Tear Jerker / Kofi Kingston

• At Survivor Series 2009, Team Kofi vs. Team Orton, Kofi is the final member of his team left against Randy Orton and CM Punk. Feeling comfortable that Kofi will not win, Orton makes the tag to Punk, forcing Kofi to fight one of his best friends, whom he was once World Tag Team Champions with. You could look into the eyes that even the heel Punk is very reluctant to fight Kofi before finally exchanging blows.
• His encounter with AJ Styles on the February 12, 2019 Gauntlet Match. For context, Kofi — a last minute replacement for Mustafa Ali — has just fought Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe and the latter just unleashed his anger on Kofi. After chasing Joe off, AJ Styles goes to Kofi and tells him it's all right, Kofi doesn't have to prove himself. Kofi snaps and asks Styles to Bring It, along with screaming, "I've waited too long for this moment. It's been 11 years!" which ultimately leads Styles to give in and the two brawl. Despite Kofi's best efforts, he has no choice but to tap out of the Calf Crusher, but not without his fellow New Day buddies carrying out of the arena, AJ Styles looking in utter disbelief at Kofi having to submit and a standing ovation from the entire WWE Universe cheering him on.
• Elimination Chamber 2019; he takes out his long-time nemesis Randy Orton and makes it to the final two against Daniel Bryan, takes everything Daniel gives him but ultimatly gets pinned after Daniel avoids a splash from the top rope and manages to connect his Running Knee. Once again, he received a standing ovation from the audience.
• After waiting for 11 years to earn his first one-on-one World Championship match, Kofi finally received one from Shane McMahon in which he will be facing Daniel Bryan at Fastlane 2019. One week after this announcement, Kofi was this close in signing the contract when Vince comes out to the ring and in the same vein as what he did to Becky Lynch a few weeks prior, overruled his son's decision and made Bryan's challenger the returning Kevin Owens instead. Kofi and his New Day pals were clearly not happy with this and as much as the WWE Universe loves Owens, they too agree that Kofi was screwed. While Big E and Xavier were complaining, Kofi just stood there quietly. His face says it all: his dreams have been robbed.
  • And not just robbed; Kofi has gotten to the point where, while everyone is outrage about his stolen opportunity, he just accepts it, as it's nothing new to him.
• Then, after Fastlane, Vince found a way to screw him even harder, promising him the Championship match as the reward for another five-man Gauntlet match against Sheamus, Cesaro, Erick Rowan, Samoa Joe, and Randy Orton. After just barely defeating all five, Vince came out to congratulate him, stating, "You're going to WrestleMania...if you can defeat this last opponent." The entire venue lit up with outrage, from Big E & Xavier to the crowd to the announcers. This "last opponent" — Daniel Bryan — would then go on to capitalize on a weakened Kofi, defeating him and crushing his big-stage dreams to the extent that his New Day partners considered leaving the WWE (at least in kayfabe).
  • The final moments of the match. As Bryan pins an effectively motionless Kofi after giving him a Running Knee, you can hear Michael Cole desperately shouting at Kofi to kick out before stating the truth of the matter ("Kofi Kingston is not going to WrestleMania.") in a low, unhappy tone.
  • WWE's Twitter relayed the news alongside a succinct message: "This hurts."
  • Of course, there was hope.
• After 6 months of successfully defending his title, he loses it to Brock Lesnar. And to add salt to this wound, he was utterly squashed in nine seconds. To think that he was living the dream after 11 years of blood, sweat and tears and Brock Lesnar crushed it like it was nothing.

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