For WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston, New Orleans is more than just the home of Wrestlemania 30. Having spent a portion of his childhood in “The Big Easy”, the 32-year-old former Intercontinental, Tag Team and United States Champion couldn’t be more excited to make the trip back for the April 6 event.
Kingston plans to load up on crawfish and visit his favorite spots, but what many might not know is the work Kingston and the WWE are doing in the local community, thanks to a partnership with KaBOOm!, a national non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring all children get the active play they need to become healthy and successful adults. The two recently held a design day at Woodland West Elementary School in Harvey, Louisiana, giving local children the opportunity to meet Kingston and help design a new playground for the community and the school’s 700 students in grades K-5.
We recently got a chance to talk to Kingston about his charity work, Wrestlemania 30 and if he’s been keeping up with the Olympic Games in Sochi.
CraveOnline: Could you talk about what it means for the WWE to join forces with KaBOOM!?
Kofi Kingston: Oh yeah, it’s definitely a great partnership that we’re excited about – both sides, KaBOOM! and the WWE. KaBOOM! actually goes around and makes playgrounds and they’re not just walking in and dropping a playground at a local school, or in a local community or neighborhood, they actually have the kids in the community, neighborhood or school participate in the design of the playground. So, when it’s all said and done, the whole community feels like they actually had input on what is going into their community and on top of that, they’re the main people who actually build it, before Wrestlemania. We’ll have maybe 50-percent of the people in WWE Superstars and employees kind of helping out with the actual build, but then the other 50-percent will be members of the community and members of the school. It’s an awesome concept and definitely one that we are looking forward to building – it’s going to be awesome!
Crave: With the upcoming project outside New Orleans, which you mentioned is the home of Wrestlemania 30, what’s the selection process – how did the school get chosen?
Kingston: Well, they went through a lot of different schools and a lot of different candidates and Woodland West Elementary, from the staff, to the kids, to just everyone involved, were chosen. It’s definitely very well deserved. I got to go down there a few weeks ago and I got to meet the staff and everybody and got to take a look at their playground, which is in rough shape, and after talking to the kids, really all they want is a playground that they can actually go out and have fun on. And as I said before, it’s just a great thing and just a positive vibe all around and a lot of excitement coming up particularly. I’m just excited and counting down the days.
Crave: In a world with video games, iPads, computers and all that stuff, how important is it for younger fans to remain active?
Kingston: I think it’s very important, that’s one of the points I made earlier, like yeah, it’s easy to stay in side – technology is great and makes things easy. In a lot of cases, it’s made things too easy. You don’t even have to leave your house in a lot of instances. You can have groceries delivered to your house now [laughs], you know. A lot of kids out there will play video games and stay inside but for an old guy, say back in my day, we didn’t have any of that but it’s really one of those things where it’s exciting for me to see kids get excited about physical activity and it’s really about more than physical activity. The hashtag is #playmatters and the obvious thing a playground does is it emphasizes the importance of being able to go out and run around and be physically fit. But what it also does, it helps kids develop social skills. You’re running around the playground and you’re playing with kids you don’t necessarily know, you’re forming groups and hanging out and talking to new people – and you’ll use those skills later in life.
Crave: You mentioned stuff you did as a kid, like go outside. What kind of activities were you into?
Kingston: I was outside from as soon as the sun came out – we played basketball, we rode bikes, we used to have bike races in the neighborhood around the block. We played kickball, stickball, dodgeball – any kind of game we could play; we were always outside and just really active. Even roller skating and when roller blades came out, we were rollerblading. We were constantly, constantly active and one of the things I’ve noticed now these days, when I go home, I never see a group of kids playing on the streets in my neighborhood – which is unheard of. Back in the days we were always outside!
Crave: For you personally, what’s it mean to be able to give back to local communities?
Kingston: It definitely means a lot, it’s one of the best parts of my job as a WWE Superstar. When I was a kid growing up, I wanted to be a WWE Superstar. I would’ve never imagined we would have done so much outside of the ring. Honestly, the in-ring matches are a very small part of what WWE does, as far as giving back to the community. We have the Be-A-Star Initiative, which is an anti-bullying campaign, Make-A-Wish and we’re very involved in brightening people’s day and putting smiles on faces. But this means a lot to me because I actually went to elementary school in New Orleans, so to come back, it’s really kind of a full-circle type deal for me, because I’m really giving back to the community that fostered me.
