The Art of it All.3

Currently, there’s only 4 Black WWE champions in the company’s 70 plus year history. The Rock, Kofi Kingston, Bobby Lashley & Big E. All of which occurred over the last 30 years, with the most recent champion being Bobby Lashley(2022), who is no longer with the company. There’s quite a bit I’ll be discussing in this piece, but the main focus is on KofiMania; Kofi Kingston’s championship win at Wrestlemania, how he got there and how much it meant to me.

This was my lockscreen on my phone for a solid two weeks before changing it to some inspirational quote lol.

In early 2010, Kofi was a young upstart really hitting his stride. He was fresh off one of the hottest feuds in 2009, against rival Randy Orton. For reference, Google “2009 Randy Orton” it’s regarded as one of the best years any villian in WWE has ever had. In a triple threat match against Randy Orton and John Cena, Kofi made a mistake, causing the match to end not as planned. An incredibly frustrated Orton,seemingly out of his wrestling character, proceeded to birate Kofi calling him stupid multiple times for his mistake. Rumors, which were later confirmed, were that Orton, using the influence he had as a main event star, complained to WWE management believing that Kofi wasn’t ready to be in the main event scene, thus ending his momentum for the foreseeable future.

Let’s talk about it. This is significant because Kofi wasn’t provided an opportunity to be a main event star, competing for THE title in WWE for 10 years. One mistake. Meanwhile, Randy Orton early in his career, was known for not being professional, whether to his co workers, management or even the fans sometimes. To be blunt, Randy was an asshole someone whose excuse at that time, was that they were just being “young and stupid”. I want to be clear, I’m not making Randy out to be a bad person,people grow and he has grown,rather my point is show the parallels between Kofi and Randy and how Kofi, as a Black person has to be perfect, no grace, no margin for error. From my knowledge, Kofi has always been the example of what being a professional looks like, both in and outside the ring. For those 10 years between Kofi’s next opportunity, it’s easy to say that Randy failed upwards. He main evented Wrestlemania, and became WWE or World Heavyweight champion 7 times.

All rights to WWE. Kofi in the middle, Big E(L) Xavier Woods(R)

Don’t get it twisted, Kofi wasn’t chillin for those 10 years. He was a multiple time Intercontinental, United States and tag team champion, he put out an amazing and consistent body of work. Last, and certainly not least, he became a part of what I believe to be, the greatest faction in WWE history; The New Day. Which, consists of Kofi, Big E & Xavier Woods. The New Day is special to me, they set the standard for how Black wrestlers should be portrayed in pro wrestling. We, as a people are not a monolith. New Day was a group of highly educated, nerdy, anime and video game loving Black men, they were themselves. For a long time, WWE would put Black wrestlers in a box, portraying them only to fit a racial stereotype or to strictly be entertainers, not wrestlers. At one point they introduced, I kid you not, a tag team called Cryme Tyme, which consisted of two large Black men from the hood, who were known for robbin and stealing stuff from people. Anyway, gone are those days, with The New Day and their arrival, they created magic. Moments like them entering Wrestlemania, cosplaying characters from Dragon Ball Z, featuring a giant box of the cereal they made up called, Booty-O’s. The cereal was real and was actually sold in stores at one point. The New Day were incredibly creative and used trending stories on Black Twitter in their promos and segments. They appealed to everyone, but most of all you could tell on screen that they were genuine good people.

I wasn’t expecting this essay to be this long tbh lol. While there’s a bunch more about Kofi’s journey to Wrestlemania, especially the months leading to his match, you can learn more here. I was watching Wrestlemania with my homie at the time, who was also a Black wrestling fan. It’s actually how we met in the 3rd grade, talking about a very popular wrestling video game called Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain. We were excited & nervous going into the match, we didn’t know what to expect, whether it going to be a Booker T- like moment, or a storybook ending. However, **Kofi won**. My friend and I hugged, just incredibly happy, holding back tears. There was still like 3 or 4 matches left in the show, but for us, nothing else mattered. In 2019, Kofi Kingston became the first African-Born(Ghana) WWE champion. To me, that makes it all the more sweeter, with the reach across the African diaspora. In spite of this being a predetermined form of sports entertainment, it’s wild that there’s only been 4 Black men deemed worthy of holding the company’s flagship title. Kofi was the second, long overdue with celebrations in Ghana and across the globe, but the embrace between former WWE superstars Shad Gaspard & MVP, of whom were put into those stereotypical boxes during their time with the company, is a moment I’ll never forget. Kofi’s match, is one I watch back when I need to be in a place of comfort and grounding. Just as I said in part 1, the stars will align, when it’s your time, no matter the journey.

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