WWE World Heavyweight Champion Kofi Kingston joined Meltdown to talk about Smackdown at Little Caesars Arena, his match against Randy Orton at Summerslam, rubbing elbows with wrestling legends, showing up in the wrong place when Wrestlemania was in Detroit & more! Thanks for watching!
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00:00Riff TV presents Meltdown's Meltdown.
00:08Hey guys, welcome to Meltdown's Meltdown.
00:10Normally I do fun stories, hilarity ensues, and then we go and talk about rock and roll things.
00:16But today, this guy here with the championship belt decided to crash.
00:21Ah, lucky you.
00:24Rating's about to go up, baby.
00:26Hey, huh? Congratulations, you're going to get some good followers on social media, you know what I mean?
00:32Man.
00:32All because of me.
00:33I can see my numbers climbing.
00:36The pleasure is all yours.
00:38He's the champ, and he's got sweatpants on.
00:41That's right.
00:41Ric Flair wouldn't wear sweatpants.
00:44I'm not Ric Flair.
00:45You know what I'm saying?
00:46Comfort over everything, you know what I'm saying?
00:48Comfort over everything.
00:50Ric Flair would also not wear a Unicorn Squad t-shirt.
00:53It's neither here nor there, you know?
00:55We're just over here spitting facts.
00:56That's right.
00:56Well, Kofi, thanks for us down by.
00:58Of course, man.
00:59For the big night side of SmackDown in preparation, of course, for SummerSlam this weekend.
01:03You've got a lot of things on your plate, eh?
01:04Oh, yeah, yeah.
01:05But I like to eat, you know?
01:07I have a big appetite.
01:08All the stuff that's on the plate, you're going to finish all our food.
01:10That's right.
01:10And that food today is Randy Orton.
01:12That's going to be me and I having a match at SummerSlam.
01:14So, it's been 10 years in the making, you know, on a very real level.
01:20Randy was a guy who kind of cut my legs out from underneath me.
01:25Right.
01:25You know, when I was on the come up as a youth coming up in this industry, trying to do right,
01:29working my tail off.
01:30And behind the scenes, Randy was doing everything that he could do to make sure that I didn't
01:34get to this point.
01:35But in a way, he kind of catapulted you a little bit.
01:37Here we are.
01:38Yeah.
01:38Yeah, here we are, man.
01:39You know, we're here.
01:40We made it.
01:40So, hey, talk real fast about the big victory over there at WrestleMania.
01:45Yeah, man.
01:46So, ever since I was a kid, this is all I've ever wanted.
01:48You know, I've always wanted to be a WWE superstar.
01:50I've always wanted to be WWE champion.
01:52And at WrestleMania, I got that chance for the first time in 11 years.
01:56I had a WWE championship title match.
01:58And luckily, I was able to beat Daniel Bryan, one of the greatest of all time.
02:02And here we are, man.
02:05That is the fastest version of the story that I've ever told.
02:08And I'm trying to, like, save you some time.
02:10But it was a pretty emotional moment for me just because, again, like, this is all I've
02:13ever wanted to do.
02:14And then I got to share that moment with my brothers, Woods and E, in the ring.
02:18And then my family came in there, too, with my kids.
02:20It was really something special.
02:22And the first African champion in WWE history.
02:26Yeah, yeah.
02:26It's cool, man.
02:27And, again, like, I talk about this all the time.
02:30Like, representation is so important for us to be able to look at the television screen
02:33and see somebody who looks like you doing incredible things.
02:36So people out there, you know, who can actually affirm that it is possible to do this.
02:45You know, it's one thing to, like, say it in theory.
02:47But then you look on TV and it's like, yeah, it's possible because it actually happened,
02:50not in theory.
02:51And then also, like, my story has been one that was all about rising and struggling
02:55and finally getting to this point after 11 long, hard years trying to fight to get there.
02:59So it's not just, like, an African-American thing.
03:01It's an everybody thing.
03:02Anybody who's ever been in a situation where they've struggled to achieve what they want to achieve,
03:06that's my story.
03:08And so you're coming up next week.
03:10By the way, happy early birthday.
03:11Thanks, man.
03:12Next week you're going to be 38 years old.
