10 Screw Ups That Led To Huge WWE Moments

7. Kofi Kingston Is "Stupid"

Randy Orton Kofi Kingston New Day
WWE

The Screw Up: On the 11 January 2010 episode of Raw, Kofi Kingston faced John Cena and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match to establish who'd challenge for the WWE Title at Royal Rumble. Infamously, Orton would beat Kingston with an RKO before repeatedly shouting "Stupid" at his peer.

It turns out that Kofi botched the finish - he didn't stay down for an Orton punt, instead rising to his feet. Randy had to RKO him instead, and wasn't happy about it. This one moment killed Kofi's top line aspirations dead.

The Moment: It also led to the formation of New Day.

Kofi rolled around in midcard hell for years before linking up with Xavier Woods and Big E in 2014. He might not have been at such a low ebb (and thus never teamed with those guys) had Orton not kiboshed his push in 2010. WWE also went on to reference the "Stupid" saga in 2019 during Kingston's title tilt; the fact his main event dreams had been squished flat nine years earlier played a huge role in that feel good story.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.