Kofi Kingston On Vince McMahon Ripping His Early Vignettes, New Day Talk Working With The Rock
As noted, Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods were guests on episode 77 of Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast. During the show, Kingston said it is a "miracle" that he is still with the company after his rocky start. Also, Big E and Woods talked about what it is like to work with The Rock.
Apparently, Kingston did not think he was going to last with WWE after he overheard Vince McMahon speaking negatively about Kingston's initial vignettes.
"It's a miracle I'm even here because those vignettes aired and looking back at them, they were awful to the point where, like, I was watching them in the [production] truck before I debuted and, like, I had the headset on, so you can hear everything that Vince McMahon is saying and as soon as my vignette aired, he just comes on the headsets and was like, 'what is this? This is barely, barely passable.' I was like, 'oh my God!' At the time, I'm just like, 'okay. Oh, he must know that, like, I'm in the truck and he's ribbing me. Haha!' Knowing what I know now, he had no idea who's on the headphones. So he was, like, really thinking about this. Mind you, he approved all of these vignettes, so you knew what it was going to be! And now, I was like, 'oh my God. I'm not even going to make it to TV' because you have guys who have, like, had their vignettes and they'll have, like, one match and then they will be gone."
See Also: The New Day On The Time Vince McMahon Told Them To Pull It Back, Booty-O's Origin, Big E's Hips
With respect to working with The Rock, Big E stated that it is "cool", but he also acknowledged that it is a challenge.
"It's always awesome for us, but in the same vein, and I don't know if we're getting a little egotistical, but we're always like, 'alright, that's really cool, but we're going to kill it.' It's always afterwards when we're like, 'oh man, that was a great opportunity!' And we think it's something that's going to be memorable and people [will] replay [it] down the line, but we always carry ourselves like, 'man, this is going to be our segment' and not in a way that, like, pushes guys to the side or steps on the guys that we're in the ring with, but we always want to bring our best out."
Woods elaborated on Big E's point, acknowledging that while legends like The Rock and Chris Jericho return to WWE to help elevate younger talents, such stars do not go easy on them.
"A guy like The Rock [or] a guy like Jericho, they're not going to pull punches and they're going to come at you with everything they have, so you're going to be enhanced if you're prepared to be enhanced, so he's not going to come say, 'oh, I'll throw you a bone, kid.' It's [more] like, 'no, like, this is my meal on the table and if you want some, you have to come to the table with me,'" Woods explained. "And that's why when we say, 'we're going to go out there and kill it,' that's where our mind is at. Nobody is going to slow down for anybody out there."
To check out the show, click here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Sam Roberts? Wrestling Podcast