03:13I know.
03:13And you've kind of like, I mean.
03:15Oh, gross.
03:16Oh, disgusting.
03:17Hey, wait until you get to be my age.
03:19Oh.
03:20But listen, at 38, you got the championship belt.
03:23You won it at WrestleMania.
03:24I mean, that's got to be, like, the pinnacle of everything.
03:26It is, 100%.
03:28Is there anything left?
03:28Well, just holding on to this as long as I can.
03:32One of my favorite quotes now is,
03:34at the top of a mountain is the bottom of another mountain.
03:36So, yeah, this was like an 11-year journey.
03:38It's been a hard time getting here.
03:41But now the next mountain is making this title reign count,
03:45making it memorable, beating greats like Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler
03:49and Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan and now Randy Orton coming up, you know.
03:54So, that's been one of my goals is just to make this championship reign count.
03:59Yeah, that's amazing.
04:00So, tonight you got SmackDown here in Detroit.
04:03So, what does your day look like before SmackDown?
04:06Well, this is the last interview that I'm doing in my media morning.
04:10You know, I've done four aside from this one, a couple TVs, a couple radios.
04:14And then this one, like I was telling you before,
04:18I'm trying to get my family to Toronto.
04:20That's right, yeah.
04:20We're like last-minute type people.
04:22So, my wife's passport is coming in today.
04:25And once that comes in, we'll be able to get her ticket
04:27and then get the kids over with their birth certificate.
04:29So, I'm like trying to arrange getting the dogs to their boarding place and all that.
04:34So, after this, that's what I'm going to do is be on the phone
04:36trying to like coordinate all that.
04:37But, yeah, and then we'll have SmackDown.
04:40It's going to be awesome.
04:41Like Detroit has such an amazing energy.
04:42Well, I was going to say, so since we are in Detroit,
04:44tell me what Detroit means to you.
04:46I mean, you're an M&M fan, Kid Rock, Rhinos from Detroit.
04:49I mean, you know, tell me a little bit about your connection with Detroit.
04:51Detroit is awesome.
04:52So, like you were saying too, so before my knowledge of like,
04:56I'm more so of a hip-hop guy than anything else.
04:59So, M&M, D12 was like all I knew of Detroit.
05:03And then I got into Rose Gold.
05:07They're a hip-hop group that's like awesome here.
05:09And then Spotify led me to a guy named Black Milk, who I'd never heard of,
05:13who was like amazing.
05:15Really?
05:15Like he was so far ahead of his time as far as like,
05:18so I listened to his album and then I was like, oh, this is some new stuff.
05:21And then I come to find out it was out in like 2011.
05:23I'm like, where have I been?
05:24So, the Detroit music scene is awesome.
05:26And like I said, like the energy here is amazing too.
05:28This is always one of the places that we remember, myself, Woods, and E,
05:32when we formed our group, The New Day.
05:33This is one of the places that chanted very loudly and passionately about how much we sucked.
05:39You know?
05:39So, then it like, it propelled us to being able to go do some like bad guy stuff,
05:43which was awesome.
05:44But without that reaction in Detroit,
05:46I don't know that we would have ever gotten the chance to like be bad guys.
05:50You know what I'm saying?
05:51So, a very special place in my heart for Detroit, you know?
05:54Even if you did boo me out of a building, it's all good.
05:57As long as you guys are reacting and like having fun, that's really what it's all about.
06:00That's the whole thing too.
06:01It's like, you know, some of these guys, like when Stone Cold Steve Austin,
06:04that what thing just started out of nowhere.
06:06And I even heard a little bit of it last night when Seth Rollins was talking.
06:08Yeah, yeah.
06:09It's still prevalent.
06:10It's like, do you ever go up to the powers that be per se and say,
06:13hey, I've got this idea of this chant or whatever.
06:16And do some work and some just don't?
06:19We just go out and do things.
06:21Like, for example, myself, Woods, and E,
06:24so we have something similar to the what chant where anytime we say who,
06:27everybody in the crowd just goes who, who, who, who, who, the whole crowd, you know?
06:32We have a lot of different slogans.
06:34We had a serial called Booty O's that we, you know,
06:37make sure that you ain't booty.
