Kofi Kingston Is Still Upset He Wasn’t WWE’s 2008 Rookie of the Year, Reflects on Past Decade With Company

– Kofi Kingston spoke with WWE.com reflecting on his first decade with the company.

Kofi Kingston recently spoke with the WWE website to discuss his 10 year anniversary with the company. The full interview is at this link and below are highlights:

On being a ten-year veteran in WWE: “It’s really, really cool. Ten years is a long time. I always tell people when you’re with WWE for a while, it starts to become the thing you’ve done the longest. It used to be, high school was four years, then college was four years, you worked at a certain job for two years and another job for another two years, then all of a sudden, you’re here … for 10 years? It’s a really weird feeling. I remember when I debuted; it feels like just yesterday, but at the same time, it feels forever ago. It’s like this bizarre time warp. But I’m grateful to be one of the guys that’s been here for that long.”

On disappointments over his WWE run: “So, okay. Okay. The Slammys. My first year. People have the right to vote however they want to vote, but I still have a little grudge with the fact that I was not named Rookie of the Year. In my first year I was Intercontinental Champion, Tag Team Champion. I may have won the United States Championship that year as well — I’m not sure; if not, then very soon after — and they gave it to Vladimir Kozlov. Back then I was like, “How can this be? I’ve done all these things!” And you know, to each their own, and Vladimir is a great guy. I love him, and we actually got a chance to see him overseas a few weeks ago, and he’s doing very well. But there’s still a little part of me that’s a little salty with the WWE Universe for choosing him over me as Rookie of the Year.”

On his favorite match with Dolph Ziggler: “Can’t do it. Can’t pick a single match. All of them that I remember were so good, so fun and so competitive. At that time, we were two guys who were really trying to take it to the next level in our singles careers and we always wanted to outdo each other. The one that I can think of right now was Capitol Punishment in Washington, D.C., and I think it was me and Dolph for the United States Championship. I think Vickie was there too. We had so many matches, and I’m probably getting all the details wrong, but that one I remember being really, really proud of. I think we opened up the show, and we just made it a hard match to follow. He’s one of my favorite opponents for sure. It’s always fun, it’s always competitive and it’s always a great match. I hope the Zig Man comes back to the company! I don’t want to see him go out the way he did.”

On what’s next for New Day: “The next step is to keep climbing the ladder. Every year. I think it’s been four years — which is crazy to even think about; it’s been four years or almost four years that I’ve been with The New Day. That, legitimately, feels like yesterday that we were trying so hard and desperately fighting for our jobs to get on television. And now here we are with pancakes and unicorn horns and “who” chants. But we’re always just looking forward.”