Kofi Kingston On Swerve Strickland: I’ve Watched His Career For A Long Time, I’m Really Happy For Him

Kofi Kingston comments on Swerve Strickland’s success.

Kofi Kingston comments on Swerve Strickland’s success.

Kofi Kingston made history when he won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. A few years later, Swerve Strickland also made history by becoming AEW’s first African American World Champion by beating Samoa Joe at AEW Dynasty.

Speaking with Tim Battle on the Battleground Podcast, Kofi Kingston reflected on KofiMania and its impact on diversity and representation in wrestling. He then highlighted the success of Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, Oba Femi, and Swerve Strickland.

“To see Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes and Oba [Femi] doing their thing, it really is a beautiful thing to see. So I don’t want to sit here and say, ‘Oh, because I did this, now they’re doing their thing,’ you know what I mean? They I think were gonna be successful regardless. But it is a beautiful thing to see people of color out there doing their thing. Like you said, Swerve too, man. I’ve watched his career for a very, very long time. I’ve gotten to know him very well over the years. I’m really, really happy for his success too. So it is a beautiful thing, and we are keeping it going. I love it,” Kingston said.

Kofi Kingston went on to say that the ultimate goal was to get to a point where people would not focus on the race of a champion so much. Instead, Kingston noted that he wanted to see the conversation be based on the individuals. 

“I think it’s something where the ultimate goal is to get to a point where we’re not talking about like, ‘Oh my god, there’s an African American champion. There’s an Asian champion.’ It’s just gonna be a champion, and we’re just gonna talk about people as they are, and that’s the goal. But it takes time to make it normal, to make it a situation where you’re not thinking about the race aspect of it all. But I think we are getting there. The more people that you see, the more used to it that you get, and hopefully you get to a point where you’re not talking about that. You’re just talking about the individuals and their accolades and their efforts and everything that they’ve done to get to the point where they’re at. So yeah, it feels good to be a part of that journey,” Kingston said.

Strickland previously said that Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship win motivated him. Check out his comments here.

Kofi Kingston is set to face Rey Mysterio in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament. More information is available here.

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