How much was Kofi a breath of fresh air as champion?

[The Rick Jericho]

Before him, it was the same suspects, Brock, Roman, Styles, Bryan, Cena, Orton, etc....

After him was Brock and Roman with a little of Drew and Bobby.

You look at all the guys before and after Kofi and they have all been in the main event scene, some of them for too long and way beyond stale as champion.

So when you look at the 2019 Kofi world title run, just how refreshing was this to you then and how well has this title run aged to you?

[lildude8218]

Bobby Heenan: Have you ever been around Kofi Kingston? Woof, he stinks! I gave him a stick of deodorant one time. He looked at me and said, "Thanks but I'm lactose intolerant," and threw it right in the trash.

[mc74]

Jan 22, 2023 21:27:36 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

Bobby Heenan: Have you ever been around Kofi Kingston? Woof, he stinks! I gave him a stick of deodorant one time. He looked at me and said, "Thanks but I'm lactose intolerant," and threw it right in the trash.

Gorilla Monsoon: Oh, will you stop!

[lildude8218]

Jan 22, 2023 21:29:19 GMT -5 mc74 said:

Jan 22, 2023 21:27:36 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

Bobby Heenan: Have you ever been around Kofi Kingston? Woof, he stinks! I gave him a stick of deodorant one time. He looked at me and said, "Thanks but I'm lactose intolerant," and threw it right in the trash.

Gorilla Monsoon: Oh, will you stop!

Heenan: Kofi Stinkson....just saying.

[Mozenrath]

I liked him fine, but nothing he did as champion surpassed his chase and title win.

I honestly wouldn't have even minded Brock beating him that much except for how they did it, and how they just had Kofi not give a shit.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Truthfully it was a pretty rough title reign. There was a lot of novelty to it when it first started, and I definitely wish Kofi had kept in the main event scene afterward instead of them essentially retconning that he ever won the belt in the first place, but between the Ziggler thing that went on and on and on with a bunch of really bad matches (and this was smack dab in the middle of their two-out-of-three-falls fetish for bonus eyerolling) and then the Orton feud that turned what should have been a hot one-and-done SummerSlam feud into a boring months-long affair for the most part it was a hard watch.

That said anything at all was better than how they ended it.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Kofi and Big E's world title wins were amazing, and then their reigns were pretty meh booking wise, and then the way both ended were downright insulting to the viewers and I think genuinely made people stop watching the product

Pretty insane how they paralleled.

[Push R Truth]

Kofi is the perfect example of why the last 20 years in the WWE pisses me off:

Wrestler I don't like/is boring/stale= infinity chances at titles, tons of tv time and main event pushes.
Wrestler I like finally gets a single shot at the big time... and they get pushed back down the card the second it's over. That's it. One chance.

[Hypnosis]

Jan 23, 2023 8:07:59 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

Kofi is the perfect example of why the last 20 years in the WWE pisses me off:

Wrestler I don't like/is boring/stale= infinity chances at titles, tons of tv time and main event pushes.
Wrestler I like finally gets a single shot at the big time... and they get pushed back down the card the second it's over. That's it. One chance.

WWE sadly even repeated that with Big E.

[tekkenguy]

Jan 23, 2023 8:07:59 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

Kofi is the perfect example of why the last 20 years in the WWE pisses me off:

Wrestler I don't like/is boring/stale= infinity chances at titles, tons of tv time and main event pushes.
Wrestler I like finally gets a single shot at the big time... and they get pushed back down the card the second it's over. That's it. One chance.

This was a big problem in the PG era from 2010-2013

Sheamus wins the WWE title, loses it, and is a midcarder again. Two years later he’s WHC and after that it’s back to midcard yet again.
Jack Swagger wins the WHC, loses it, and is a midcarder again.
Wade Barrett main events with the Nexus angle, and is a midcarder afterwards.
Miz wins the WWE title, loses it, and is a midcarder again.
Christian wins the WHC, loses it, and is a midcarder again.
Mark Henry wins the WHC, loses it, and is a midcarder again.
Alberto Del Rio wins the WWE title, loses it, and is a midcarder again. Two years later he’s WHC and after that it’s back to midcard yet again.
Ryback has a big push, feuds with Cena, and is a midcarder afterwards.
Dolph Ziggler wins the WHC, loses it, and is a midcarder again.

