KOFI KINGSTON TALKS ABOUT WRESTLEMANIA, FAVORITE FEUD AND MORE

 WWE Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston recently spoke with TheWellVersed.com. Here are some of the highlights:


TWV: What’s been your favorite feud during your time in the WWE?


KK: I’ve had quite a few. I guess I would have to say … the one with Alberto was kind of fun, in terms of me trying to rise up to his level. He’s a guy that won the Royal Rumble and kind of came out of nowhere and made a huge, huge impact. Now the rest of us, myself included, have to step our game up. Who knows where the whole thing will go. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.


TWV: This could be the first time at Wrestlemania where you aren’t sharing the spotlight with other guys in a battle royal or Money In The Bank. What would it mean to you to defend the Intercontinental Championship on wrestling’s biggest stage?


KK: It would be huge. Growing up, I was always a wrestling fan. I use to wrestle with a Bugs Bunny doll. That was my opponent of choice. I would always fantasize about being at Wrestlemania in the main event. Granted, I have the Intercontinental Championship and it won’t be the main event match, but if I were to defend that championship at Wrestlemania, it would be a dream come true. It’s singles competition, which would be a little bit different than Money In The Bank, which like you said, you have to share the spotlight with nine other guys. It’s all speculation at this point. I’m not sure what’s going on at Wrestlemania. I do know that I will be there and I will be in the building for sure and it’s going to be a night to remember.


TWV: When you aren’t on camera, what exactly do you do with the Intercontinental Championship? Have you had any close calls while traveling with it?


KK: I keep it with me at all times. It’s funny because I always forget that I packed it in my bag, so I will be midway to the next town and I’ll get butterflies in my stomach because I think I might have forgot it. Even on the planes and what not, sometimes you will get on there and they will want you to check your bags. I will always take the title out and then have them check the bags. I don’t want to be the guy who loses a title or gets it stolen out of his bag. Even though that technically wouldn’t be my fault, it would somehow come back around to me.


TWV: Speaking of the Intercontinental Championship, have you had any ideas about customizing the championship, a la the Ultimate Warrior back in the day?


KK: Obviously John Cena brought in the spinner belt and you had the Rated R belt and all these different customizations. I think we’re in line for a new one, so maybe if I can hold on to the title long enough, I can customize it and make it my own. I would love to do something like that.

WWE PARTNERS WITH GAY AND LESBIAN ALLIANCE AFTER CENA'S RAP

WWE is partnering with GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) after the organization received a number of complaints about some comments that John Cena made towards The Rock that many WWE viewers saw as anti-gay. 

GLAAD issued the following statement this week: 

WWE Partners with GLAAD on Anti-Bullying Messages 

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will be working with GLAAD to create and promote an anti-bullying initiative aimed at their core audience, and has invited us to conduct trainings for their staff of writers and editors. 

Our outreach to WWE was prompted by outrage from many LGBT viewers, about a series of homophobic taunts by wrestler John Cena on the USA program WWE Raw in late February. We reached out to WWE Incorporated, which responded swiftly and positively. 

GLAAD was first made aware of the incidents by several of its members following the February 21 broadcast of WWE Raw, which featured wrestler John Cena responding to taunts made by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with a rap song making fun of Johnson’s film roles. The song included lyrics like “You left us high and dry to play a fairy with a tooth?” and “He wore lipstick in Get Shorty, and rocked a skirt for The Game Plan.” 

But the real kicker came near the end when he said: "Just don’t go racing to Witch Mountain, Rock, cause your mountain is Brokeback." 

The next incident occurred on the show a week later (Feb. 28), when Cena was challenging another wrestler known as “The Miz” while in the ring with him, and had the crowd roaring when he joked about the Miz and his wrestling partner secretly being a couple. It began with Cena saying “Do you really want to look back years from now and realize you shared your legacy with another man?! ….Wait don’t answer that.” Cena continued: 

“Now The Miz and Alex Riley are co-champions and to celebrate it they’re going to move in together. They’re going to buy one of those tandem bikes and ride to bed bath and beyond to buy some duvets. And every evening they’re going to relax with a glass of warm piot noir and watch The Notebook, or reruns of last season’s Bachelor. ……….You want to be a mentor and train him? Well, tonight I’m going to train you on how to be a man.” 

The incidents were particularly troubling because WWE recently began promoting itself as PG-rated entertainment marketed primarily towards adolescent males. Young boys are of course the demographic most likely to experience homophobic bullying or to be bullying themselves. And there was wrestling superstar John Cena performing what amounted to scripted homophobic bullying of other wrestlers on a nationally broadcast show for kids. 

GLAAD contacted WWE executives and explained the problem after receiving our first reports. They then spoke to John Cena and the show’s writers. We have been assured that not only will such incidents not happen again, WWE intends to reach out to their adolescent audience, with messages aimed making it clear that bullying someone with homophobic taunts or for their perceived sexual orientation is wrong. WWE released the following apology statement to that effect: 

"WWE takes this issue very seriously, and has already spoken with our talent about these incidents. We are taking steps and working with GLAAD to ensure that our fans know that WWE is against bullying or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. We strongly value our fans in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and apologize to them for these incidents." 

We are very much looking forward to developing our relationship with WWE, and we thank them both for hearing our message loud and clear, and for planning to send an anti-bullying message of their own. 

Source: GLAAD Website

JIM ROSS WILL BE WRITING A BOOK

 Jim Ross noted on his website that he has no book deal in place as of yet but the first book he writes will not be an autobiography. Ross says he is considering other, potential subjects to write on.

RAW LIVE EVENT SALES

 WWE’s RAW live event business has seen good crowds lately for secondary markets. The March 11th show in Springfield, MO drew 7,000 paying fans for $190,000; March 12th in Wichita, KS drew 7,200 paying for $240,000 and March 13th in Oklahoma City, OK drew 6,500 paying for $221,000. For the SmackDown brand, March 12th in Cedar Rapids, IA drew 4,400 paying for $140,000 and March 13th in Moline, IL drew 5,300 paying fans for $141,500.

JOHN CENA SUFFERS CONCUSSION

John Cena posted the following on his official Twitter page: 


"CeNation. Sorry I have been away. Concussion on mon night from either del rio kick or mic shots. Took and passed IMPACT exam, rtg for fri!"

MORE ON CHRIS JERICHO RETURNING TO WWE

It was reported earlier that Chris Jericho tweeted that he would be returning to WWE tomorrow night which would be on SmackDown. If you have already read the spoilers, you know that Chris Jericho will not be making a live appearance on the show.


It’s likely Jericho will appear in a taped segment either promoting his upcoming appearance on Dancing with the Stars or hyping the Triple H vs. The Undertaker match with a promo that was recently recorded.