elevate Kofi Kingston that should not be overlooked is by having him drop the Jamaican accent.
By doing that, they enabled him to display excellent mic skills that wrestling fans were not previously introduced to. Kofi Kingston surprised a lot of critics during the promo where he smashed a race car that had been given to Randy Orton.
Regardless of how entertaining you are in the ring, you're going to need to be able to work the mic if you want to get to the top of WWE.
Not So Fast
Wrestling fans are quick to throw around the "future world champion" tag on wrestlers. Any time there's some hype for a young wrestler, wrestling fans automatically crown them.
We've seen it with Kenny Dykstra, Mr Kennedy, MVP, Robert Roode, Chris Harris, and Hernandez.
While some of those guys may still be able to become a world champion some day, it clearly shows that not everyone that gets the label actually gets to live up to the hype.
Kofi Kingston is a talented performer, but it's way too soon to assume that he's going to be given the reigns over Raw any time soon.
Let's wait and see just how well he does in this feud with Randy Orton first.
Closing Thoughts
This was a move that definitely needed to be done. WWE should be commended for making the effort in creating new main event level stars, which is something that they haven't exactly been doing all that well as of late. |
