"I was scared to be hurt" - Kofi Kingston discloses why he didn't believe he was going to win the WWE title at WrestleMania 35
Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship win from 2019 remains one of the greatest moments that the company had in the 2010s. It capped off an already-accomplished career by turning Kingston into a Grand Slam Champion. However, behind the scenes, the New Day member didn't believe that he was going to become champion until his music hit.
KofiMania was one of the most emotionally gripping storylines that WWE had put out in a long time. It all happened because Mustafa Ali got injured and lost his spot at the Elimination Chamber. For Kofi Kingston, it was the right place at the right time and fans had gotten more invested in him than ever before.
Kofi Kingston spoke to CBS Sports where he went into detail about his fear over a last-minute change of plans. While everything was set up for him to win the WWE title at WrestleMania 35, Kingston admitted he was scared that plans would change at the last minute.
He referred to numerous occasions in his career where he was told something would happen, only for things to change in the last minute. He said that ahead of his WrestleMania 35 entrance, he looked around to see if somebody was going to approach him and tell him that Brock Lesnar would win instead. He went on to explain in detail why he was scared:
"The jaded old man in me, I wouldn't allow myself to really fully emotionally invest in the possibility of actually becoming WWE champion because it was a childhood dream. I think I was scared to be hurt. To get my hopes up and be let down again. It really wasn't until like moments before walking out that I was like, 'Oh my God, this is really going to happen. If you watch the entrance, you see me. Woods and E are on my left and my right. I'm just jumping, using their shoulders to push myself up as high as I can because I finally was able to let that energy out." (9:30 onwards)
After it happened, he said that he realized how truly powerful the storyline was.
"Being the first African-born WWE champion. I had a lot of people of color who never thought that they would see that moment," Kingston said. "So the fact that it was like on the cusp of actually happening was like, 'Man, this is really powerful stuff.' For an entertainment business, what we call entertainment, it has such a real effect on people."
Perhaps the most viral reaction to the moment was when MVP and the late Shad Gaspard shed tears of joy when watching their long-time friend reach the mountain top.
Kofi Kingston's story was one of the most relatable one in years
Two years ago today, #KofiMania took over WrestleMania 35 🙌
What a moment.
(via @WWE)
https://t.co/xnvHDgmi6H
In the same interview, Kofi Kingston said that it was a storyline that was far more than just race. It was the reliability of watching somebody struggle to achieve their dreams finally achieve it. He described it as a story of somebody who had all the talent but was shortchanged year after year.
Ultimately, it was the focal point and one of the three most important matches of the WrestleMania 35 card (with Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch vs Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair being the other two). Although it didn't headline the card, it was a great match with the perfect story.
Kofi Kingston would go on to have a respectable six-month-long reign as the WWE Champion before he lost it controversially to Brock Lesnar in ten seconds.