Former WWE Champion disputes claims that he is Mr. Royal Rumble
WWE Royal Rumble is set to take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, this Saturday. Whilst several superstars can lay claim to records that they hold revolving around the titular bouts, only a few can truly call themselves "Mr. Royal Rumble."
Despite not winning a match, current WWE NXT Tag Team Champion and former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston is debatably the most remarkable performer of the annual 30-man match.
Ahead of the premium live event on January 28, Steve Fall's Ten Count spoke with Kofi Kingston. Kofi has been part of several big Royal Rumble moments, but he doesn’t consider himself to be "Mr. Royal Rumble."
"No, because I haven't won yet," Kofi said. "People say, 'Well you have a good moment', but to me the best moment would be to actually win or at least make the final four. So I hold myself to a really high standard. How can I claim to be Mr. Royal Rumble and I've never, you what I'm saying? I can't embrace it." 00:03 - 00:26
He even went on to state that the ultimate goal is always to win the big one and the WWE Championship and that he would trade all his special moments for that achievement.
"I know that I've had a lot of great moments and I'm appreciative of all of that, but the goal is ultimately to win. If I could trade in all those moments for one Royal Rumble win, I probably would [...] you gotta have at least one win under the belt. If I were to win one, then I would definitely embrace it because then you've done it all. You know, you've done what you're supposed to do in the Royal Rumble." 00:28 - 1:12
You can watch the entire clip below.
The New Day member was the first to announce his official entry into the 2023 Royal Rumble.
Whilst rumors are swirling online of a potential win for returning superstars like The Rock or even Cody Rhodes, one can't rule out the possibility of Kofi nailing yet another near-elimination spot in the contest.
The former WWE Champion reflects on the lesson he learned from the 2022 Royal Rumble botch
.@TrueKofi is the first Superstar to declare for the #RoyalRumble Match!
#SmackDown https://t.co/OBTSWRSMXX
Over the years, Kofi has pulled off some amazing spots in the Rumble match. Whilst originally created by former WWE Superstar John Morrison in 2011 with an incredible jump off the barricade onto the steel steps, the New Day star made it incredibly popular as an annual spot in the titular bout.
Speaking on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg, the current WWE NXT Tag Team Champion recalled the incident from the previous year:
“What happened last year was certainly not the plan,” Kingston said. “A lot of people would ask in interviews too, ‘Well, what happens if you don’t do what you set out to do?’ I’m like, ‘We’ll I’ll just walk to the back.’ But to actually have it happen, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, is this real? Did it really just happen? Did anyone see my feet touch?’ And there’s like the camera angle was right there.” [H/T: WrestleZone]
He further noted that the incident was beyond the Royal Rumble spot and that he personally took it as a life lesson.
“This goes beyond Royal Rumble spots, right. You have your biggest leaps and bounds in terms of growth and development when you fail. If everything was so easy and you were succeeding every single time, it’s fine, but you’re not really gonna grow as a person,” Kingston stated. “So for me, to do that in front of everybody [...] you weren’t able to do what you were supposed to do. Especially people in the front row too. We’re making eye contact like, ‘What are we gonna do?’ Then you gotta take this walk of shame all the way back.” [H/T: WrestleZone]
Kofi may be looking to redeem himself this year. He remains one of the most gifted, talented, and beloved WWE Superstars in the current crop of wrestlers.