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WWE tag team New Day is clobbering ’em with comedy
By John Benson
After nearly a decade in the WWE, Superstar Kofi Kingston experienced a rebirth of sorts when he joined New Day. Now less than a year and a half later, the outfit, which also features Superstars Big E and Xavier Woods, are WWE tag-team champions.
“It’s truly a new day ever since we graced the WWE Universe with our presence,” said Kingston, calling from Anaheim, Calif. “Every time we come out there, you see us being funny, having fun, entertaining people and, of course, preaching the power of positivity.
“That’s what New Day is all about.”
Being positive and adaptable is something Kingston learned early on in life when his African parents left Ghana for a better future in America. Eventually, they landed in the Boston area. After graduating from college, the 6-foot specimen ventured into the world of professional wrestling.
Considering his life experiences, surviving, say, a royal rumble match, was a piece of cake. In fact, Kingston feels as though the key to his WWE success is always being able to roll with the punches.
“Absolutely, I think my entire life we’ve always kind of been on the move,” Kingston said. “We always have to be able to just adapt, not just for this job but in life in general. You never know, no matter what kind of a plan you might have, you don’t know what’s actually going to happen.
“And if you stick to your plan, even though what’s happening is not what you expected, then you’re probably going to fail. So being able to adapt is my philosophy of life.”
While this year marks his 10th year in the WWE, the boom-dropping wrestler fondly recalls getting his start in Ohio Valley Wrestling, which brought him through Northeast Ohio.
“Yeah man, I always remember Youngstown just being really hyped and energetic,” Kingston said. “The Ohio Valley is just really, really into WWE. I’m always looking forward to coming back. It’s a pretty rich wrestling history there.”
Today, Kingston is writing history as part of New Day, which will be taking part in the WWE Live Road to Wrestlemania Supershow event scheduled for Saturday at Covelli Centre.
What’s so unique about the championship team is not only its ring performance but also how funny these guys are. You get the sense they’d kill on a comedy stage.
“You can’t write the chemistry we have,” Kingston said. “Talk about adaptability, when we first came out as New Day we were supposed to be like these three preachers who were preaching positivity and trying to get people to feel good about themselves in this jaded world. But the WWE Universe didn’t like that. They booed us out of the building, and all of a sudden we’re the bad guys.
“For us, it was a deal where we all knew that if we could get on television together, it didn’t matter the characters people wanted us to play. We didn’t care. We knew that we’d be able to make it work. So us being funny is really just us being us.”