Kofi Kingston on ‘The Book of Booty’: ‘This Book Embodies The New Day’
It’s a new day in literature.
The New Day’s Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods are expanding their portfolios, as the group has published a book, fittingly called The Book of Booty.
The longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history worked with St. Martin’s Press to capture a unique look at themselves and their ongoing wildly successful run together as the New Day.
“We’ve always talked about having a book, detailing our journey, and that’s before the title streak,” said Kingston. “Then someone came to us and said, ‘We want to do a book on you guys,’ and we immediately wondered if we’d accomplished enough to have a book written about us. But the way it came out was amazing.”
Kingston’s ebullient nature—and brilliant mind—were on full display while analyzing the success of the group, which is something of a modern-day version of the NWO.
“On the surface you think, ‘NWO? They’re bad ass guys who go out there and beat everybody up,’” said Kingston. “We swivel our hips and throw out pancakes and Booty-O’s. But when you dig down a little deeper, I see the comparison.”
Reading The Book of Booty nearly replicated the process of watching the New Day premiere and perform. The group originally appeared destined to fail, while the book may initially be a disappointment for those hoping for more of a chapter-by-chapter narrative. Yet, in both cases, the personality and talent of Kingston, Woods, and Big E capture the audience, on the screen and in the glossy pages of The Book of Booty.
“Our book is not your standard wrestling book or your standard documentation of our history,” said Kingston. “It’s all in there, but we do it in a real fun way. That’s what we do when we’re in the ring, so this book embodies the New Day.
“The coolest part is getting to know us behind the curtain. Plus, it’s a really colorful book and awesome to look at. I worked for Staples, the office supply superstore, in their corporate office, out of college, so I know good quality paper when I see it—and the pages of The Book of Booty are the good quality paper. There are even some coloring pages in there, I’m impressed with the way it all came out.”
The book is age-appropriate for a wide realm of readers both young and old, which is a process that takes considerable skill and is also on display in the group’s promos every week on SmackDown.
“You look out into a WWE crowd and see such a diverse audience,” explained Kingston. “You see people of all different ages and ethnicities, mothers with their sons and fathers with their daughters, WWE really is a show for everybody.
“For us in the New Day, that’s what we do. We all come from different backgrounds, so when we’re coming up with our promos, we find things we each think are funny, but then there’s our similar interests. Xavier Woods and I are both fathers, so we have jokes built-in for kids. We’re kind of like the perfect storm of that combination where we ourselves touch all these demographics, so when we put stuff out, you can feel it.”
Follow SI Wrestling on Facebook
Follow
Kingston was asked if there is a match, promo, singular or moment that particularly resonates with him during the New Day’s run, but noted that his personal highlight is entirely different.
“Our most remarkable achievement is getting this off the ground and getting to television,” said Kingston. “There are so many aspiring WWE superstars pitching great ideas, but for whatever reason, it just doesn’t work out. For us, we went back-and-forth with Vince McMahon trying to get the idea of this group off the ground for over six months. Riding with each other and hanging out backstage, we were able to develop this chemistry. Then we get to TV and we were rejected heavily. We really shouldn’t even be here.”
If the group could somehow make it to television, Kingston strongly believed at the time, he was confident that their vision would succeed.
“We were able to somehow flip the ‘New Day Sucks’ chants into ‘New Day Rocks’ chants,” said Kingston. “So to me, the highlight is our entire journey. We started as three guys who just wanted to keep their jobs, but we wanted to do something special. I never could have imagined it would blossom into to what it has become. We’ve been able to do a lot of things you don’t plan for, like host WrestleMania and be on The Jimmy Fallon Show. We’ve been able to take our brand and make it into something special, and that’s what The Book of Booty embodies. It captures the essence of our journey.”
The Book of Booty is a tremendous documentary of the historical progression of the New Day, along with offering inspiration for its readers about turning dreams into reality.
“If you look at our journey, we were always able to keep believing in ourselves and keep on pushing,” said Kingston. “So to anyone out there with a dream, keep believing in yourself and keep pushing.”
A proud father, Kingston noted he is currently reading comic books, parenting guides, and the timeless tale of The Little Engine That Could.
“I have been reading The Little Engine That Could to my son, which kind of coincides with what we’ve been doing: believing in ourselves and thinking that we can,” said Kingston. “Every time someone backstage would tell us that we were doing was not good, or people in real life would tell us that what we were doing on TV was awful, we kept believing in ourselves and kept saying, ‘We think we can.’ So The Book of Booty is a souped-up version of The Little Engine.”
There is also a great deal of self-disclosure throughout the book.
“I have a top ten list of shoes, Xavier is a video game guy so he has his top ten favorite video games, and Big E is huge into hip hop music so he has his top ten artists in there,” said Kingston. “There are a lot of personalized parts for people to read that you might not know about us.
“I’m really excited that we’re able to get it out to people and share something special with the WWE Universe,” said Kingston. “If you haven’t gotten your copy, go ahead and get it. Our kids need to eat, you know what I’m saying?”
Kingston vowed there is still a great deal remaining for the New Day to accomplish, from community service projects to singles gold for the group.
“This has been better than we’ve ever imagined, and it’s far from over,” said Kingston. “We’ve got a lot more to give.”
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
