Reigning World Wrestling Entertainment Champion, Kofi Kingston has in a Facebook and Instagram post said he will be visiting home after 26 years. In a post that suggests he has heard the call to action in the trending #YearofReturn hashtag ‘Brafie’ #brafie and responding by inviting others to the slogan #LetsGoGhana, Kofi is will be returning home for a 4-day visit beginning May 30 to June 2, 2019 to pay a courtesy call on the President, Nana Akufo Addo and the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palaceas well as visit many tourist attractions including Lake Bosomtwi, Christiansborg (Osu) Castle, Bonwire, Ejisu and Komfo Anokye. He will be accompanied by a WWE crew who are shooting a documentary on him as World Champion.
Read the story below as published by WWE.com on Friday, May 9, 2019.
Kofi Kingston is going home. And, of course, he’s got a little extra luggage to take with him this time around.
The WWE Champion revealed Friday on Instagram that he is planning his first visit to his home country of Ghana, West Africa since 1993 — part of a celebratory “Year of Return” in the wake of winning his first World Championship. A WWE film crew will be documenting the four-day visit, which includes a children’s rally, visits to Kofi’s maternal and paternal hometowns, as well as a courtesy call on the Ghanaian president, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and a visit to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asante Monarch.
Read the full press release below, and stay tuned to WWE’s digital channels for more on Kofi’s homecoming.
Journey to becoming World Champion
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston is powered by positivity, and he’s used it to catapult himself, Xavier Woods and Big E to new heights.
Since bursting on the WWE scene in 2007, Kingston has established himself as one of WWE’s premier high-flyers. That, paired with his upbeat attitude, made him a perennial favourite of the WWE Universe as he racked up Intercontinental, the United States and Tag Team Championships. Kingston also cemented his place in WWE history with a series of daredevil moments where he saved himself from elimination in several Royal Rumble Matches.
Above: Video of how Kofi Kingston won the title
When he joined forces with Big E and Xavier Woods to form The New Day, though, no one could have guessed that the trio of unicorn horn-wearing, Booty-O-chomping Superstars would achieve the feats that they have in WWE. In fact, the WWE Universe despised them at first but soon grew to love them.
As a veteran member of the team, Kingston provides his wealth of knowledge to his younger compadres, and it has paid off. Not only has The New Day become one of the most popular factions in WWE history, but ya boys have held multiple Tag Team Championships between their stints on Raw and SmackDown LIVE, including the longest reign in WWE history – an astonishing 483 days.
Kingston’s 11 years of hard work and dedication finally brought him to the dance at WrestleMania 35 where he challenged Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title. With the entire WWE Universe behind him, as well as his New Day brothers and the SmackDown locker room, Kofi beat Bryan to claim WWE’s ultimate prize. It just goes to show what the Power of Positivity can accomplish.
Kofi Kingston’s explains his unique Adinkra Tatoos
About Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-American professional wrestler signed to WWE, under the ring name Kofi Kingston, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, and is the current WWE Champion in his first reign. He is the first African-born WWE Champion and is also a member of The New Day along with Big E and Xavier Woods.
After graduating college, Sarkodie-Mensah decided to pursue a professional wrestling career. He began performing on the New England independent circuit as a Jamaican wrestler by the name of Kofi Nahaje Kingston.[4] After signing a developmental deal with WWE in 2007, he shortened his ring name to “Kofi Kingston”. Kingston debuted in WWE in 2008 using the same Jamaican character as he did on the independent circuit. In late 2009, he stopped being billed from Jamaica and dropped the accent although he kept his ring name. He then started being billed from his home country of Ghana.
Kingston spent much of his first few years in WWE on the midcard singles scene, during which he became a four-time Intercontinental Champion and a three-time United States Champion. In 2014, Kingston formed The New Day with Big E and Xavier Woods. The trio went on to break the record for the longest Tag Team Championship reign in WWE history when they held the WWE (Raw) Tag Team Championship from August 2015 to December 2016 while defending the titles under the Freebird rule.[5][6] In April 2019, Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship, his first world title in WWE.
He is the first African-born world champion in WWE history as well as its 30th Triple Crown Champion and 20th overall Grand Slam Champion (13th under the current format).[7][8][9][10] In addition, Kingston himself holds the singular record for most days spent as a Tag Team Champion within WWE and is also known for innovative ways of suspending his elimination from Royal Rumble and battle royal matches. With the exception of a few months spent as a heel (villainous character) in 2015 with The New Day, Kingston has been a babyface (heroic character) for almost the entirety of his WWE career.
