"It was strange" - Kofi Kingston on missing the 2021 Royal Rumble
This year's Royal Rumble match was the first one that Kofi Kingston has missed in his WWE career so far. Over the years, Kofi Kingston has become well-known amongst fans for his standout Royal Rumble spots and saves. The Royal Rumble was a big talking point on the most recent episode of The New Day Podcast, with Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods all sitting down to discuss the event.
Former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston opened up about being forced to miss out on this year's Royal Rumble, saying:
"It was really strange, you know what I mean? I feel like, number one, so a big part of the Royal Rumble is the crowd, right? I don't know if I said this before but I feel like second only to WrestleMania, people look forward to this - the Royal Rumble with so much excitement and anticipation and to just be in a crowd, and like, count down, and you know the energy is from, like the first match really, all the way to entrant number 30 and beyond to the end of the show. The energy is crazy."
Kofi Kingston continued, touching on fan expectations of him in the Royal Rumble:
"To not have that this year was strange, to not be able to look forward to that. But for me, being completely removed from it, like you said, there are people literally all year everybody's asking "What you gonna do for the Rumble? You got something planned?" and I'm like "I don't know, I don't have anything planned, you know - if it comes, it comes, if not, it doesn't", but, yeah it was very strange this year knowing that ahead of time that I wasn't going to be "in" in, you know? It was just weird was the best way I could describe it."
Kofi Kingston also reflected on his Royal Rumble legacy
Kofi Kingston is a Superstar who is well regarded for his big Royal Rumble moments. Despite not winning a Royal Rumble so far, Kofi Kingston has often been the talking point of the event with his big saves. Opening up about his Royal Rumble legacy, Kingston said:
"When you've done something literally every year for so long, literally over a decade, I think I was tied with Ziggler for second place for having the most Royal Rumble appearances, and I think he was at like, 12 or something like that? ...It was just strange to just sit out. But it was what it was, you know what I mean? ...If it was my first one that I missed, I would have been a lot more upset"
The full episode of The New Day Podcast: Feel the Power is available here.