06:39It was a thing for a while.
06:40The entire crowd was chanting that.
06:41Now we throw pancakes out and people are clamoring for pancakes.
06:45Sometimes those pancakes come out of Big East England.
06:47He doesn't wear drawers.
06:48He doesn't wear underwear now.
06:50People are still clamoring for them.
06:51That's not too much information.
06:53We're going to chat this out.
06:53You know, I'm just saying, you know,
06:55but it's one of these things where, like, we just do things
06:58and whatever the people, like, kind of gravitate towards,
07:00we kind of try to give them more of that.
07:02So for us as the new day, it's important for us to include people.
07:05And for WWE as a whole, like, the most important letter in the acronym
07:08is that E, the entertainment aspect.
07:10And that's why people come is to be included in the, in the show.
07:12So, yeah, Detroit is a great, great energy for all of that to happen.
07:16So with the WWE, tell me about someone you've met
07:19or you just couldn't even believe, like, you were in the same room with
07:22as far as wrestling goes from growing up.
07:24And I mean, even 10, 11 years ago, like, who was the first person you met?
07:26You're like, oh, my God.
07:27There's so many.
07:28My first, like, name match before I even got onto WWE television
07:32was in Atlanta when we had our developmental territory, Deep South,
07:36kind of like our minor league farming system.
07:38I wrestled Gangrel.
07:40Wow.
07:40And you know what I mean?
07:41Like, so he was the guy who came out vampire, like, legit fangs.
07:44That's a name for the fast I haven't heard in a long time.
07:45Yeah, he, like, still has those fangs.
07:47So, like, for me to be in the ring with him was like, oh, this is cool.
07:51I've been in the ring with Chris Jericho.
07:53Shawn Michaels and I twerked in the ring at WrestleMania together, like,
07:55three years ago.
07:56What?
07:57Like, what?
07:57You know?
07:58So there's so many people because I was just such a big fan growing up.
08:02Ricky the Dragon Steamboat was one of my guys.
08:03Rey Mysterio is one of my guys now.
08:05Rey and I talk sneakers all the time.
08:07You know what I'm saying?
08:08He's really into sneakers.
08:10Like, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat helped me out with a ton of my matches.
08:13Coming up, Arne Anderson.
08:14I could go on all day.
08:16Like, all these guys are just, like, my heroes.
08:17And oftentimes I have to be like, oh, man, I'm at work.
08:21You know what I mean?
08:22I have to, like, pay attention to what they're saying because oftentimes I go into,
08:24like, fanboy mode and just, like, think of how crazy it is that I'm at work.
08:27I'm having these moments with guys who I used to watch on TV and are the very reason that
08:31I'm even, like, involved and interested in being a professional wrestler.
08:34Right.
08:34It's like one of those things where when you walk in and you see The Undertaker or Stone
08:37Cold or something, you got to be like, oh.
08:39Oh, yeah.
08:39Yeah, it's still crazy to this day because it's like, hey, what's going on?
08:43And, you know, you're catching up and, like, dapping up, you know, with Stone Cold.
08:47And, like, it's just wild.
08:48Just madness.
08:49Yeah, Stone Cold's had some great matches here.
08:51I know he threw the – every time I cross the bridge going into Belle Isle, I think about
08:55the night he threw the belt over the bridge.
08:56That was here?
08:57Yeah.
08:57Really?
08:58Yeah.
08:58Whoa.
08:59And I think that, if I'm not mistaken, someone actually went down and got it.
09:02Probably.
09:02Anyways, then he drove the Zamboni into the ring.
09:04And that was here, too?
09:05That was here, yeah.
09:05Oh, my gosh.
09:05That was at Joe Louis Arena.
09:07Wow.
09:08Yeah, a lot of moments, man.
09:09Yeah, a lot of crazy moments.
09:10And WrestleMania was here in 2000 – whatever.
09:13Trump hair versus hair.
09:15That was the first WrestleMania.
09:16So, before I was on TV, I actually came up as, like, a developmental talent to, you know,
09:21kind of get a taste of what the big leagues are going to be like.
09:24And they sent me up here.
09:25And it's funny because they give you a packet and they tell you where to go.
09:29And it's like, okay, go to the green room to get all your information.
