Kofi Kingston Reflects On Being First African-Born WWE Champion

Kofi Kingston has a lot to be proud of in his lengthy career, but "KofiMania" running wild when he captured the WWE Championship is one for the history books. Fans were completely behind Kingston getting the push of a lifetime. The Ghanaian-born star spoke the "Battleground Podcast" about what it meant to him to become the first African-born WWE Champion. He said as far as representation is concerned, it's one thing to say anything is possible, but another entirely to see something happen.

"For me to be the first African-born WWE Champion... there's a lot of people that never thought that they would see an African-born champion on TV," Kingston said. "So seeing videos and hearing people's stories about them watching their kids watch that KofiMania moment and just see their eyes light up, it's so humbling to me because there's a lot of people who came before me that put a lot of work in for African Americans and people from different cultures and I happened to be at the right place at the right time with the right story."

Kingston won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 from Daniel Bryan. He said he's fortunate he could be at the center of the moment. The former champion gave credit to all who came together to make it happen, like Big E and Xavier Woods, as well as his family and the WWE fans. Kingston shouted out those who came before him, like Ron Simmons, Booker T, and Mark Henry. Kingston said it's cool to now see younger stars like Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Oba Femi, and it's a "beautiful" thing to witness.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Battleground Podcast" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.