Kofi Kingston Explains The Origin Of His Jamaican Character

You wouldn't have to spend too much time observing Kofi Kingston to notice that there is nothing Jamaican about him, yet that's the nationality he ended up choosing for his character during his early WWE days.

The Ghanaian, who shocked the world when he won the WWE title at WrestleMania, making history as the first African-born world champion, debuted as a Jamaican wrestler with the promotion. Needless to say, both Jamaicans and Ghanaians were displeased.

Kofi has since moved leaps and bounds, he's now one of the most liked WWE stars around. And speaking on a recent episode of the Chasing Glory podcast, the 37-year-old delved into the origins of his character.

“Oh my god. So here’s the thing, like when I was training, the big deal was that you needed a character, right? That was the big thing, you’ve gotta have a character," he said (h/t 411Mania). "So I remember being on the way to promo class, and I was listening to the Damian Marley CD. And I was like, ‘Huh. Okay, this is an amazing CD.’ I say this every single time, top to bottom it still holds up.

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"So one day I just came in and they were like, ‘Okay well, you’ve gotta go up there and cut a promo.’ And I was just like, [affects Jamaican accent] ‘Kofi Kingston from Kingston, Jamaica.’ I cut a promo on Ric Flair for stealing my Jamaican beef patty, or you know, giving him one that he threw in the trash, something like that. Something dumb. And everybody was just like, ‘Oh, man! You’ve gotta do that! Whoa!’ So that was it, trying to find a way to stand out is so important.

Kofi would eventually drop the character after a BBC reporter accused him of being ashamed of his Ghanaian heritage. But he claims he only wanted to be unique.

"And I didn’t go with the Ghanian character, because at the time Prince Nana who worked for ROH — I think he still does — was like, the Ghanian Prince," he explained. "So for me to come out and be like, ‘Oh, I’m from Ghana too!’ Everyone would be like, ‘Oh, Prince Nana,’ you know what I mean?

"I just wanted to do something that would stand out. So I went the Jamaican route, never having been to the country. Knowing very few people of Jamaican descent. But I did listen to that Damian Marley CD several times, so I figured it qualified me to pose as a Jamaican character.”

This could have been an easier transition for Kofi if he'd listened to a few more reggae albums - a bit of Buju Banton, Sizzla maybe? But at least he realized the gig was up in time and simply had to revert to his normal way of speaking to drop it.

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