Kofi Kingston Explains Why He’s Not “Mr. Royal Rumble”

Kofi Kingston isn’t a fan of the nickname “Mr. Royal Rumble” for a very simple reason.

Kofi Kingston has appeared in thirteen of the last fourteen Royal Rumble matches. The only one he didn’t participate in was the 2021 edition. And over the years, Kofi has become famous among wrestling fans for his clever and inventive ways of avoiding elimination.

These have included: doing a handstand, jumping onto a bigger wrestler’s back and then hopping back to the apron using a chair, jumping from the barricade back into the ring, and getting carried around the ring and tossed back in.

But despite all of these moments, Kofi Kingston doesn’t consider himself worthy of any sort of “Mr. Royal Rumble” nickname. And his reason for this, according to an interview with Steve Fall, is because he hasn’t won a Rumble match yet.

“People say, ‘Well you have a good moment’, but to me the best moment would be to actually win or at least make the final four. So I hold myself to a really high standard. How can I claim to be Mr. Royal Rumble and I’ve never, you what I’m saying? I can’t embrace it. I know that I’ve had a lot of great moments and I’m appreciative of all of that, but the goal is ultimately to win.

If I could trade in all those moments for one Royal Rumble win, I probably would because like I said, a chance for the WWE title is just so few and far between and so rare, and for me, it’s obviously been really rare because I’ve had one shot, but I’m batting 1000. You know what I’m saying? Your boy hit a home run out of the park.

I did it when I had the opportunity. In order to take that moniker, you gotta have at least one win under the belt. If I were to win one, then I would definitely embrace it because then you’ve done it all. You know, you’ve done what you’re supposed to do in the Royal Rumble.”

h/t WrestlingNews.co for the transcription