WWE RAW is less than two weeks away from the King & Queen of the Ring tournament, set to take place for the first time in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Kofi Kingston has broken his silence after failing to qualify for the tournament.
Kofi Kingston has primarily been in the tag team division alongside Big E and Xavier Woods following the end of KofiMania at the hands of Brock Lesnar. After E's injury, Kingston and Woods switched brands and won the NXT Tag Team Championships.
On the latest episode of Monday Night RAW, Kingston faced Gunther and ultimately lost, allowing Gunther to advance to the semi-finals. Speaking on WWE Digital, Kofi Kingston reflected on his defeat and discussed the challenge of facing the record-breaking Intercontinental Champion:
"I knew I was going to be in for a war tonight going up someone like Gunther. I mean, he's probably going to go down as one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time when it's all said and done. I don't normally like to win matches by countout, but I'm smart enough to know that if you have an opportunity to beat Gunther, you take it. If you have an opportunity to advance in the King of the Ring, you take it. As close as it was, I really wanted to do it for [Xavier] Woods, felt like I let him down." (From 0:17 to 0:49)
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Kofi Kingston recently defeated WWE Hall of Famer before losing to Gunther
WWE brought back the King of the Ring tournament after it was canceled in May 2023. Instead, the company hosted Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
Earlier this year, the company announced the return of the event in May 2024 and released the tournament brackets following Backlash in France. Several matches were initially scheduled for weekly shows but were later moved to live events.
Kofi Kingston faced Rey Mysterio during a recent event and qualified for the second round. Elsewhere, LA Knight, Shayna Baszler, and Tiffany Stratton advanced in their respective tournaments.
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