To those who say that only big men can thrive in the world of professional wrestling, Kofi Kingston respectfully disagrees.
"I always said I would be a WWE Superstar, and they laughed at me," Kingston said during an interview with "Do Savannah" to promote an upcoming WWE live event in Savannah, Georgia. "They looked at me and said I was too small. You have to be 6 feet, 8 inches, you have to be 275 pounds ... Down the line, 15 to 20 years later, those same people are asking me for my autograph."
Kingston, who made his debut on WWE television in January of 2008 as part of the ECW brand, has one of the longest active continuous tenures on the main roster of WWE. Only a select few have been a continuous part of the WWE main roster longer -- major names like John Cena and Randy Orton among them. Most of those years, however, were spent struggling to claim a lasting place in the spotlight.
That is no longer an issue for Kingston who, as part of The New Day with Big E Langston and Xavier Woods, is part of one of the most popular groups in WWE today. Not only does the trio hold the record for the longest reign with the current WWE Tag Titles, their merchandise has sold so well that a "Booty O's" cereal is even in the works, as was announced at the joint WWE/Mattel panel as part of Comic Con last week in San Diego.
Being small has always been something that Kingston has dealt with, as he explained in the interview. He joined his high-school wrestling team and actually had to bulk up to compete in the lowest weight class, 103 pounds.
None of that stopped Kingston, who has had three reigns as Intercontinental Champion, four reigns as U.S. Champion and five runs as a tag champion -- including the current record setter.
"I get to travel all over the world; I get to meet people and I am living my childhood dream," Kingston said in the interview. "I am living proof that you can achieve what you set your mind to do."
By John Moorehouse
