Views from the Hawke’s Nest: WWE Superstar Collection: Kofi Kingston

The DVD opens with a music video of Kofi Kingston.

Night of Champions (PPV)
June 29, 2008

Chris Jericho© (w/ Lance Cade) vs. Kofi Kingston [Intercontinental Championship]
Jericho was in the middle of his epic 2008 feud with Shawn Michaels. Jericho had recently turned rudo, but he was still in his long tights. I believe Kofi just got drafted from ECW. Kofi was a surprise opponent. Kofi was still Jamaican at this time.

Jericho was in control early. Kofi started a comeback, so Jericho retreated to the floor. Kofi then caught him with a slingshot plancha. Back in the ring, Kofi hit a diving cross-body for a nearfall. Shortly thereafter, Jericho dumped Kofi to the floor to cut him off. Jericho started to work him over after that. This went on for a while. Eventually, Jericho was going for a super back suplex, but Kofi reversed it into a cross-body. Kofi made a comeback. Kofi went for the Boom Drop, but Jericho caught him with the Walls. Kofi reversed that into a small package for a nearfall. Kofi then hit the Boom Drop for a nearfall. Jericho hit a Lionsault, but Jericho didn’t go for the pin. Jericho locked in the Walls. Shawn Michaels ran in and gave Lance Cade a superkick. Michaels jumped up on the apron, but Jericho knocked him down. Kofi then hit Jericho with a Trouble in Paradise: 1…2…3!!!

This was a really well structured match that simultaneously made Kofi look like he was close to Jericho’s level, but not so much that Jericho lost any heat for his (quite frankly) far more important business with Shawn Michaels. Jericho was really sharp here. This is an important match in Kofi Kingston’s career. However, it also serves as a reminder of how WWE has stopped and started his singles push several times over the years. This should have been the start of a big run for Kofi, but instead he would drop the title to Santino Marella in an inter-gender tag match two PPVs later.
Match Rating: ***1/2

RAW
October 27, 2008

Priceless© (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase w/ MANU) vs. CM Punk & Kofi Kingston [WWE World Tag Titles]
I capitalize Manu in the match title, because holy fuck, MANU used to be a real thing. And those three men used to be a REAL LIFE stable. This DVD is great!

The tecnicos were pretty much in complete control at the start. The rudos ended up on the floor, and Punk hit them with an assisted plancha. After a commercial break, we see Kofi getting cut off by DiBiase from the apron when Cody had the referee distracted. The champs worked over Kofi for a while. Kofi was eventually able to tag in Punk, who ran wild on the champs. Manu jumped up on the apron, but Punk gave him a high kick. Kofi got Cody over the top rope. DiBiase went for Dream Street on Punk, but Punk avoided it and hit the Go-2-Sleep: 1…2…3!!!

This was a damn fine TV match that I enjoyed watching for the first time since it originally aired. The two most notable things about this match is that MANU was actually a thing in the WWE, and that Punk seemed nowhere near as comfortable in this role as he would in later years. This was also a significant come-down for Punk, as his first world title reign recently had come to an unceremonious end.
Match Rating: ***

Wrestlemania
April 5, 2009

CM Punk vs. Mark Henry (w/ Tony Atlas) vs. MVP vs. Finlay (w/ Hornswoggle) vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Kane [Money in the Bank Ladder Match]
TONY ATLAS! Have I mentioned how much I love this DVD?

I remember liking this match a lot when it first happened, but I haven’t seen it since that time. Some Money in the Bank matches age well. Others do not. Kofi hit the Boom Drop on a ladder to hurt Shelton and Christian. Everyone dumped Kane and Henry to the floor. Everyone else started climbing ladders, but Kane and Henry got back into the ring and knocked everyone off. Finlay wiped out Kane with a tope suicida. Christian wiped them out with a Silverking Plancha. MVP took them out with a rolling senton off the apron. Punk and Kofi took everyone out with stereo tope suicidas. Shelton then climbed a ladder on the floor and hit a senton plancha. It looked like he was barely caught on that, but I guess he survived. He’s still around having terrible matches in ROH after all. Henry threated a dive, but Finlay hit him with his stick. Hornswoggle then climbed onto Henry and hit everyone with a tadpole splash to the floor. They did some spots in the ring. Henry gave Kofi a World’s Strongest Slam onto a ladder. Fuck. The.World. A ladder was set up in the middle of the ring. MVP bridged a ladder from the ropes to the ladder in the middle of the ring. Shelton jumped off the bridged ladder, but MVP caught him with a powerbomb. Punk climbed the ladder, but Christian met him up there. Christian ended up giving Punk a Killswitch to the mat. Dayum. Shelton botched a sunset flip powerbomb off the ladder. So, Shelton then just casually powerbombed MVP out of the ring onto Henry and Atlas. Christian and Shelton ended up on a ladder. The ladder fell to the ropes and Shelton fell to the floor. Christian managed to stop his fall and moved back to the middle of the ring. Punk got caught in ladder. Kane then “chokeslammed” (more of a shove) Christian to the mat off a ladder. Punk kicked Kane down, and he then grabbed the briefcase! Punk wins!

