10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (July 5)

3. Who Forced Kofi Kingston To Wrestle In Boots

There's a reason why the above picture was chosen for this entry. Look closely at Kofi Kingston's feet. He's wearing sneakers, not wrestling boots, and he pads around his ankles and knees to give the illusion of more. That's a personal choice of Kofi's; he feels comfier wrestling in trainers than he would traditional wrestling boots.

Bill DeMott hated that.

When Kingston worked in then-WWE developmental promotion Deep South Wrestling at the start of his career, DeMott had one simple rule: everyone, with no exceptions, had to wrestle in boots. Bill, as one of the head trainers, believed that was wrestling 101, and he wouldn't hear any complaints.

Kingston told The Wrap that this cut his athleticism in the ring by as much as 60%. He found it hard to move around in boots, and that's why he jumped back to sneakers as soon as he could. Nobody in WWE has ever brought his attire choice up as an issue since.