Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie - Mensah ( August 14 , 1981 ) is a Ghanaian - American professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE under the ring name Kofi Kingston . Since debuting in WWE , Kingston has won ten championships . He is a four - time WWE Intercontinental Champion , a three - time WWE United States Champion , a three - time WWE Tag Team Champion ( once with Evan Bourne as Air Boom , once with R - Truth ) and once as a member of The New Day and a one time World Tag Team Champion with CM Punk . He is also known for his novel means of circumventing his elimination from battle royal matches . Background . Kofi Sarkodie - Mensah was born near the city of Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana . His family immigrated to the United States in 1982 when he was only one year old , and grew up in Boston , Massachusetts . Upon graduating from Boston College , Sarkodie - Mensah initially worked in an office before deciding to train as a professional wrestler . His father , Kwasi , works at the college . Professional wrestling career . Early career ( 2006 ) . Sarkodie - Mensah made his official wrestling debut in 2006 , when he faced Tony Omeg at Chaotic Wrestling on February 24 . He faced Evan Siks on June 4 for the PWF Mayhem Heavyweight Championship . He competed primarily in the New England area , including stints in National Wrestling Alliance – New England ( where he was briefly a member of Barry Ace ' s " A - List " ) , Millennium Wrestling Federation , New England Championship Wrestling , the Eastern Wrestling Alliance , and Chaotic Wrestling . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE . Developmental territories ( 2006 – 2007 ) . In September 2006 , he signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling ( DSW ) , a Georgia - based developmental federation . He debuted in the new company , as Kofi Nahaje Kingston , in a dark match loss to Montel Vontavious Porter on September 21 . For the rest of 2006 and the beginning of 2007 , he appeared in DSW , as well as its Kentucky - based sister promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling , where he was in a tag team dubbed the Commonwealth Connection with Harry Smith . In 2007 , under the ring name Kofi Nahaje Kingson , he had his first exposure to the main WWE roster , when he worked dark matches on March 5 and 26 before episodes of " Raw " against Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch , respectively . When he returned to the developmental federations , he shortened his original ring name to Kofi Kingston and continued to alternate between both ring names throughout his duration there . He also worked live events , defeating Shelton Benjamin on May 5 , and Val Venis on May 6 . When the Florida - based developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling opened in June , Kingston was relocated there , appearing at their inaugural show on June 26 where he teamed with Eric Pérez against Keith Walker and Rycklon Stephens in a losing effort . Kingston worked there for most of the remainder of the year . ECW ( 2007 – 2008 ) . A series of vignettes for Kingston ' s television debut began airing on the weekly " ECW on Syfy " television show starting on December 6 , 2007 . During this introduction phase , his videos , the official website and commentators noted he would be the first Jamaican to wrestle for WWE . He debuted on the January 22 , 2008 " ECW " as a face with a win over local wrestler David Owen in Charlottesville , Virginia . After wrestling sporadic matches , Kingston was involved in his first major match , a 24 - man battle royal during the WrestleMania XXIV pre - show with the winner receiving an ECW Championship match , but was eliminated by Mark Henry . Kingston remained undefeated in singles competition in ECW for months and was placed into a feud with Shelton Benjamin at the end of April 2008 . After two straight losses , Benjamin got a win over Kingston on the May 20 " ECW " , ending his undefeated streak . On the June 24 " ECW " , Kingston defeated Benjamin in an Extreme Rules match to end their feud . Championship reigns and feuding with Orton ( 2008 – 2010 ) . As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft , Kingston was drafted to the Raw brand . In his first match as a member of Raw roster , he defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions . The win made him the first Ghanaian wrestler to hold a championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and it was also the first Championship in his wrestling career . Kingston held the championship until SummerSlam , where he and Women ' s Champion Mickie James both lost their championships in an intergender " winner take all " tag team match to Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella . At Unforgiven , he appeared backstage , coming to the aid of then - World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk , who had been attacked by Manu , Randy Orton , and the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase . Soon after coming to his rescue , Punk and Kingston were paired together more often , and on the October 27 " Raw " , the duo