Kofi Kingston - How not to book an IC champion

[Troy]

Just looking at some statistics and was surprised when I saw Kofi Kingston's record for 2011. He is 3W 4L for the year on TV and PPV but is currently on a 6 match losing streak.

Kofi Kingston is the Intercontinental Champion and he has lost his last six televised matches!

No wonder the midcard titles don't have the prestige they should, you don't book a wrestler to win a title then win a title defense right away and then not win again for the next couple of months.

WS has been talking about Sheamus' Downfall and whilst that is probably worse Kofi is champion yet he is being squashed as a champion. To fix this WWE really need to book him strongly leading up to WM and get him on the card. Preferably defending his title against a couple of challengers but otherwise get him a spot in a multi man match.

What do you think about Kofi's recent title reign? How would you fix the slide?

 

[Troy]

Kofi Kingston wasn't even booked on Smackdown this week!

One month away from WrestleMania and the second tier champion isn't even featured on a two hour show. Terrible booking by WWE and on a side note his merchandise has been marked down 50-75% on WWEShop. Not good signs at all for him.

With WrestleMania right around the corner he should be featured high up the card on Smackdown and should be in a feud which will lead to a match at the PPV.

 

[Big Red Jericho Punk]

It sucks, they really need to start using him more. I have heard rumors he will be involved in a tag match against The Corre which wouldn't be a bad move. I do like Kofi, but do think he still has much to improve on. He still botches sometimes and needs more chances on the mic. I think leaving Raw has hurt his career, which is crazy because Raw usually struggles to push good young talent.

 

[Troy]

He just has to be involved in a match at WrestleMania, it almost doesn't matter what match it is just as long as he is on the show. I have heard the talk about being part of a match against The Corre and that would be fine, gets him on the PPV and maybe reminds some people that he is the IC champion.

It is odd how his career has gone downhill on Smackdown. On RAW he was feuding with Orton and on Smackdown he is the forgotten champion especially since Ziggler left the brand.

 

[Aniking]

Leaving RAW has really hurt Kingston's career. He had reached the highest point of his career when he came out on top in his feud against Randy Orton, but since being moved to Smackdown his career has dwindled. Although he has been Intercontinental Champion twice since being drafted to Smackdown, being booked how he has been as of late just doesn't do those title reigns justice at all. Doesn't do his career or his status on Smackdown justice either, so it isn't looking good for him.

Whenever a superstar goes on a bad run like this, it's usually because they piss the wrong person off backstage and get "rewarded" with losses. I haven't read anything saying whether Kingston has done anything wrong backstage, but it must be something. To have your Intercontinental Champion have such a terrible run is not the way to go, especially when they're a face as faces usually win the big matches if the crowd is really behind them. People love Kingston, so I really have no idea what's going on, but it's not only hurting Kingston but also the prestige of the title.

The Smackdown creative team needs to either take the belt off Kingston or start to have him win, they can't continue doing what they're doing. It'll be the last straw if he doesn't appear at Wrestlemania.

 

[Troy]

I agree that it seems like someone on creative really doesn't like him at the moment but why keep the title on him then? I don't understand why creative are burying him but keep the title on him and that is what really confuses me about this situation. It would make more sense for them to have him drop the title onto someone else so it doesn't hurt the title. He normally does get a great reaction from the crowd and if creative really get behind him he could play a much bigger role on Smackdown.

 

[Deezy]

It probably all boils down to someone just doesn't see anything in him.

Seems to be the way of things in WWE right now. Sheamus is suffering from this crap too.

Kofi should've been built solid last year, he had all this momentum from his Orton feud and then nothing.

 

[Aniking]

There are so many superstars on Smackdown that they could give the title to if Kingston has fallen out of favour. I am more worried about the prestige of the title then Kingston, because if Kingston has fallen out of favour then all you can say is it's a shame. With the title, it'd basically just be considered a prop if the champion is a superstar that loses week-after-week. It tells you that anybody could become champion, or that if you become champion then you're gonna be given a bad run... but that's ok, you have the gold.

Kingston has shown he can wrestle a top match when he needs to, although here and there he botches. Since he got rid of the accent, he has become better on the mic, but that's the thing, he is never on the mic. So if you break it down - he has shown he can hang with the best, he is great on the mic and he has the crowd behind him. All of that results in him being a 4-time singles champion and a 1-time Tag Team Champion, and NOW he is out of favour? He has to of pissed somebody off, surely.