Kofi Kingston

Don't call him 'coffee'

	Kofi Annan put my name on the map. For 28 years, people were calling me ‘Coffee’...

He may have just lost to bitter rival Randy Orton in a WWE TLC match, but Kofi Kingston is still one of the federation's best and most popular stars. Hell, he can even fight through manflu, and in our book, that makes him superhuman...

Can you hear my sniffles? I’ve got a cold. Do wrestlers ever get colds?

I’m sorry to hear that. Yeah, we get sick like the next man, but unfortunately for us, we don’t get many sick days. The show must go on! We try to keep sanitary, and wash our hands and all that stuff.

Has anyone ever called in sick for a match? I mean, if someone offered me out right now, I’d have to say ‘come back in a couple of days when I’m feeling better’.

Not that I know of, but I’m sure people have. It’s definitely not recommended! You take a day off, and someone might take your spot. You gotta fight through it.

When I told the people in the office that I was interviewing Kofi, they thought I meant Kofi Annan. Do you ever get mistaken for him?

Not necessarily, but I can thank Kofi Annan for putting that name on the map! It’s a unique name in the states, but now people know about it, including the pronunciation. For the previous 28 years, people were calling me ‘Coffee’ a lot. I’ve heard that Kofi/Coffee joke at least once every three days…

Did that piss you off?

No, I just wait for it because I know over the stretch of three or four days, it’s gonna come! And when it does, it’s like ‘there it is!’ I can’t let it get to me otherwise I’d drive myself mad.

You just fought in a TLC match - they look quite violent. Why are they named after ‘Tender Loving Care’?

No, no, no, this is quite the opposite of tender loving care. This is ‘Table, Ladders and Chairs’, and there’s nothing tender about them, no love and no care. TLC is a very unique PPV, we had The Undertaker and Baptista in the chair match, then you had a tables match with John Cena and Sheamus, and a TLC match with Chris Jericho and Big Show…

Can the ladder take Big Show’s weight?

Well, it's reinforced. Heavily!

Are none of you guys afraid of heights?

I think some of us are. I personally am not. I love being all the way up there! It’s quite a rush to see all the 1000s of fans getting rowdy and loud. You can’t afford to have fears in our business.

I always ask every WWE wrestler this. Who’s the hardest wrestler for real?

Probably Finley, he’s a brawler, you know? What you see in the ring is basically what you’d see in a barroom fight. He likes to fight, it’s not just the character he’s playing, he’s a legitimate tough guy. He’s been around for quite some time, but he’s still feared.