Former WWE Champion needed Vince McMahon's permission to use vulgar gesture 

Former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston has revealed that he had to get Vince McMahon's approval to flip the bird on Samoa Joe during their feud in 2019.

Prior to their WWE Championship match at that year's Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Kingston and The Samoan Submission Machine were involved in a segment on an episode of SmackDown. When Samoa Joe asked Kofi for a handshake, the latter proceeded to use a vulgar gesture before attacking Joe with the Trouble in Paradise.

While discussing the reactions to Big E's Money in the Bank contract victory on the group's New Day: Feel The Power podcast, Big E recalled Kofi Kingston flipping off Samoa Joe after it was revealed that Kingston used choice language in his congratulatory message to him.

"[Kofi], throwing up the bird, when you had the WWE Title with Samoa Joe," said Big E. "For some reason, you flipping him the bird, I feel like you're the most unlikely person to flip anyone the bird in WWE history."

Kofi then opened up on the incident in question by sharing that he had asked WWE Chairman Vince McMahon for his permission to use the gesture on TV.

“The whole situation was so funny because we were talking about how we wanted to present this idea and we needed a punchline," said Kingston. "I was like, ‘It’s got to be the middle finger.’ Maybe not the middle finger, but something along those lines. The more we talked about it, it was like, ‘Nah, it’s gotta be the middle finger.’ We went in and asked He Who Shall Not Be Named [Vince McMahon] and he cleared it. ‘Yeah, that’ll be fine, we’ll just shoot around it.'" (H/T Fightful)

.@SamoaJoe just wanted @TrueKofi to shake his hand, but the #WWEChampion had something else in mind. #SDLive pic.twitter.com/86IDtCNbzQ

— WWE (@WWE) July 3, 2019

Kofi Kingston has had a successful career in WWE

Kofi Kingston as WWE Champion

Kofi Kingston's decade-plus WWE journey paid off in a massive way when he finally won the coveted world title at WrestleMania 35 by defeating Daniel Bryan. He made history that night by becoming the first-ever African-born WWE Champion in history.

Kingston is also a former Intercontinental and United States Champion. Additionally, he has won both the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championship, which makes him a Grand Slam Champion. He defeated major stars such as Randy Orton, Samoa Joe and Sheamus during his run in the company.

Two years ago today, #KofiMania took over WrestleMania 35 🙌What a moment.(via @WWE)pic.twitter.com/xnvHDgmi6H

— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) April 7, 2021

There are only a handful of things Kofi Kingston is yet to accomplish in his career, and he will go down as one of the best wrestlers in this era of WWE history.

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