Kofi Kingston has become known over the years for his miraculous saves from Royal Rumble elimination. Walking barricades. Walking on his hands. Kingstons has truly done it all.
However, this year’s Royal Rumble saw Kingston attempt to save himself by falling from the ring into the ringside barrier. He was tossed off the ring by Kevin Owens and tried catching himself on the outside barrier without letting both feet touch the floor. However, his feet did touch (as shown on replay during the broadcast) and Kingston was eliminated from the match practically before he ever got started.
It was later confirmed that Kingston was indeed supposed to be in the match for much longer, including some big spots planned with Big E.
Kingston took to Instagram on Monday to comment on what went down. The comments were attached to a video clip showing his elimination.
Kingston wrote, “The past couple days on social media, I’ve gotten a lot of ‘Why would you think that was even possible?’ and ‘Why would you even try that?’ The answer to that question is quite easy: because of the potential reward. What if you were to succeed in overcoming what is deemed ‘impossible’?
“The sense of accomplishment felt when you beat the odds and brazenly defy the probabilities is purely ecstatic. Peoples questions then morph into ‘How in the world did you do that?!’ and ‘I never thought that would be possible!’
“But alas, it was not to be…this time…”
Kingston continued to expand on what happened, turning his experience into an example of how one can learn from failure.
“However, even in failure there is also a reward; one that may be more valuable than success,” he wrote. “That reward is: Self learning and growth. True strength. Failure forces you to take look within and learn about yourself. Do you mope around and sulk? Do you hide and feel sorry for yourself? Maybe for a little while. I think that’s natural. But then you use those emotions as a catalyst to push yourself and to drive yourself to be better.
“The castles of success are built in part from keystones of failure…
“Anyway, this isn’t a cry for sympathetic messages in the comments or anything lol. I just saw this as a great opportunity to encourage people out there who might be on the fence about trying something because it’s too risky or because they are afraid. Push yourself to try, even when you know the risks.
“I JUST SAW THIS AS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO MIGHT BE ON THE FENCE ABOUT TRYING SOMETHING BECAUSE IT’S TOO RISKY OR BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID. PUSH YOURSELF TO TRY, EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW THE RISKS.”
Kofi Kingston on his WWE Royal Rumble botched spot
Kingston finished up his comments by writing, “In my case, all the possible risks became a reality: physical injury, the emotional weight of letting people down by literally falling short of delivering on their expectations, the risk of being laughed at and ridiculed for deciding to try the impossible.
“And still if given another chance in choosing whether or not to make the attempt…I’d change nothing. No guts, no glory. No risk it, no biscuit. No pressure, no diamonds. You gotta bet it to get it. All the quotes…
“Many great rewards come to those who push the limits…”
In the moment, it was curious that WWE even showed Kingston’s botch on replay. They could have ignored the fact that both of his feet touched the floor and moved on with whatever was planned.
However, it’s good to see Kingston using this moment to encourage others to try to accomplish things in spite of possible challenges. Kingston’s entire career has been a master class on how to achieve despite hurdles being placed in one’s way — culminating, of course, with an amazing WWE Championship victory at WrestleMania 35 over Daniel Bryan back in 2019. One of the best matches of the year and, so far, the peak of Kingston’s career.
Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
