Kofi Kingston praises Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson).
Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated the duo to win the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT Deadline on December 10. They have continued to feud ever since, and the two teams will clash with Gallus in a three-way bout at NXT Vengeance Day.
Speaking on Under The Ring, Kingston discussed working in NXT and described how he enjoys working with younger talent and helping them along at an exciting time in their careers.
“I’m enjoying every aspect of it. I always knew that at some point in time, you kinda get thrust into the role of you’re the veteran and you’re telling the young people what they should do or what you would recommend that they do to have better matches and whatnot,” Kingston said. “There’s always been an element of that in the locker room, but this is very, very different. For NXT, these are guys and girls who are trying to figure themselves out. This is a very unique time period in people’s careers and it’s a rear exciting time because you know that all these guys are the future of the business.
“So you can see little bits and pieces of people finding themselves and their characters and learning how to talk and trying to figure out how to put together good matches within the timeframes that they’re given. It’s a very exciting time, a time of learning, so for me to be involved in people’s careers when they’re at this stage, it’s super exciting for me. I haven’t felt that energy really ever in my career. I’ve never really been in that role so heavy, to be able to go there every week and watch and observe, and give little nuggets of advice.
Kingston then highlighted Pretty Deadly and stated that they’re incredibly special. He emphasized that they can connect with the crowd. The former WWE Champion shared his belief that fans will be pleasantly surprised if Pretty Deadly moves to the main roster.
“Especially with Pretty Deadly, I feel like they’re so incredibly special, the way that they’re able to connect with the crowd, even if it’s in a way that the crowd is repulsed by them, it’s not an easy thing to do. It’s difficult to go out there and to get people to be emotionally invested in what you’re doing, and they got it.
“So hopefully when the time is right, they come up to the main roster and I think that the WWE Universe is going to be pleasantly surprised. The people who are not familiar with their work are going to be very impressed, for sure. They’re super talented.”
When asked about working with Pretty Deadly at live events, Kingston noted he wrestled them in singles action recently, and he was impressed. He brought up the way the two young stars can connect with the crowd without saying anything. Kingston then looked forward to potentially working with them on the main roster.
“I worked with them last week in singles on the live events,” Kingston said. “So they’re accustomed to doing tag team stuff, but even in singles competition, they were on point. One of the telltale signs that you are going to be successful and that you have something special in this industry is when you can walk out of a curtain, and people are reacting to you without you even saying a word. These people didn’t know who Pretty Deadly were, but they walked out, looking like they do with these mesh crop tops, flamboyant looks and their hair all done, instant boos, like heat magnets. Nobody wanted to hear what they had to say, nobody wanted to see them. They come out and they embrace it.
“Again, that’s very difficult to do. I think half the battle is trying to get people to care, whether they want you to get beat up or they want you to beat people up. So when you can people to care and you haven’t even said a single word to the WWE Universe, you got something special. It was a real joy getting to work with them on the singles level and I can’t wait to work with them on the tag team level in front of the RAW and SmackDown rosters when the time is right.”
Kingston and Woods will defend the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT Vengeance Day.
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