New Day member Kofi Kingston felt free when his WWE character finally dropped the Jamaican accent.
Kofi Kingston was a recent guest on Out of Character with Ryan Satin to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about the character he plays on WWE programming, Kingston says the character you see on RAW or SmackDown is just him with the volume turned all the way up.
“The character that I play on TV is like just, and this is like a real cliche term, but it’s me with the volume turned all the way up,” Kofi Kingston said. “You see me twerk in the ring. You guys see me twerk in the ring before? But you see me twerk in the ring; I would twerk at my house. I would twerk in the forest with the family. I would twerk anywhere. So a lot of what you see me doing in the ring is stuff that I would do at home. So I mean, it’s got to be probably like 110% If that percentage makes sense. Yeah.”
The former WWE Champion went on to say that he believes being part of The New Day with Big E and Xavier Woods helped him feel more comfortable about showcasing his personality. Kingston revealed that the original “Trouble in Paradise” Kofi Kingston character with the accent wasn’t him at all.
“Yeah, I do think that being with New Day helped me, Woods, and [Big] E. It just allowed us to show our personality, man. And go out and like have fun,” Kofi Kingston said, before doing the Jamaican accent he was known for during his early years in WWE. “Before y’all remember Kofi Kingston from right near the beach. Y’all remember Kofi Kingston from Kingston, Jamaica. You know what I’m saying, boy? Trouble in Paradise. Boom drop! Right near the beach where you’re from, boy! Thunderclap, boy! Up in the dance hall, baby. You know what I’m talking about? Y’all remember that Kofi Kingston? — That really wasn’t me.”
When Kofi Kingston got to drop the accent on WWE programming, he said the entire situation was very liberating for him because he didn’t feel 100% comfortable doing that character in the first place.
“When I got to drop the accent, it was definitely a lot more me because even just to be able to have a conversation on television or in an interview. It was very liberating,” Kofi Kingston said. “But at the same time, I felt like, and maybe it was because I was still fresh in my career at that point, but um, you know, I didn’t feel like 100% comfortable. With E and Woods, all the fun you see us having is genuine. It’s real. Like we’re out there literally just trying to like pop ourselves, and everyone just happens to be there watching and enjoying it. So yeah, we got a lot of free reins as the New Day too, as time went along, and we got to make it our own. We got to really just do whatever we wanted. We had carte blanche. We could do whatever we want, and we can show our personalities. We would ride together, so a lot of the things that we would say and do in the car rides, we just brought that into the ring and amplified it. So yeah, it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me in my career as far as being able to like just show personality and have the fun that you’re supposed to have in this business.”
READ MORE: Kofi Kingston On The Real Bond He Shares With Xavier Woods And Big E: ‘It’s Just The Chemistry’
What do you make of Kofi Kingston’s comments? Do you enjoy his character on WWE programming as part of The New Day? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Out of Character w/ Ryan Satin with a link back to this article for the transcription.
