Kofi Kingston On Lessons He Learned Working With CM Punk And R-Truth
In a recent interview with Into the Danger Zone, former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston took some time to talk about his personal life. Most notably, his wife's pregnancy and how he is feeling as the due date approaches.
"It's less than two weeks now; the due date is November 11, so it's right around the corner. It's crazy. You know what's crazy? With this pregnancy, like — I keep saying we like I'm having the baby. I got to do the fun part, you know what I'm saying," Kofi joked. "I didn't have to do the pushing or any of that. So, I thought, with my other two sons, I had been on the road for the majority of the year and the duration of the pregnancy. But it went by, like, really fast. So I was like, 'Okay, cool.'
"I've been home obviously, with the pandemic and everything, and our schedule isn't as vigorous as it's been in the past. So, I'm like, 'Okay, now that I'm home maybe it will go by slower.' Right, because I'm here more to see everything. And that's not the case at all, like, I feel like it's gone by even faster. It felt twice as fast. Like, it's crazy that we're legit two weeks out and the whole dynamic of the house is about to change.
"Yeah, I'm nervous about [having a girl], man," he added. "You know, being a girl dad and everything, I feel like they talk about selective attention, selective retention, and stuff you start noticing in the real world. And when I found out that we were having a girl, I'd go to the airports and I'd see, like, fathers with their daughters, and I'd be like, 'Oh, that's going to be me.' Or like, some young daughter lipping off to their parents, 'Oh no, that's going to be me!' What am I going to do? What am I going to say, you know? So, I'm just super excited for this blessing in our lives."
With over a decade performing in WWE, Kingston has portrayed different characters and formed various alliances before finding The New Day. Kofi has won tag team gold with partners like Evan Bourne (now known as Matt Sydal), R-Truth, and AEW star CM Punk.
Kofi recognizes that these experiences all contributed in one way or another to the star he is today. But those relationships pale in comparison to the men he calls his brothers, Big E and Xavier Woods.
"Yeah, I think that all the matches and all the experience that you have prepares you for what's next. Whether you compare it by the inverse, like, 'Oh, this is what I'm doing and this is what I don't want to do. Like, I loved working with Evan, and Punk, and R-Truth, and there's no animosity. They're just completely different. I think just having the experience and wrestling with Punk, like, everyone knows his wrestling mind. I learned so much. With Truth as well, he's been around for so long, and he's such a chameleon. I think, like, he can make you laugh, and there was that one feud with Morrison where I was like, 'Oh my God, this dude is scary.' He can look at you and kind of flip the switch in a way he doesn't get credit for. He doesn't get credit for, like, 'Oh Truth, he's funny.' And he is, he's probably the funniest person on the roster, but he can do so much.
"Evan is incredibly athletic, insanely athletic. He was a guy that I got to watch face to face, or pretty much the best seat in the house to watch all these incredible and crazy moves, and techniques, and into technical wrestling. And I was like, 'Oh, I need to step my game up.' You know, we would always try to outdo each other. Often times he won, but that provided for a good, entertaining tag team. I think all of that, yeah, prepares you for what is next because you take little bits of what you learn and apply it at the time, you know?
"I will say that with E and Woods, it is a completely different vibe than I had with any of those other teams, anyone that I have teamed with, anyone that I've hung out with in the locker room. And even in real life, anyone I have ever known, you know? You are lucky if you find one person you are able to bond with in the way that I'm able to bond with Woods and E, and I found two at the same time. In the same business, in the same job. Like, what are the odds? Like, I could have been on my way out in 2016 when we were beginning to form The New Day, 2015 or whatever. I would have never crossed paths with these guys."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Into the Danger Zone with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.