This is my kind of trainwreck. There’s not much to say about these types of matches in my eyes. WWE usually doesn’t fail at the ladder matches. In the WWE, there are good ladder matches and there are great ladder matches. I would say this one was great, but it was definitely not at the level of “classic” ones. I have no idea why this match is included in a bare bones Kofi DVD though. He had a few spots and all, but this wasn’t exactly a showcase for him. I guess it was his first time on the Wrestlemania main show though.
Match Rating: ****

TLC
December 13, 2009

Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston
This was a mid-card feud in late 2009 that seemed to be designed to elevate Kofi. They did a match/angle in Madison Square Garden a few weeks before this that made it seem like Kofi would be the next breakout star in the WWE. I believe that this feud is when Kofi finally revealed that he was not Jamaican.

They started the match at a very methodical pace. Kofi called for the Boom Drop, but Orton fell to the floor to avoid it. Kofi went for a cross-body to the floor, but Orton caught him with a dropkick. That was fucking awesome. Orton brought him back into the ring and worked him over. Kofi managed to catch Orton with a S.O.S. for a nearfall. Kofi then sent Orton to the floor and hit him with a tope suicida. Back in the ring, Kofi hit a diving cross-body: 1…2…NO! Orton came back with his backbreaker variation. Orton set up for the RKO, but Kofi hit a drokick and a Boom Drop. Kofi called for Trouble in Paradise, and he hit it: 1…2…Orton grabbed the ropes! Orton came back with the elevated DDT. Orton tried for the Concussion Punt, but Kofi blocked it with his arm. Orton then hit the Divorce Court on the injured arm. Orton called for the RKO, and he hit it: 1…2…3!

This was a good mid-card match on a PPV. They did some cool things, and I really liked a lot of the smaller touches done in the match (that WWE guys usually only save for PPV). At the time, the result didn’t make any sense if the WWE was serious about making Kofi a star, but it was par for the course in WWE. While this feud seemed like it was going to make Kofi a star, he actually ended up getting buried by it, and he almost lost his Wrestlemania spot because there was no program for him (he got thrown into Money in the Bank at the last minute).
Match Rating: ***1/4

Smackdown
January 7, 2011

Dolph Ziggler© (w/ Vickie Guerrero) vs. Kofi Kingston [Intercontinental Championship]
These two have seemingly had a million matches together. I don’t know if this one is special, but neither of these two men should ever have a DVD where one of their matches isn’t on it.

Dolph avoided a diving cross-body early, and he started to work over Kofi. Kofi started making a comeback, and the crowd went mild. They woke up a bit when Kofi hit the Boom Drop. Kofi called for the Trouble in Paradise, but Dolph avoided it and locked in a sleeper. Kofi escaped and hit the S.O.S.: 1…2…NO! Kofi hit a diving cross-body: 1…2…3!!! New Champ!

Dolph flipped out and hit the Zig Zag.

This was really the most pedestrian match between these two that I have ever seen. Kofi already has two title wins on this DVD, so I don’t see the need for putting this match on here when these two have so many better matches to pick from.
Match Rating: **1/2

Vickie Guerrero, apparently the interim GM on this night, and she declares that Dolph is getting his rematch right now.

Kofi Kingston© vs. Dolph Ziggler [Intercontinental Championshi]
Dolph starts beating down Kofi, and the crowd rallies behind the new champ. Out of nowhere, Kofi hit the Trouble in Paradise: 1…2…3!!!

Well that was definitive.
Match Rating: I don’t know

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The 411: Much like the Zack Ryder Superstar Collection, it’s really hard to recommend a purchase of this DVD. I had a fun time watching it for the most part, but there is absolutely nothing for you to sink your teeth into. The DVD highlights some of Kofi’s first big matches in his career, but without context or thoughts from Kofi, they don’t have much in the way of value. A lot of the matches selected felt like matches that belong on a future Kofi DVD, where he is all over the DVD talking about his career and discussing matches like these. I think the Superstar Collection would be much better served just by putting the best possible matches on them. Watch this DVD on Netflix (or whatever your equivalent is), but do not purchase it. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I've done at 411mania.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]