Kofi Kingston recently appeared on the Swerve City Podcast and discussed several topics, ranging from his role as a mentor to his relationship with Xavier Woods. Here are some highlights:
On being a mentor:
Kingston: “Back in my day, the higher-ups would get mad if you didn’t come to them and ask them for advice about your match, it’d be something like you’re mad about it, you know, and for me, it’s like, I don’t mind if you want my advice or not. Like, it’s cool because everyone’s entitled to having their own journey and making their own mistakes. That’s how you learn, that’s how you get better. If you go out and do what I want you to do, you’re not getting better. You’re just a puppeteer, you’re a puppet and I’m the one pulling the strings, you know what I mean?”
“I’m always there, you know what I’m saying, for people to come to me and ask me for my advice and my experience and I’m more than happy to give it, you know what I’m saying? But a lot of people these days have a lot more experience, whether it be on the independents or wherever, in other places that are not to be named, you know what I’m saying?”
On Xavier Woods becoming a star:
KIngston: “Before, we were in Deep South, in developmental, you know what I’m saying, and I think I was actually in the ring, all of a sudden the door swings open. Everyone stops, crickets, ‘’Who came in, who dares to come into this house?’ Xavier Woods, eyes wide open, dressed up in a suit, you know, has his résumé. I’m like, what’s this guy doing with a résumé? But if you’re going to a job, you’re supposed to have your résumé, you know what I’m saying? So it’s like the backwards culture, but he comes in, you know, hands his résumé in, has like a wrestling tape. The next day, Deep South closes down, you know what I’m saying? Literally, the very next day, Deep South closes down. We open back up in Tampa a couple months later and, you know, a few weeks after that, door swings open again, stops, come through, Xavier Woods. I’m like, wow this dude, he got a suit on again, résumé again. You know, so comes in, you talk about grinding, he’s making these drives all the way from Atlanta, you know what I’m saying? So it was awesome when I saw that he finally got hired because, granted, I wasn’t a huge part of his journey, but I was there when he came in, I saw the grind, you know? And then now, just seeing how amazing of a mind he has for the business, you know, very underrated, incredibly underrated. For a long time, people thought, ‘Oh, he’s just the guy who plays on the trombone on the outside.’ No, like, number one, he’s been around the way and actually me and E joke about it, Woods is kind of the veteran of our team because he’s been wrestling longest, you know?”
The full clip is available below:
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