WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Wrestlers - Where Are They Now?

42. Kofi Kingston

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

Entry: #9

Time: 16:34

Then: Daredevil escape artist Kofi Kingston hadn't quite botched his usual Royal Rumble spots back in 2018. That wouldn't happen until 2022's match, and it proved to be a slightly embarrassing moment for the New Day man. 4 years beforehand, he was relied upon to add some spice into these bouts, which must be why WWE handed Kofi a full 16 minutes and change to do his thing over in Saudi.

He'd even score an elimination by helping his stablemate Xavier Woods oust he-with-the-rock-hard-abs Tony Nese. 

It's actually kinda cool to look back on 2018's Greatest Royal Rumble and realise that Kingston was around a year away from 'KofiMania' bursting into life and charming dollars out of everyone's pockets heading into WrestleMania 35. His WWE Title win there seemed fanciful when he was bounced out of the 50-man Rumble by Elias.

Now: So, mind you, did the thought of Kofi ever turning heel again. New Day thrilled fans so much that they turned the group babyface pretty early on. The mere notion of Kingston and Woods turning their backs on Big E after he'd been forced to retire from the ring due to a serious neck injury seemed impossible at the time.

That's what has happened though.

Admittedly, New Day (lite) has been an on/off struggle on WWE TV in recent times. Their tag title run proved to be a complete waste of everyone's time, and it seems the creative team have some sort of Men In Black memory wipe weekly. Kofi and Xavier have been repeating the same stuff for an age, and it got old fast.

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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.