Kofi Kingston
Ghanaian-American professional wrestler
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles under the ring name Kofi Kingston on the Raw brand and is a part of The New Day with Xavier Woods and Big E. Kingston is the first African-born WWE Champion and held the Intercontinental and United States Championships multiple times. He also has won tag team championships in WWE 15 times, only the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) are listed as holding more by WWE (18 times). Kingston originally played the character of a Jamaican wrestler until late 2009.
| Kofi Kingston | |
|---|---|
 Kingston on Raw in April 2014 | |
| Birth name | Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah |
| Born | August 14, 1981 Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana |
| Alma mater | Boston College |
| Spouse(s) |
Kori Campfield (m. 2010) |
| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Kofi Kingston Sir Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Kingston Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 212 lb (96 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Ghana, West Africa[1] Kingston, Jamaica |
| Trained by | Chaotic Wrestling[2] Killer Kowalski[2] Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2006 |
Filmography
change| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Kickin' It | Himself | Episode "Kickin' It on Our Own" |
| 2016 | Countdown | Himself | Uncredited |
| 2016 | Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon | Himself | Voice |
| 2021 | The Main Event | Himself | Cameo |
| 2021 | Escape the Undertaker | Himself | Main star[3] |
Championships and accomplishments
change- CBS Sports
- Best Moment/Angle of the Year (2019) – Winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35[4]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Tag Team of the Year (2012) with R-Truth
- Tag Team of the Year (2015, 2016) with Big E and Xavier Woods
- Ranked No. 4 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019[5]
- Ranked No. 8 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with Big E and Xavier Woods[6]
- Sports Illustrated
- Ranked No. 9 of the top 10 male wrestlers in 2019[7]
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Best Gimmick (2015) – The New Day, shared with Big E and Xavier Woods[8]
- WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Championship (1 time)[9]
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 times)[10]
- WWE United States Championship (3 times)[11]
- WWE (Raw) Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Evan Bourne (1), R-Truth (1), Big E (2) and Xavier Woods (4)[a][12]
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Big E (6) and Xavier Woods (7)[b][13]
- World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with CM Punk[14]
- NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Xavier Woods[15]
- 13th Grand Slam Champion (under current format; 20th overall)
- 30th Triple Crown Champion (traditional format)
- Third Tag Team Triple Crown Champion – with Xavier Woods
- Bragging Rights Trophy (2010) – with Team SmackDown (Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Edge and Tyler Reks)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2010)[16]
- WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament (2018) – with Big E and Xavier Woods[17]
- Slammy Award (2 times)
- "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year (2012) – Hand walking during the Royal Rumble match to avoid elimination[18]
- Ring Gear of the Year (2020) – with Big E and Xavier Woods[19]
- WWE Year-End Award (2 times)
Notes
change- ↑ Big E, Kingston, and Woods defended the title under the Freebird Rule. On September 5, 2016, during their second reign, the titles were renamed the Raw Tag Team Championship after SmackDown created the SmackDown Tag Team Championship.
- ↑ Big E, Kingston, and Woods defended the title under the Freebird Rule.
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Kofi Kingston's WWE profile". WWE. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chris Bergeron (August 16, 2006). "Wrestle mania". The Milford Daily News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
- ↑ "Netflix's Escape The Undertaker Review: An Underwhelming Undertaking". GameSpot. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
- ↑ Campbell, Brian (December 24, 2019). "How Adam Cole went from main event substitute to clear choice for 2019 Wrestler of the Year". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (August 29, 2019). "Seth Rollins Tops Annual PWI 500". Fightful. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ↑ Middleton, Marc (November 18, 2020). "FTR Takes Top Spot On The Inaugural PWI Tag Team 50 List". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
- ↑ Barrassodec, J., "The Top 10 Male Wrestlers of 2019", Sports Illustrated, December 27, 2019.
- ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 46. ISSN 1083-9593.
- ↑ "WWE Championship". WWE. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ↑ "WWE Intercontinental Championship history". WWE. June 29, 2008. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- ↑ "WWE United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ↑ "WWE Tag Team Championship history". WWE. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
- ↑ "WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships". WWE. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ↑ "World Tag Team Championship history". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- ↑ "Official NXT Tag Team Championship Title History". World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "WWE Intercontinental Title Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- ↑ "Matches « WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- ↑ Benigno, Anthony (December 17, 2012). "Kofi Kingston won the "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year Slammy". WWE.com. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
- ↑ "2020 SLAMMY Award winners announced". WWE. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Mendhe, Abhilash (December 25, 2019). "WWE Year End Awards 2019: Analyzing each award category – Seth Rollins should have won Male Superstar of the Year". Sportskeeda. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
Other websites
change
|
Media from Commons |
|
Quotations from Wikiquote |
|
Data from Wikidata |
- TrueKofi Kofi Kingston on Twitter
- Kofi Kingston on WWE.com
- Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah on IMDb
- Official website Archived 2008-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
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