won the World Tag Team Championship . He was also involved at Survivor Series in the traditional ten - men elimination tag team match on the side of Team Batista , but was eliminated by Orton . Kingston and Punk lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a WWE live event on December 13 . At No Way Out in 2009 , Kingston won a spot in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber by defeating Kane , but was unable to officially enter the match , as he was ambushed by Edge , who took Kingston ' s place and eventually won the match . Kingston defeated Chris Jericho , after interference from Ric Flair , to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV , but the match was won by CM Punk . After winning a Triple Threat Number One Contender ' s match the week before , Kingston defeated Montel Vontavious Porter on the June 1 " Raw " to win the United States Championship . For the next several months , he went on to defend and retain his title at pay - per - views such as Extreme Rules , Night of Champions , Breaking Point , and WWE Hell in a Cell , until losing the championship to The Miz on the October 5 " Raw " , ending his four - month reign . On the October 12 " Raw " , Kingston defeated Evan Bourne to qualify for Team Raw at WWE Bragging Rights . Team Raw lost the match , however , when the Big Show betrayed them by chokeslam ming Kingston , allowing Chris Jericho to pick up the win for Team SmackDown . During WWE Bragging Rights , Kingston and Raw teammate Cody Rhodes argued about Kingston losing their match . So , when Rhodes and Ted DiBiase interfered on Randy Orton ' s behalf during his WWE Championship match , Kingston ran out with a chair and chased them out of the arena . Orton later lost the match . On the October 26 " Raw " , Kingston began a feud with Orton , who believed Kingston cost him the WWE Championship . After Kingston defeated Chris Jericho , Orton attacked him from behind , eventually throwing him against the side of the entrance ramp . Later that night , Kingston destroyed Orton ' s car ( as well as being the first time he would speak without a caribbean accent ) . On the November 16 " Raw " , Kingston saved guest host " Rowdy " Roddy Piper from an assault by Orton then performed a Boom Drop from a rail in the crowd onto Orton , through a table . Kingston went on to lead his Survivor Series team to victory against Orton ' s team , where he was the sole survivor , last eliminating Orton . On the November 30 " Raw " , Kingston was scheduled to face Orton in a one on one match , only to be assaulted from behind by Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase . Despite the assault , Kingston still wished to continue , and was quickly defeated by Orton . The following week , Kingston defeated Orton in a rematch where guest host Mark Cuban , who had a grudge against Orton since their encounter at Survivor Series in 2003 when Orton performed an RKO on him , gave Kingston a fast count . With one victory apiece , the two wrestled again at , and Orton won . On the December 28 " Raw " , Orton interfered in Kingston ' s match for the United States Championship . On the January 4 " Raw " , Orton once again defeated Kingston . The next week , Kingston and John Cena lost a Triple Threat match , which determined a challenger for Sheamus ' WWE Championship at Royal Rumble , to Randy Orton , who pinned Kingston . On the February 1 " Raw " , Kingston won a qualifying match by defeating the Big Show via disqualification to advance to the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the inaugural Elimination Chamber event . Kingston , however , failed to win after being eliminated by Sheamus . The following night on the February 22 episode of " Raw " , Kingston teamed up with Yoshi Tatsu and Evan Bourne against Randy Orton , Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes in a six - man tag team match . During the match , Orton turned face by attacking Rhodes and DiBiase , which Orton allowed Kingston , Tatsu and Bourne to win . Kingston and Orton would rekindle their rivalry sporadically in the subsequent years , with Orton winning most of those match ups . Kingston defeated Orton cleanly in their last singles match on the January 13 , 2014 episode of Raw . Intercontinental and United States Champion ( 2010 – 2011 ) . On the March 22 episode of " Raw " , Kingston defeated Vladimir Kozlov to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI . At the event however , Kingston was unsuccessful as the match was won by Jack Swagger . On April 26 , as part of the 2010 WWE Draft , Kingston was drafted to the SmackDown brand . In his debut match for the brand , he defeated Chris Jericho . On the following " SmackDown " , Kingston was entered into a four - man tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship after Drew McIntyre had been stripped of the title earlier in the show . He went on to defeat Dolph Ziggler in the first match of the tournament . Christian defeated Cody Rhodes in the second match . As a result , Kingston faced and defeated Christian in the finals of the tournament to seemingly win his second Intercontinental Championship on the May 14 " SmackDown " . However , moments later , McIntyre came out with a letter , signed by Vince McMahon , saying that Theodore Long was irresponsible and abused his power . The letter also stated that McIntyre was reinstated to the active roster and that Kingston was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship , which returned to McIntyre . At Over the Limit , Kingston defeated McIntyre to win his second official Intercontinental Championship . Kingston mentored Michael McGillicutty on the second season of " WWE NXT " . At Fatal 4 Way , Kofi defended the Intercontinental Championship against Drew McIntyre . On July 18 at Money in the Bank , Kingston lost the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match when Kane grabbed the briefcase . The following " SmackDown " , Kingston lost to Dolph Ziggler in a non - title match . On the July 30 " SmackDown " , Kingston faced Ziggler in a rematch but lost via disqualification , resulting in Ziggler earning a title match . On August 6 " SmackDown " , Ziggler defeated Kingston to win the Intercontinental Championship . Kingston got his rematch for the title August 15 at Summerslam , which ended in a no contest after The Nexus interfered . On the August 20 " Smackdown " , Kingston faced Ziggler once again for the Intercontinental Championship defeating Ziggler by disqualification , but by rule , Ziggler retained his Intercontinental Championship . The following week , Kingston faced Ziggler once again for the Intercontinental Championship , with the match stipulation that if Ziggler was disqualified , the title would change hands . Vickie Guerrero intervened during the match and got Ziggler counted out , so he kept the title . At Night of Champions , Ziggler again faced Kingston for the title ; if Dolph was either counted out or disqualified , Kofi would win the title . Ziggler retained by pinfall . On the October 15 " Smackdown " , Kingston defeated Drew McIntyre to earn a spot on Team Smackdown at Bragging Rights . Team SmackDown won the match , with Edge and Rey Mysterio the final survivors . On the December 3 " SmackDown " , Kingston defeated Jack Swagger to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship but failed to win back the title when Swagger attacked him during the match . At , Kingston and Swagger lost a ladder match for the title , as he and Swagger unhooked the belt but dropped it to the mat and Ziggler grabbed it for the win . On the January 7 , 2011 " SmackDown " , Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler to become the Intercontinental Champion for a third time . Immediately following the match , acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered that Ziggler invoke his rematch clause straight away , but Kingston quickly pinned Ziggler again to retain his championship . Kingston then moved into a feud with Alberto Del Rio , which culminated in a non - title match at Elimination Chamber which Kingston lost . On March 22 at the tapings of the March 25 " SmackDown " , Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett . On April 1 " SmackDown " , Kingston won his rematch against Wade Barrett by disqualification . After Vladimir Kozlov was injured at the hands of The Corre , Kingston was chosen as Kozlov ' s replacement in an eight - man tag team match involving Kofi , Kane , Big Show and Santino Marella versus The Corre at WrestleMania 27 , which Kingston ' s team won . On April 26 , 2011 , Kingston was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft . On May 1 , Kingston defeated Sheamus in a Tables Match at Extreme Rules to win his second United States Championship , in the process returning the title to Raw . On the May 9 " Raw " , Kingston successfully defended his championship against Jack Swagger . At WWE Capitol Punishment , Kingston lost the title to Dolph Ziggler . Kingston faced Ziggler in a rematch for the title on the June 20 " Raw " in a 2 - out - of - 3 Falls match , but Ziggler retained the United States Championship as the match ended with Ziggler being disqualified . WWE Tag Team Champion ( 2011 – 2012 ) . On the August 22 " Raw " , Kingston won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Evan Bourne when they defeated David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty . On the August 29 " Raw " , the duo was called " Air Boom " , and they had their first successful title defense when they defeated Otunga and McGillicutty in a rematch . At Night of Champions Air Boom retained their titles against The Miz & R - Truth by disqualification after Miz attacked a WWE referee . At Hell in a Cell and Vengeance , Air Boom retained their titles twice against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger . Bourne was suspended throughout November for his first violation of the company ’ s Wellness policy . At Air Boom successfully retained their titles against Primo and Epico . On January 15 , 2012 , Air Boom lost the Tag Team titles to Primo and Epico at a house show . The following night on " Raw " , Air Boom were awarded a rematch but failed to regain the titles . The following day , Bourne was suspended again for his second violation of WWE ' s Wellness Policy . At Royal Rumble , Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match and although he did not win , he had a stand - out moment when he saved himself from elimination by walking on his hands to reach the ring steps and re - enter the ring . At Elimination Chamber , Kingston failed to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated third by Chris Jericho . Kingston then began teaming with R - Truth , facing the likes of Primo and Epico and Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger which they both won and lost , respectively . On the February 27 " Raw " , Kingston and Truth failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Primo and Epico in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match , also involving Ziggler and Swagger . On the April 30 " Raw " , Kingston and Truth defeated Primo and Epico to win the WWE Tag Team Championship . At Over the Limit , Kingston and R - Truth successfully defended the titles against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger and then again in a rematch on the May 28 " Raw " . In the pre - show of Money in the Bank , Kingston and Truth defeated Hunico and Camacho in a non - title match . The following night on " Raw " , they successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Prime Time Players ( Titus O ' Neil and Darren Young ) . At SummerSlam , Kingston and Truth defeated Prime Time Players to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship . At Night of Champions , Kingston and Truth lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Daniel Bryan and Kane and failed to regain the titles from the new champions the following night on " Raw " . Both Kingston and Truth were defeated by The Primetime Players in the first round of the Tag Team Tournament to determine the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships , causing both Kingston and Truth to disband as a team and each returning to being single competitors . Championship reigns and pursuits ( 2012 – 2014 ) . After defeating Michael McGillicutty on the October 10 episode of " WWE Main Event " , Kingston was confronted and insulted by commentator and Intercontinental Champion The Miz , prompting Kingston to challenge for the title which Miz accepted . The following week on " Raw " , Kingston defeated Miz in a non - title match . Two days later on " Main Event " , Kingston defeated Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time in his career . Kingston then defeated Miz in two rematches , the first on October 28 at Hell in a Cell , and the second on the November 6 " SmackDown " to retain his title . Kingston then began feuding with Wade Barrett when the two were placed on opposing teams in the traditional five - on - five elimination tag team match on November 18 at Survivor Series . Kingston ' s team , led by Mick Foley , was defeated by Barrett ' s team , led by Dolph Ziggler , during which he was eliminated by Barrett . The following night on " Raw " , Kingston was defeated by Barrett in a non - title match . Four days later on " SmackDown " , Kingston defeated Damien Sandow to retain the Intercontinental Championship whilst Barrett was on commentary . Kingston , still the Intercontinental Champion , received a shot at the United States Championship on the December 3 " Raw " , against champion Antonio Cesaro , R - Truth , and Wade Barrett in a fatal four - way match , but was unsuccessful after Cesaro pinned Kingston for the win . On December 16 at , Kingston successfully defended his title against Barrett . Two weeks later on the December 31 " Raw " , Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Barrett . Kingston received his rematch four days later on " SmackDown " , but was again defeated by Barrett . At the 2013 Royal Rumble event , Kingston had another stand - out moment in the Rumble match . After eliminating Tensai , he was pushed out of the ring but Kingston jumped on Tensai ' s back , landed on the announce table and used an office chair from John " Bradshaw " Layfield to hop to the ring apron before being eliminated by Cody Rhodes . On the April 12 " SmackDown " , Kingston defeated United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in a non - title match . Three days later on " Raw " , Kingston defeated Cesaro to win his third United States Championship . Kingston made his first televised title defense on the May 1 " Main Event " , defeating Cesaro in a rematch . On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Kingston lost the United States Championship to Dean Ambrose of The Shield , ending his reign at 35 days . Kingston received his rematch on the following " SmackDown " , defeating Ambrose via disqualification after Shield members Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins interfered , but not regaining the title as a result . The Shield would continue their assault on Kingston until Randy Orton and Sheamus made the save . Theodore Long then came out to set up a six - man tag team match that ended with Ambrose pinning Kingston for the win . Three days later on " Raw " , Kingston failed again to reclaim the United States Championship from Ambrose . Four days later on " SmackDown " , Kingston was defeated by Ryback and was afterwards , powerbombed through three tables by him , injuring Kingston in storyline . This was done to write Kingston out , as he was undergoing elbow surgery and was expected to be out for four to eight weeks . Kingston returned from injury , sporting new gear on the August 5 " Raw " , defeating Fandango . On the September 6 episode of " SmackDown " , Kingston defeated Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel in a non - title match , thus earning him a future title match . Kingston received his title shot on September 15 at Night of Champions , but was defeated by Axel . In late September , Bray Wyatt would start delivering cryptic messages to Kingston after his matches , leading to a match between the two on October 6 at Battleground , which Wyatt won . On the October 18 " SmackDown " , Kingston and Miz lost to Eric Rowan and Luke Harper in a tag team match . The following week on Raw , Kingston and Miz lost to the Real Americans after Miz turned on Kingston . At Survivor Series , Kofi was defeated by The Miz . In the upcoming weeks , Kingston would lose to The Miz in multiple matches . Kingston would finally win a rematch against The Miz at in a No Disqualification Match . On the January 13 episode of " Raw " , Kingston defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton in a non - title match ; he faced Orton again the following week , but allowed himself to lose by disqualification by holding Orton in place to allow John Cena to attack Orton for attacking his father . Kingston entered at # 8 at the Royal Rumble , and once again performed an amazing feat of avoiding elimination by landing on the crowd barricade and made an 11 - foot jump to get back in the ring . He was later the seventh person eliminated by Roman Reigns . On the February 13 episode of " Smackdown " , Kingston would tap out to Jack Swagger in a number one contender ' s match for the Intercontinental Championship in a match also featuring Mark Henry and Rey Mysterio ; on the March 21 episode of SmackDown , Kingston was announced in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal at WrestleMania XXX . Kingston would have a standout moment in the match , getting thrown of over the turnbuckles by Cesaro and to avoid elimination by keeping his toes on the steel steps , he would later be eliminated by Sheamus . At Payback , Kingston would compete in a match against Bo Dallas , but he would be assaulted by Kane for his tweets against Stephanie McMahon . Kingston defeated Cesaro by reversing the Neutralizer into a sunset flip rollup for the win on the June 30 episode of " Raw " . Kingston was in a rematch with Cesaro , which he won on the July 7 episode of " Raw " . Kingston competed in the Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal at Battleground where he again avoided elimination by being caught by Big E and rode his shoulders to the ring . Despite this , he did not win . The New Day : Heel Turn ( 2014 – present ) . On the July 21 episode of " Raw " , after Big E and Kingston suffered another loss as a team , Xavier Woods confronted them , declaring that they could not " get ahead by kissing babies and shaking hands " . Instead , it would be " their time " to " take " . The duo accepted Woods ' offer , and on the next day ' s " Main Event " , Woods managed Big E and Kingston to a decisive victory over Heath Slater and Titus O ' Neil . However , Woods ' group quickly and quietly disbanded , as on the August 8 episode of " SmackDown " and on the August 12 episode of " Main Event " , both Big E and then Kingston reverted to wrestling singles matches with no sign or mention of the other two members of the group . Despite being disbanded on WWE television , Big E , Kingston and Woods continued their alliance at live events . In October , WWE began airing vignettes for Kingston , Woods and Big E , with the stable now being billed as " The New Day " ( A name invented by Chris Jericho ) . The New Day eventually made their in - ring debut on the November 28 episode of " SmackDown " in a winning effort against Titus O ' Neil , Heath Slater and Curtis Axel . The trio have started a feud with Gold and Stardust , after their interfering ways cost Kingston and Big E an important tag team turmoil match . A match between the two teams was scheduled for the Kick - Off of TLC : Tables , Ladders and Chairs on December 14 , where Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust . In March 2015 , The New Day participated in two matches on the pre - show to WrestleMania 31 in a losing effort . on 6 April 2015 Kofi Kingston turned heel for the first time in his WWE Career while he got involved in the tag team match with a cheap shot but the New Day lost the match against The Lucha Dragons . Personal life . Kofi Sarkodie - Mensah began wrestling professionally in 2005 , under the ring name of Kofi Nahaje Kingston . Kingston ' s country of birth was billed as Jamaica because of Bob Marley and reggae music . Kofi has training in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira . He is married and has a son . In 2012 , Kingston appeared on an episode of Disney XD ' s karate sitcom Kickin ' It . He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots .