Kofi Kingston Reveals His Two Most Influential Ladder Matches
As fans are clamoring for sports content to watch, WWE presents Money In The Bank this Sunday. Viewers will have even more content to watch with FOX airing a WWE's Greatest Ladder Matches special this Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. The special will be hosted by Corey Graves and Michael Cole with the "Backstage" team Renee Young, Booker T, Paige and Christian weighing in during the broadcast.
When former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston looks back at all the memorable ladder matches he has had, there are two that stand out as influential.
"The first one I've had and the last one I've had," Kingston told Wrestling Inc. "The Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 25 I was still very new on the roster. I took it as a way to do some innovative things that haven't been done before. I always say Edge & Christian, the Hardys and the Dudley Boys made that very difficult. They set the bar so high.
"I was able to do some things in that match that nobody had seen before. I think Mark Henry was holding a ladder and I ran up the ladder while he was holding it closed. I was able to jump through the ladder. A lot of other things. I was glad that I was able to make an impact. I think it was one of the first times I came through the curtain and everyone at gorilla was clapping for the job we did. We put together a really good story. I think Punk won that year. That was a big moment for the crowd. Everyone wanted him to be the guy.
"The last ladder match I had was unique and the complete opposite in that we didn't have the crowd there. It was a triple threat ladder match with me, Jimmy Uso and John Morrison at WrestleMania in this bizarre situation where there is no crowd. At the same time, the energy still felt it was special. You know when you're doing something well and everything is going great. That this is something special. I felt that a lot when we were having that triple threat ladder match. Even though there was no crowd, it was a different energy of wanting to put out the best match possible and wanting to steal the show, wanting to have the match people talked about the most. Those are the ones that stand out, specifically where you had to go out and be innovative in a different way."
Just when we think we've seen it all, Kingston has a way for breaking out something new. He did that at WrestleMania 26 where he used ladders for stilts. The 38-year-old's approach has shifted somewhat in going from doing things that haven't been done before to trying spots that he hasn't attempted or adding a twist to a classic move.
"How can we do something that is different because the ladder match gives you a chance to do something different," Kingston said. "Having the ladder in there makes the match infinitely different because now you can use it for different athletic feats or a mechanism of torture. I really like when you have people in a ladder match where there is a diversity of styles. You might have Big Show, Sin Cara, myself. A lot of range opens the possibility of not only jumping off the ladder, but Big Show is also able to take a ladder match from under the ring and its been reinforced to climb. That to me always adds so much. A ladder match to me is the story you can tell. And if you have a lot of people in the match who have different styles, then the story becomes consequently different. I think it's important to have the clash of styles."
Kofi's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.