Kofi Kingston

Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he wrestles under the ring name Kofi Kingston on the Raw brand and is a part of The New Day with Xavier Woods. Kingston is the first African-born WWE Champion and held the Intercontinental and United States Championships multiple times. He also has won tag team championships in WWE 16 times, only the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) are listed as holding more by WWE (18 times). Kingston originally played the character of a Jamaican wrestler until late 2009.

Kofi Kingston
Kingston on Raw in April 2014
Birth name	Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah
Born	(1981-08-14) August 14, 1981 (age 44) Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana
Alma mater	Boston College
Spouse(s)	Kori Campfield ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	3
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Kofi Kingston Sir Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Kingston Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Billed weight	212 lb (96 kg)[1]
Billed from	Ghana, West Africa[1] Kingston, Jamaica
Trained by	Chaotic Wrestling[2] Killer Kowalski[2] Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	2006

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Kickin' It	Himself	Episode "Kickin' It on Our Own"
2016	Countdown	Himself	Uncredited
2016	Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon	Himself	Voice
2021	The Main Event	Himself	Cameo
2021	Escape the Undertaker	Himself	Main star[3]

Championships and accomplishments

• CBS Sports
  • Best Moment/Angle of the Year (2019) – Winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35^[4]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Tag Team of the Year (2012) with R-Truth
  • Tag Team of the Year (2015, 2016) with Big E and Xavier Woods
  • Ranked No. 4 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019^[5]
  • Ranked No. 8 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with Big E and Xavier Woods^[6]
• Sports Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 9 of the top 10 male wrestlers in 2019^[7]
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2015) – The New Day, shared with Big E and Xavier Woods^[8]
• WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Championship (1 time)^[9]
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 times)^[10]
  • WWE United States Championship (3 times)^[11]
  • WWE/Raw/World Tag Team Championship (7 times, current) – with Evan Bourne (1), R-Truth (1), Big E (2) and Xavier Woods (5)^[a][12]
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Big E (6) and Xavier Woods (7)^[b][13]
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with CM Punk^[14]
  • NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Xavier Woods^[15]
  • 13th Grand Slam Champion (under current format; 20th overall)
  • 30th Triple Crown Champion (traditional format)
  • Third Tag Team Triple Crown Champion – with Xavier Woods
  • Bragging Rights Trophy (2010) – with Team SmackDown (Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, Edge and Tyler Reks)
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament (2010)^[16]
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament (2018) – with Big E and Xavier Woods^[17]
  • Slammy Award (2 times)
    • "Tell Me I Did Not Just See That" Moment of the Year (2012) – Hand walking during the Royal Rumble match to avoid elimination^[18]
    • Ring Gear of the Year (2020) – with Big E and Xavier Woods^[19]
  • WWE Year-End Award (2 times)
    • Men's Tag Team of the Year (2019) – with Big E and Xavier Woods^[20]
    • Moment of the Year (2019) – Winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35^[20]

Footnotes

1. Big E, Kingston, and Woods defended the title under the Freebird Rule during their first two reigns. The title, originally called "WWE Tag Team Championship", was renamed "WWE Raw Tag Team Championship" during their second reign and was known as the "World Tag Team Championship" during their fifth reign.
2. Big E, Kingston, and Woods defended the title under the Freebird Rule.