Crave: Having spent some of your life in the area, what are you most looking forward to in New Orleans before wrestling’s biggest event?
Kingston: Anytime I come back to New Orleans, I always hit up Café Du Monde. Being that we are going to be there for about a week, I’m probably going to have my fill on beignets [laughs] and hot chocolate, so definitely have several forms of crawfish and just sort of relive my childhood. The first time I went back after I had been signed and debuted on the road, that’s like the first thing I did after my match – and I think we were driving to Baton Rouge for Smackdown the next day. I still made sure to go to Café Du Monde and sit there and eat my beignets and just reminisce. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to going back.
Crave: What event do you most like to compete in – from the looks of it, the Royal Rumble has to be one of them?
Kingston: Honestly, anytime I can get out there, you know, it’s an awesome thing. The Royal Rumble, for me, I guess has become one of my staples and I never really intended it to be that way. But this year more than any, people were asking what I was going to do this year and it’s one of those things where the pressure is falling on me to kind of come up with something new and innovative every year but I love that pressure and that’s really what it’s all about. Wrestlemania is definitely the pinnacle of all the events and all the Pay-Per-Views we do – this year will be no different. It’s our Super Bowl and we don’t have any season finale because we work year round but if we did, it would be Wrestlemania. This is just what you work towards all year and you do anything and everything you can possible do to get on the show, because like I said, this is what it’s all about.
Crave: You’ve won several belts during your career, which would you say had the most difficult journey to acquire?
Kingston: Uh, probably the Intercontinental Championship, the first time. I beat Chris Jericho, the champion, in 2008 and that was the first championship I had ever won. I wrestled on the independent scene for a year and some change, I wrestled in the developmental system with Deep South Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling for about two years and I had never been champion. So, to become Intercontinental Champion and being a wrestling fan, to hold the same title that my heroes held like Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat and even Chris Jericho, who I beat for the title, it was just awesome. Chris Jericho is a guy, he’s not the biggest guy, but he was on TV when I was in high school and he was winning championships – him and Ray Mysterio. So, to actually go up against him was an honor in and of itself and to actually beat Chris Jericho for it was awesome. I really felt like I kind of was making it and making my mark in the industry. Once you win a title, they can never take that away from you, you’re forever in the history books as a champion in the WWE.
Crave: The WWE seems like a pretty tight-knit family, if you were stranded on an island, who are three wrestlers you’d want with you – who are you closest with?
Kingston: Well, I would probably put Curt Hawkins on there, definitely. Tyson Kidd and Hornswoggle – I’ll put Hornswoggle on there for some comic relief. We all kind of came up together in the system, so if I had to pick three, I guess I’d stick with those three.
Crave: What’s life if you can’t laugh, right?
Kingston: Definitely [laughs].
Crave: Often in the past, you’ve been billed from Jamaica and with the last name Kingston, we have to ask: have you followed the story of the Jamaican bobsled team at Sochi?
Kingston: I have not, man. Actually the only Olympic sports I have followed so far is curling – Olympic male curling. We, a group of us, kind of ended up taking on a specific team from each nation and some friendly wagers were placed and we all kind of got behind it and now we’re all kind of rallying now, so that’s really the only thing I’ve had time to watch. I did hear about the United States [men’s hockey team] and Russia the other day, which was amazing. But, no I have not followed the Jamaican bobsled team at all.
Crave: It’s kind of funny, because you don’t really strike us as the curling type, you do the complete opposite.
Kingston: [Laughs] Yeah.
Crave: Well thanks for speaking with us today, what you guys are doing is awesome!
Kingston: No problem, man. It’s all good. Like I said, it’s going to be a highlight of Wrestlemania for me. Just to see their faces and to see that it’ll have an impact and how excited they were about it, I know it’s going to be awesome when the day comes around on April 4, on a Friday. It all goes up in about six hours and it’s just going to be an awesome experience. I’m looking forward to it.
Crave: Excellent. And best of luck a Wrestlemania 30 – eat up all those crawfish.
Kingston: Yeah man, always.
Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.
Photo Credit: KaBOOM!
