Monday 4 March 2013

Kofi Kingston's 2013: Who did he piss off?

In the last week, I had a brief Twitter conversation with a writer from a wrestling news site on how wins and losses don't mean anything anymore. His argument was that despite your favourite wrestler's (whoever that may be) current losing streak it won't affect them in the future when it becomes 'their turn' for a push up the card, or even, towards a World Title run.

One such example, and I've discussed this gentleman before, is Kofi Kingston. It wasn't until i put the following statistics together that I realised just how bad a predicament Kofi is in:

Kofi's win/loss record for 2013 (so far):
  • Smackdown; 4/1/2013; lost to Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett
  • Raw; 7/1/2013; lost to Big Show (under a minute)
  • Smackdown; 18/1/2013; lost to United States Champion Antonio Cesaro
  • Royal Rumble; 27/1/2013; eliminated during Royal Rumble match
  • Smackdown; 1/2/2013; lost to Jack Swagger
  • Smackdown; 8/2/2013; lost to Cody Rhodes
  • Raw; 11/2/2013; lost to Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett
  • Elimination Chamber; 17/2/2013; lost to Dolph Ziggler in impromptu match; followed by Big E Langston destroying him after match
  • Raw; 18/2/2013; beaten up by Damien Sandow before match could start; saved by the returning R-Truth
As you can see from this he has lost every meaningful television match that he has had (these stats do not include any matches he may have had on lesser shows such as Superstars). Added to this, in most cases he has been beaten in squash matches, or very convincingly with not much offence of his own. You will also notice that this doesn't include many Raw/Smackdown shows/dates and that's because he hasn't been used that much at all in 2013.


What doesn't help him further is that the back end of 2012 wasn't any better either. On the New Year's Eve edition of Raw (31/12), Kofi lost the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett and, as you can see from the above list, did not regain it later that week. In fact, once the title was lost, he hasn't had another sniff at a championship.

It could be argued that it's a positive that he has been on pay-per-views this year, but he's merely been there to make up the numbers - especially so at the Royal Rumble, where for the second year running he performed a party trick by saving himself from elimination in a comedic way. This only led to his tossing out seconds later. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view he was introduced as Dolph Ziggler's 'surprise' opponent for the evening. I was left unexcited and in no doubt whatsoever of the outcome here - why would you put someone with an up-and-coming World Title run against a losing streak such as Kofi's on pay-per-view? The win did absolutely nothing for Ziggler - due to Kofi's current 'jobber' booking - and there should have been no doubt in anyone's mind watching as to who was going to be victorious.

After Big E Langston's vicious assault on Kofi after the match, I thought we might have been going somewhere with Big E. This hasn't been the case since then as he has simply remained as Dolph's 'heavy' at ringside during his matches. So the beatdown seems to have been for nothing?


Ultimately, I have no idea why Kofi has been used, or misused, in the way he has so far in 2013. He is a very talented and popular superstar and there must be a meaningful place for him on TV?

Maybe this will lead to a longer break from TV for him, with a return similar to that of Jack Swagger and Mark Henry. I think this is very much needed to get some momentum behind Kofi again, as I for one have lost interest, and faith, in him. I fully expect him to lose every match that he has - and why should I think otherwise?

Basically, if he is going to remain on TV (on the rare occasions that he's used) then I cannot get away from thinking about his win/loss record - therefore, his losses do matter, and they will continue to do so unless there is a drastic change. And he can't simply just start winning again, either.

@jimmosangle

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