10 Times Wrestlers Abused Their Power On TV
1. What Happened To Kofi Kingston's Accent?
"Aren't you supposed to be Jamaican?"
That is what Triple H asked Kofi Kingston in 2009.
Kofi, in what was really a far more racist development than is remembered - luckily for WWE, its problematic history is so vast that conflating the odd ethnicity here and there isn't the half of it - had played a performer of Jamaican and not Ghanaian descent upon his promotion from Deep South Wrestling. He dropped the accent, but Triple H wasn't about to let an opportunity to play his favourite rigged game pass him by as quietly.
"Aren't you supposed to get a reaction working a 25 minute match at WrestleMania with months of build?" Kofi didn't say in response, because he wasn't allowed.
He had to just stand there and take it, looking like a man who was obviously just a scripted television character.
It wasn't that bad. It was one line delivered long after anybody gave a sh*t about kayfabe. But it was still a depressing reminder of the power dynamic in WWE, and how stupidly long it took the company to take young talent seriously.
Only took him 10 years to reach the main event after that.