Kofi Kingston's Push

[Airfixx]

"block" :roll:










: P

 

[Next Big Thing]

I'm not sure who you have for specific examples where this worked.

It seemed to work pretty well for the Miz. He had his little feud with Cena that lead to a match on PPV, they made it clear that the Miz wasn't at the main event level, but it still got him a ton of heat. Since then he's probably been the company's most over midcarder and he looks like he could be a main eventer down the road.

It ALMOST did for CM Punk, but we saw where Undertakers politics led to that booking method.

CM Punk is actually proof that you can be booked against main eventers, and then pushed back down to the mid card but eventually come back into the main event. He was thrown into the main event in the summer of 2008 and was given the world title and a PPV match with Batista, but within a few months was back in the midcard. A year later he was back in the main event as world champion.

We almost saw it with Legacy Vs. DX where they also went down against the veterans, but they haven't even had a mid card program for the past 2 months.

This hardly means that it didn't work. Their feud with DX got them more exposure and it helped increase their heat and their credibility. Clearly they are still 2 of the WWE's brightest young stars and despite not having a program for the last couple of months, the WWE obviously still has big plans for these guys.

 

[Kizza]

"block" :roll:










: P

How the fuck do you block a kick to the head? Grab his leg?

 

[NinoBrown]

It's only been a week. Not even, it's been two days! For all we know it can transition from Kofi/Orton to Kofi/Legacy.

 

[JurassicBonez]

How the fuck do you block a kick to the head? Grab his leg?

DUH!! Hold up your arm to block the kick and make it un-usable.

This is how a push is properly done. Feud with a main eventer and come out below him. Lead right into a feud with an upper midcarder, and go over. Then enter a feud with a different main eventer and either go over to be established as a main eventer, or rinse and repeat until it sticks.

I agree with this completely, but in the past year or 2 (maybe three) out of memory, I don't remember this working in WWE (besides a few times out of many). Or them actually sticking through with it. The Miz is the 1st one that comes to mind and the only one that I remember that actually worked, and he hasn't even made it back to main eventing yet. Take a look at Legacy, MVP, Swagger, Zach Ryder, Bourne. All of those guys have had either main event matches/programs, or high leveled programs, and all of them are either doing nothing or jobbing.

One of the main reasons why I don't think Kingston should return to the mid card (if that's where they are going with him) is because he's beatin them all many times during his previous reign as champ. Whether it was one on one or multi tag, he's done it. We know he can beat them. I'm not saying he should be main eventing right now, but he sure as hell shouldn't go back to mid-carding after beating everyone.

 

[Kizza]

DUH!! Hold up your arm to block the kick and make it un-usable.

Oh, my bad. ARM OF STEEL ACTIVATE.

 

[Airfixx]

^^^Luger-vibes. :shifty:

@ Two Scoops.... Examples of that booking technique working.

Benoit V Angle RR03.... Benoit wins WHC @ WM just over a year later.


Or how about JBL.... If it wasn't for that first bloodbath of a match against Eddie... No-one would have EVER taken JBL seriously as a champ a mere month later when he captured the WWE title.


It's classic booking and can be seen across the decades...

Bottom line (preying to god that someone at WWE lurks these forums and reads this)... You don't have to win the world title upon your first time of facing a main eventer!





You're saying that this approach is actually burying guys is incorrect - They have just failed to execute it properly time after time of late.


As you said yourself, Miz wasn't being built... Cena buried him... Just that he shining through regardless. Same as Punk... If they'd had another decent face challenger for him then things would be entirely different for him right now.


(Coincidentally, yet again we see Taker & Cena's name crop up in the mix of the topic of burial and squashing potential... I guess they've been banging Steph... Or Shane... Or Linda.... at some point in their career too. )

 

[Quintastic One]

Both your examples of JBL and Benoit/Angle of 03 were just validating my point though. That the last time that booking method worked was 3+ years ago. It hasn't worked for anybody since Randy Orton got his push into the main event as a heel. I believe he's the last guy you can honestly say benefitted from that method. Everyone else after him has failed horribly. CAN it work? Sure. That's been proven. But it ONLY has been working for a select group of people who coincidentally have some form of backstage pull while literally dozens of other worthy entertainers are abandoned despite having worlds worth of potential if WWE were to try something different.

But I do agree with you fundamentally. You do NOT need to win the world title on your first going against a main eventer. Then you get the Brock Lesnar effect where you get too big for your britches too soon and are demanding multi million dollar payouts because you think you're a bigger star than you are.

 

[Airfixx]

As already stated, and backed-up by some of your own comments, it's not the booking method that's the prob it's the execution of it (obviously the ACTUAL talent of the subject of the push plays a pivotal role too).

For what it's worth, I think the booking of Orton isn't a very good example... Especially as much of the stalling of his push was due to his backstage behaviour etc.

I find it very hard to beleive that the move to SD wasn't initially meant to rectify a lot of the damage done to his character with the Evo' split.

 

[vonvess09]

Kofi Kingstons Push

I loved this brawl between Kofi and Orton on RAW and I think that its definately made Kofi an even bigger star, even though he was well over with the crowd beforehand. I havent seen anything like this in ages thats made me like OMG, that Boom Boom Drop was amazing

I wasnt sure about this whole push to begin with, but now Im really into it and I can see Kofi probably winning the Money in the Bank match at next years WrestleMania and eventually cashing in his shot to win a World Title.

 

[Airfixx]

Give Kofi a Jeff Hardy-like quest for the world title over on SD after this years WM, IMO.

Kofi v Punk
Kofi v Jericho
Kofi v Batista
Kofi v Drew

Plenty to work with there...

Hell, give him a good showing in a face v face match with Taker at some point too.

 

[noumenon]

...then drug trafficking charges?

And then eeeeeveryone will be happy he's finally a Jamaican drug lord like they wanted.

 

[Airfixx]

Aye, save that for when Punk turns face again tho'.... : P

 

[noumenon]

Screw that...how priceless would it be to see Punk getting dragged away by two Jamaican armed guards being all sarcastic..
"Oooooh wow I'm scared. You gonna break my knees? OoOoOooO big bad Jamaicans and your Rasta marijuana ways. You're pathetic."