WWE: Top 10 Superstars To Never Be World Champion
By Tim Sherry
credit: wwe.com
10. Kofi Kingston
The first of two active superstars who will appear on this list, Kingston currently sits as one-third of the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship trio, The New Day. Operating as one of the best tag teams in the company, and potentially en route to being one of the best of all time, The New Day have taken the WWE by storm since their inception 3 years ago. But before Kingston was a tag team specialist, he was once considered by many to be a lock-down main event superstar. Heck, in his first match as part of the Raw roster back in 2008, he defeated icon Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Title. If that’s not a ringing endorsement for someone’s future, then one doesn’t exist.
However, after a somewhat ho-hum program with Randy Orton towards the end of 2009, “The Boom Squad General” never seemed to be able to turn the corner. He had a couple of round-about shots at a world title as he participated in a triple threat match on an episode of Raw in 2009, as well as competing in Elimination Chamber matches in 2010 and 2012, where he was impressive, but ultimately unsuccessful. Outside of those opportunities, Kingston has fallen into the mid-card for the past seven years.
Kofi has accomplished about as much as anybody in the company, despite not winning a world title. He’s won over 900 matches(cagematch.net), captured four Intercontinental Titles, three United States Titles, and 6sixtimes he’s worn tag team gold. At 36 years old, it’s not necessarily out of the question that he could eventually make a world title run, but with the dominance of The New Day, seeing them break apart anytime in the near future seems like a stretch. However, if they do, Kofi carries the most leverage as a singles star, and with the success of this group, he would have to be taken very seriously by any world champion in the WWE.