40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told
31. KofiMania’s Organic Rise (WWE, 2019)
Some of the best stories in wrestling folklore were peddled by fans eager to see something fresh or see someone hardworking rewarded for their efforts. That was defo the case with Kofi Kingston in 2019. By then, it seemed like main event dreams and WWE Title success had passed Kofi by - Vince McMahon even said as much during a promo with New Day on SmackDown.
The fanbase disagreed. They wanted to do for Kingston what they'd done for Daniel Bryan years earlier, and nothing was going to stop them. 'KofiMania' was in full flow come a fab Elimination Chamber showing by the man himself. To think, none of this would've been possible had Mustafa Ali not been struck down by injury and thus forced to miss a gauntlet bout on the 12 February 2019 edition of Smackers.
Kingston stepped in as a sub, and we were off to the races on 'KofiMania'. His pals Big E and Xavier Woods won another gauntlet to secure Kofi's title shot vs. Bryan at WrestleMania 35, then 2009's top recipient of the 'YOUR PUSH HAS BEEN CANCELLED SOZ' award did the unthinkable.
He won the big belt and celebrated with his friends and family in-ring as tears fell all around them.
OK, so WWE gave up on Kofi's title reign pretty early on after that (and the way he lost it to Brock Lesnar during SmackDown's FOX bow in October was miserable), but that organic rise? It showed the true grit and determination of an audience that sometimes (just sometimes) knows what's best for business more than the folks penning TV.