Last month, WWE Friday Night Smackdown returned to TD Garden in Boston. Before the bouts, I interviewed Kofi Kingston.
A quick story before we jump into the chat, though. When the folks from WWE reached out to me to set up an interview, I was told I’d be interviewing Sami Zayn. “Great!” I thought. I was a big fan of the recent story line between Sami and Johnny Knoxville. I follow Knoxville on Instagram and the videos he was posting about Sami leading up to Wrestlemania 38 were hilarious. I figured I had plenty to talk to him about. Then, when the studio line rang, it wasn’t Sami Zayn.
It was Kofi Kingston.
I pride myself on my preparation, be it for my radio show every day or for an interview with a star. I’d prepared to talk to Sami Zayn. And here’s Kofi Kingston, who I had not prepared to talk to. And I told him so! Lucky for me, Kofi is a total pro. He rolled with it, I rolled with it, and we had a great conversation.
What made it work is that Kingston has local ties. Kofi was born in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana in 1981. “Wait a minute, 12” I hear you saying. “I thought you said he had local ties?” I’m getting there. As a kid, Kofi’s family moved to the United States, where they eventually ended up in Massachusetts. He’s a graduate of Winchester High School, baby. (Go Red and Black!) So that gave us a great jumping-off point. We talked about his local roots, what he likes to do with his family when the WWE travel schedule brings him back to the Boston area, and of course, rasslin’. Listen to our chat below and enjoy a couple of clips of Kofi in the ring.
