Kofi Kingston: ‘If Mustafa Ali Doesn’t Get Hurt, I Don’t Know If I’m On The Card For Wrestlemania’

In an interview with TalkSport, Kofi Kingston spoke about his ongoing storyline with WWE in which Vince McMahon is trying to keep him from a title shot, and said that he believes that if Mustafa Ali never got injured, he might not even have a match at all at Wrestlemania. Here are highlights:

On if Vince as a bully is a tired storyline: “Well, it’s tough to say what the story needs and what it doesn’t need, I think we’re all on this wild ride together. And the fact that Vince McMahon feels the need to interject definitely speaks volumes to the impact this situation has had on the WWE Universe. Because Vince doesn’t trouble himself with matters that aren’t really worth his time. So, apparently, we’ve gotten our name [New Day] on his radar which is a great thing if you ask me. To be able to go toe-to-toe with Vince McMahon on the mic is something that I never thought that I would do as a kid. You set goals for yourself as a kid and you want to be a WWE superstar, but this is one that you don’t really see coming. And it kind of came out of nowhere, this whole angle. If Mustafa Ali doesn’t get hurt, I don’t know if I’m even on the card for WrestleMania.”

On if he talked to Ali after he took his spot in the Elimination Chamber: “Oh, absolutely. We texted back and forth and I – number one – it’s always a terrible situation when somebody gets hurt and not able to perform because we as WWE superstars, that’s all that we want to do and a guy like Mustafa Ali has worked so hard. He’s been wrestling on the independent scene as long as I have, maybe even longer. And then to get to WWE and be on 205 Live, and fight your way there and fight your way into the title picture there and then fight your way onto the main roster on SmackDown and have it come to an abrupt halt – and I say halt because it’s not an end for him by any means – but to have it come to a halt at the expense of an injury is always unfortunate. But, I told him – and he knows – that his future is very bright, he’s one of the guys that I’d watch on 205 Live and be like ‘wow, this guy is pretty incredible’. The things he can do with his body, the stories he’s able to tell, the emotions he’s able to portray and the way he’s able to connect with the WWE Universe is a very special thing. He has a bright future for sure and I knew that when I replaced him, oddly enough, I knew I would be able to deliver in a way that I thought wouldn’t disappoint him. Because, for him to be in that position, to watch somebody take his spot and, god forbid, I would have had a terrible performance? Now, he feels even worse! It wouldn’t have done him justice if I would have had a bad outing.”

On what the New Day’s Wrestlemania plans were: “It’s tough to say, because you don’t quite know where things are going to unfold [with creative]. We were definitely starting to think about the tag titles. But, again, we didn’t know where that storyline was going or if we were going to be included in it. But, luckily, fate kind of smiled down on us and put is in the situation that we’re in now.”