WWE just wasn’t able to make any new main event stars during this time period. Other than those guys, it was Cena and Orton hogging the main event spotlight. Punk and Bryan were exceptions and the fans forced WWE’s hand on those two, and neither lasted that long after ascending to the main event.

it wasn’t until the Shield trio in 2015-16 that we had true new main eventers in the picture.

[chronocross]

For me the chase was better than the catch, it was decent but never felt like it could headline a PPV.

Still I wish he didn't get squashed the way he did as I don't think he'll get the World title again.

[chazraps]

Am I alone in really enjoying the catch after the chase as well?

Kofi vs Owens - maybe not the best feud to start with, but a logical one given the Big E injury / Big O fallout and the matches themselves where Owens can just throw someone around and Kofi shows his resilience were fun. This would have been remembered better had it happened later in his reign.

Kofi vs Ziggler - great filler feud over a longtime rival with some fresh promos and further establish Kofi as great. They should have gone right to the cage match for the first and only PPV showdown.

Kofi vs Samoa Joe - I honestly can't recall this feud.

Kofi vs Orton - organic happenstance of finally making right on Orton's f*** up a decade prior. Would be much better remembered if the countout didn't happen at Summerslam.

So yeah, overall if we're judging title reigns by week-to-week compelling programming, I wouldn't call it meh or underwhelming by any stretch. Did any of it top the moment of Kofi beating Bryan? Of course not, but there's no way it could have been. Run-DMC were never going to top 'Raising Hell,' but 'Tougher Than Leather' is still an excellent album.

Also, Kofi should beat Brock now. f*** it, let's go. Crowds will love it and it will make money.

[dav]

Kofi losing to Brock the way he did is one of the biggest f*** yous I've ever seen a company give their audience. That said, his winning was a huge highlight and I did enjoy the feud ender he had with Orton. Started slow, but built up nicely.

[darbus alan]

I don't think I've ever seen a WWE Champion bitched out the way Kofi was when he jobbed to Brock Lesnar. At least not since Wrestlemania IX.

The chase was amazing to see, though.

[tirtefaa]

Not very.

I don't think it's a situation where it's a "one chance" and never again... it's more of a "thank you run" with no intention of giving them anything of significance as far as a title reign. Reminds me a lot of Chris Benoit's WHC reign.

[fw91]

Jan 22, 2023 21:41:18 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I liked him fine, but nothing he did as champion surpassed his chase and title win.

I honestly wouldn't have even minded Brock beating him that much except for how they did it, and how they just had Kofi not give a shit.

This.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jan 23, 2023 14:15:12 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Am I alone in really enjoying the catch after the chase as well?

Kofi vs Owens - maybe not the best feud to start with, but a logical one given the Big E injury / Big O fallout and the matches themselves where Owens can just throw someone around and Kofi shows his resilience were fun. This would have been remembered better had it happened later in his reign.

Kofi vs Ziggler - great filler feud over a longtime rival with some fresh promos and further establish Kofi as great. They should have gone right to the cage match for the first and only PPV showdown.

Kofi vs Samoa Joe - I honestly can't recall this feud.

Kofi vs Orton - organic happenstance of finally making right on Orton's f*** up a decade prior. Would be much better remembered if the countout didn't happen at Summerslam.

So yeah, overall if we're judging title reigns by week-to-week compelling programming, I wouldn't call it meh or underwhelming by any stretch. Did any of it top the moment of Kofi beating Bryan? Of course not, but there's no way it could have been. Run-DMC were never going to top 'Raising Hell,' but 'Tougher Than Leather' is still an excellent album.

Also, Kofi should beat Brock now. f*** it, let's go. Crowds will love it and it will make money.

He has a really good title reign

I am not even mad with way he lost either 

[DZ: WF Legacy]

The build to this felt so real and natural, and the match was incredible, and the moment of him winning was what wrestling is all about. My dad doesn't watch in his own, and even he was excited and happy to see him win, celebrating with his kids. Truly an all-timer great moment. His reign had a variety of opponents, but it never really got the main event feel it deserved. Kofi and Dolph Ziggler is not a big time main event I wanted to see in 2019. The end with Lesnar was bullshit and made him look so bad. Vince having a backstage segment with him as tag champion shortly after, basically saying you're back to where you ought to be, was infuriating. How they treated Kofi and defaulted to boring ass Lesnar played a major role in my exit as a 22-year weekly viewer come 2020.

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

Calling Bryan one of the "same suspects" is kinda weird, when his major babyface title reign was cut short, and then his next title reign was as a vastly different character.

[Alice Syndrome]

I still can't believe they actually did that the same week Dynamite debuted.