By Phillip Martinez
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It's been quite a ride for WWE Champion Kofi Kingston.
After capturing his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 - an endeavor 11 years in the making - Kofi now sets his sights on cementing his legacy by becoming one of the best champions in the company's history.
Overcoming Daniel Bryan to win the title was one obstacle, but Kofi made his two-month reign more impressive by taking out former Universal Champion Kevin Owens. But before he can move on to his next challenge, Kofi will need to defeat Dolph Ziggler at this Sunday's Stomping Grounds pay-per-view.
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Ziggler, a former champion, returned prior to the Super Showdown event to challenge Kofi. And while Kingston defeated Dolph at the Saudi Arabia show, Dolph claims it was because New Day member Xavier Woods' actions led to his defeat.
Now, the duo will square off in a cage match to settle once and for all who deserves the WWE Championship.
Newsweek caught up with WWE Champion Kofi Kingston to talk about his upcoming match, pulling double duty as part of the "wild card rule" and how he sees his reign so far.
Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
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You and Ziggler have squared off many times in your careers. You would even say that they've paralleled each other in a away. What's different about this match?
Ziggler has been around a little longer than I have, but from 2010-12, he and I went at it almost every single week in pay-per-views, tv, live events. We know each other very well.
We are two guys who are not your prototypical WWEsuperstars. We are "undersized," we are not 6'8" or 300 pounds, but we go out there and give everything we have every single night. We try to steal the show. Our careers both went off in different trajectories and now they have come back after we both have had success in the company. Now we do it this time for the WWE Championship. Before it was for the Intercontinental Championship, the U.S. championship, the Tag Team Championships and now we are doing it for the WWE championship. In a cage. That's what it's all about.
I compare it to when Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart fought over the IC championship and years later they are feuding for the WWE title.
That's always the goal, you try to follow in the footsteps of the greats and at the same time create your own path and your own stories for other people to follow. What it does do, it provides a great match for the WWE Universe. It's between two guys who have been doing this for a long time with something to prove and to show everyone that they are the best.
I can't wait for that match because I've only been in one cage match. (If you don't count the Elimination Chamber.) We both look at it as an opportunity to steal the show and that's what we do.
Since you've become WWE Champion, you've been on quite a winning streak. It seems like there's nothing that can go wrong. Do you think about those sorts of things?
I don't think about wins and losses. I take everything one step at a time, even to become WWE Champion. Getting there was a one match at a time type of solution. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, I don't know what's going to happen down the line only what I can do tonight. So you go out there and try to not lose and have a good performance. Becoming WWE Champion gives a little extra confidence and I feel that my goal is to become one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time. And I really try to make that happen and take steps towards that goal every single match that I have.
How's it having Big E back in the fold?
Everything feels right. Everything feels whole again and pick up right where we left off. Even from the perspective of hearing his voice on our intro. We need that, that's our call to war, our battle cry. It was very strange to just hear our music happen without the intro. We get used to it, but something about it doesn't feel right. So when he's there and lets his voice be heard, it puts us in the right state of mind to go out there have fun with each other. It really sets the tone for where we want to be. It's great to see him up and running and I know the WWE universe is happy.
You've been a part of the WWE before the brand split and now we have this wild card rule. Is it tougher for your to do back-to-back nights? Or do you like doing this?
It's what I've wanted for a very long time. I always tell people that I'm more busy now, but in the best way possible. This was always the goal, to become champion and be able to carry the ball and be able to hold the torch and be the face of the company. And that comes with a lot of work and I knew it would be this hard. Like I said, I'm going to go where I want when I want and I don't care about this wild card rule or whatever. I want as much photographic evidence as possible with me as the WWE champion, you know what I'm saying? [laughs]
I might show up on RAW, SmackDown, I might show up on Main Event, 205 Live I don't know. If I see a fit, I'm going to do it. I've been working so hard for so long and that's what it's all about.
Shane McMahon is also someone who is moving between shows as arguably the biggest heel in the company. See yourself taking him down a peg?
It's cool to see somebody, I guess, from a positive aspect being the boss's son and being able to do this after all these years. We'll see. Luckily we haven't had our paths cross yet, but if they do it's going to be a war as well. We'll cross that bridge if and when that comes. Roman has a pretty good handle on him right now and hopefully he'll keep on doing that.
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How is your title run playing out for you right now?
It's great, man. Like I said, my goal is to be one of the best WWE champions in the history of WWE champions. I always want to go up against the best competition, I want to have as many championship matches as possible. It's taken me 11 years to get here. I don't know if it's going to happen again so I want to make this count. I feel good and feel I'm right where I want to be. I've gone up against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn I'm facing Dolph Ziggler right now. I feel like I'm doing the title reign justice. It feels good and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.
One of my favorite quotes as of late is "at the top of a mountain is the bottom of another mountain." So as awesome as it was and as arduous as it was to get to this point as WWE Champion the next goal is to climb another mountain and become one of the best of all time. I'm climbing, and I'm going to keep on climbing until I can't anymore.
Stomping Grounds will stream live this Sunday, June 23 at 7 p.m. EDT on the WWE Network.
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