Kofi Kingston recently spoke with Rolling Stone‘s Kenny Herzog about his infamous Royal Rumble moments, talking about the top five Royal Rumble escapes. You can read a few highlights below:
Kofi recalls his handstand onto the steel steps in 2012:
“I knew I wasn’t going to win. But I wanted to make sure people were going to talk about me. What sparked the idea before was when [John] Morrison got knocked off the apron and jumped all the way to the wall and jumped back. He wasn’t with the company the year after that, so in terms of there being an opening, I took upon myself to be like, ‘Let me do something cool.’ I came up with the idea myself, and a lot doubters said, ‘Well, what if you fall?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I’ll be eliminated,’ which is the premise of the match anyway. Luckily, it went the right way.”
Kofi looks back on 2013 when he used a commentary chair to pogo back to the ring:
“It’s really a collective effort for which I wind up getting the shine,” Kingston points out as he recollects riding the shoulders of “hairy-man Tensai with his oversized head, swinging around. It’s like being on a bucking bronco. And a shoutout to JBL for actually giving me his chair. If he didn’t, I probably would have stayed out on the table, so luckily, everyone’s willing to give in to the excitement.”
Kofi comments on Kane clotheslining him onto Big E’s shoulder in last year’s match:
“Being on [Big E’s] shoulders and going around the ring eating popcorn went hand-in-hand with what the New Day is all about. Just having fun, bringing the crowd into the matches. For me to, at that point, still be in the actual Rumble and be in the crowd chillin’ with fans is a pretty cool moment, not only for myself but for the fans. It’s almost like they’re in the match. That’s as close as you can get if you have a live, active participant eating your popcorn. The adrenaline keeps the germs at bay. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
