Kofi Kingston discusses his tag team accomplishments and the possibility of a New Day singles title
July 28, 2017
Has there ever been a better tag team partner than Kofi Kingston? History says no. The Dreadlocked Dynamo is both the longest-reigning individual Tag Team Champion in WWE history by a wide margin and one-third of the longest reigning Tag Team Champions of all time. Furthermore, with The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team Title victory at WWE Battleground this past Sunday, he has become the only Superstar to hold all four versions of the WWE Tag Team Championship — World (with CM Punk), WWE (with R-Truth, Evan Bourne and The New Day), Raw (New Day were grandfathered in as champions post-Brand Extension) and SmackDown.
Kingston doesn’t want to talk about any of that, however. We tried to ask him, but Kofi’s dedication has gone beyond his own accolades now. He’d rather focus on what he, Big E and Xavier Woods just accomplished and, more importantly, on what they have yet to achieve.
WWE.COM: Congratulations. You’re running out of tag team records to break.
KOFI KINGSTON: Ha! I guess, yeah.
WWE.COM: Did you even know this milestone was something you could achieve?
KINGSTON: I had no idea. I don’t think we look at accomplishments that deeply in terms of pursuing them. We usually find out on Twitter. Like, “Hey! Did you guys know you’re the only ones to win the Raw and SmackDown [Tag Team] Titles?” It’s pretty cool when you sit back and look at it, but it’s weird; the more time that passes, we keep attaining these unsettable goals, if that makes sense. Hosting WrestleMania is not something set for yourself when you’re a kid. You don’t say, “One day, I’m going to host WrestleMania, and this is my goal; I’m going to work toward it.” It just happened. Same thing with winning this championship title. It’s a very strange stat to be celebrating. You don’t set these goals, but we’re very fortunate to have had these things happen to us.
WWE.COM: What were your thoughts on the match itself? It got a lot of positive reaction.
KINGSTON: Everything was flowing. It was awesome from top to bottom. We have great chemistry with The Usos. They always bring their best, whether it be in the rap battle or in the ring. We’re two teams that are on the same page in terms of [bringing] the best to the table every single time. We always want to outdo them; they always want to outdo us. What that does is provide the best possible product for anybody watching. Being in the match itself, I knew I was part of something special as it was going on. Hearing the crowd react was one of those things I’m very fortunate to be a part of.
WWE.COM: You’re one of the few Superstars on the current roster who can say they held the original World Tag Team Championship. What’s it like having that as part of your legacy?
KINGSTON: Honestly, it’s all cool and everything, for sure. Since I’m still here and still doing this, it’s hard to reminisce about the things I’ve done or things in the past. It’s not something I really think about, but since you asked me, I will say it’s definitely cool.
Obviously, what’s more important to me are the accolades that we achieve as a group, because this journey has been wild from the beginning. Obviously, as we’ve said in many interviews, it was a struggle to even get on TV. We finally get on and get rejected by the masses, then finally embraced by the masses. We hosted WrestleMania and, the year before, had the No. 1 merch sales at WrestleMania. This has been the wildest ride ever. So, to me, it’s more important at this time to think about the things we have done as a unit, and the things we can do as a unit, to keep on climbing that ladder.
WWE.COM: We spoke when you broke the record for individual Tag Team Champion, and you called yourself “The greatest friend in WWE.” How do you think you’ve improved on that?
KINGSTON: Can you even improve on friendship? I’m not sure what the question is, but I think our friendship is still an unbreakable bond. We always talk about the fact that it’s amazing we have been traveling with each other over three years consistently, and we don’t want to fight each other. We still get along very well, and we’re still on the same page just as much as we were from the first day. Again, definitely very fortunate to be in the position where you can achieve or experience such a bond. Because, as you can see, in our industry it’s very rare. I think it’s very rare in life, too.
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WWE.COM: You guys have obviously broken several tag team title records, but are there any plans to bring a singles championship into the New Day fold? (Editor’s Note: The entire New Day appeared in a puff of unicorn smoke to join in on this answer.)
KINGSTON: It’s always in the cards, you know? And the thing about The New Day, whether it’s singles titles or tag titles, is that when one of us wins, we all win. So, it’s something very interesting and something the people have asked us from the first day.
XAVIER WOODS: From jump!
KINGSTON: When we were shooting in the gym! When we were shooting in the gym, they were asking us for it. It’s definitely a different element we can add.
WOODS: And they weren’t shooting in the gym with us! So now they can’t play in the game. Can’t even come on the bench. Get in the stands. Matter of fact, stand outside.
KINGSTON: Stand outside. You’ll read about the results on the interwebs.
BIG E: But imagine ya boys Freebirding — nay, New Daying — a singles title. That’s fresh. That’s what the people need. That’s what the people want to see.
WOODS: That’s what I’ve been talking about! Been trying to get us into that King of the Ring mix.
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