09:31So, I didn't know what was going on.
09:32I came off the airplane, type in green room to my TomTom, my GPS, you know.
09:37And there's a restaurant called The Green Room.
09:39I guess it was, like, a vegetarian restaurant.
09:40So, I pull up to the restaurant.
09:42It's, like, closed.
09:43I'm just like –
09:44Wait a second.
09:44And they told you to go to the green room and you Googled –
09:46You tried Googling it.
09:47I didn't know what that meant, you know.
09:48So, I Googled it.
09:49And that's, like, one of my biggest memories in Detroit is, like, the green room.
09:51And I'm sitting there in front of this restaurant.
09:53There's no one there.
09:54And I'm calling everybody.
09:55I'm like, guys, I don't – like, where is everybody at?
09:57I'm at the green room.
09:58There's a restaurant.
09:59No, you're 20 minutes away.
10:00I'm like, oh, my God.
10:01Like, idiot I am, you know.
10:02But nobody specified.
10:04Did you Google the – what is it called?
10:06The monsoon room or whatever?
10:07The gorilla room?
10:08The gorilla, yeah.
10:10Fortunately, I didn't do that.
10:12But, you know, I might have.
10:14I might have.
10:14Yeah, I think that was 2007, I want to say.
10:17Yes, it was 2007 because then I debuted in 2008 in January 2007.
10:22That was actually the year, I think, CM Punk won the Money in the Bank.
10:27Yeah, a lot of things happened at that WrestleMania.
10:29Like you said, yeah, the hair versus hair match.
10:31Yeah, with Trump, yeah.
10:32Isn't that weird?
10:33How weird is that?
10:34That's –
10:34So bizarre.
10:35Yeah, we live in a crazy world sometimes.
10:36All right, a couple more things here real fast for you.
10:38First of all, who's the last wrestler that texted you?
10:40Last – probably E or Woods.
10:43Okay, one of those guys.
10:44Yeah, yeah, most likely.
10:45Or maybe, yeah, Zack Ryder.
10:48I don't know.
10:48I'm going to be – I have a lot of group texts.
10:50All right, there you go.
10:50And final thing here for you, what do you think has been the key to your success all these years?
10:54For me, it's been a matter of just focusing on what I can control, you know, and whatever opportunity I'm given going out and just being able to knock it out of the park.
11:04You know, giving it your all.
11:06That's really all that you can do here because everything is so unpredictable.
11:08Even, like, tonight, I'm scheduled to go up against, like, Samoa Joe and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat match.
11:14I don't know if that match is even going to happen because by the time I get to the building, it might completely change.
11:18They will all be there in some way, shape, or form, but you have to be able to kind of roll with the punches and be ready to adjust at the drop of a hat.
11:25And not just me as a wrestler, everybody on all different levels, you know, from marketing to, you know, ticketing and everything.
11:31Like, there's just always things that are changing.
11:34So having the ability to adapt is so important.
11:38That's helped me out in life, especially now with kids because when you think that you're supposed to leave your house at 8 o'clock in the morning and they say,
11:45Oh, no, I have to go poop, and you leave at 8.45 because they're not putting their stuff on.
11:50You just, you know, you roll with the punches, you know.
11:51So I feel like WWE has definitely prepared me for that in a lot of different ways.
11:56You know, Googling the green room, talking about poop, we've covered all the bases here.
11:59That's it, man.
12:00You know, we talk about everything.
12:01Nothing is off limits.
12:02Nothing is off limits.
12:04Hey, Kofi, great to meet you.
12:05Right on, man.
12:06You too.
12:06And good luck tonight.
12:07Of course, SmackDown and this weekend with Randy Orton.
12:10Thanks, man.
12:11Take him down.
12:12Yeah.
12:13There you go.
12:13Bring that energy, Detroit, that I love to have.
12:16Detroit, tickets are still available, Detroit.
12:19$20, Detroit.
12:20Oh, Detroit, baby.
12:253-1-3.
12:268 Mile.
12:27Eminem.
12:29Ford.
12:30Ted Nugent.
12:30Ellis Cooper.
12:30Ted Nugent.
12:31Ellis Cooper.
12:32Detroit.