It’s been over two years since Kofi Kingston’s magical run up to WrestleMania 35, where he won the WWE championship from Daniel Bryan and KofiMania, as they said at the time, was running wild. He had a solid if unspectacular run as champion but folks mostly remember how he lost that title.
An eight-second squash at the hands of Brock Lesnar on the 20th Anniversary episode of SmackDown. He was never given a rematch.
After losing the title, he went right back to The New Day and the tag team division. That’s where he’s been ever since, save for a recent foray back into the WWE title picture in the form of a couple number one contender matches with Drew McIntyre.
He lost those too.
Kingston being back with Xavier Woods is certainly fine. They won tag team titles and were generally entertaining, like they always are. But I’m not sure anyone would argue he’s been as interesting as he was during his run up to that WWE championship victory.
Enter MVP.
Last week, he called out Kingston’s decline, making clear how disappointing it’s been that KofiMania ended because Kingston has been content to go right back to joking around with his buddies instead of doing what it takes to be the best of the best.
This week on Monday Night Raw, following a New Day loss to RK-Bro, MVP was back at it again:
“I was just curious as to whether or not you’ve had an opportunity to think about what we discussed the other day, or if it makes more sense after your loss to RK-Bro. Either way, KofiMania is dead and gone, it’s never coming back, and if you want to know who to blame all you have to do … is just look to your left.
“Do you ever wonder why you’ve never even gotten close to a WWE title opportunity again? It’s because you’re wasting your career in tag teams with people who just don’t measure up. At least in a singles match if you lose you only have yourself to blame. But tonight, you didn’t even get pinned and you’re still a loser.”
Kingston maintains that the only reason he’s ever had any success in WWE is because of his bond with his brothers. He doesn’t seem to be considering MVP’s words as anything more than the ploy of an antagonist, doing what he does.
Yet.
What makes MVP’s argument so compelling is not that it’s true, necessarily, but that one might hear it and come to that conclusion, even if it isn’t. What if that one is, eventually, Kofi himself?