20 Greatest WWE SmackDown Superstars Ever

18. Kofi Kingston

The Rock SmackDown Fox
WWE.com

Once the butt of jokes (alongside Dolph Ziggler) for the repetitive nature of SmackDown's midcard match churn, Kofi Kingston deserves credit just for surviving a developmental system that failed countless peers and the company's rank disinterest in actual direction on the blue brand during the early 2010s.

Ensuring his job security on athleticism alone before 2014, Kofi's unit with Big E and Xavier Woods transformed both brands as well as the careers of all three. The New Day have been a delight across red and blue since, but deserve extra credit for their electrifying 2017 run with The Usos and the evocative KofiMania run that propelled him to the top of the entire company.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett