Kofi Kingston
My goal is to be the best champion possible and to do that I have to go against the best.
Even before I became a WWE Superstar, I was told I was never going to make it because I wasn't big enough. You know what I mean? I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't 6 foot 8.
You know, 'people like us,' it involves... it's everybody who has struggled, you know what I'm saying? Everybody who has... who has had a difficult time getting to where they want to be, and now they can look at us as examples of, 'Hey, I can do this because they did it and I see it happening. Maybe I can do it, too.'
It's awesome, I tell everyone that the U.K. is one of my favourite places to go.
The performance centre is unbelievable, I've had a chance to go there on a couple of occasions in Orlando as it's only about two hours from my house, and I was completely blown away.
NXT is huge, being able to be on TV internationally is a big deal, as it means you don't have to work so hard to get noticed as opposed to FCW, Deep South Wrestling and OVW, which were all televised, but locally.
One of the matches that is pretty dear to my heart is when I took on Chris Jericho at Night of Champions in 2008.
Myself, I always tell people that if you're not getting better you're only getting worse, and every day I try and be better than yesterday.
It is one thing to tell people in theory that you can be whatever you want to be, but it is another thing to tell someone that they can be whatever they wanted to be because somebody that is just like you did it.
Being that beacon of hope; not just people in Ghana, but any kind of people that have gone through the struggle, I take a lot of light of being that beacon of hope and inspiration for anybody that wants to achieve anything.
It's so inspiring to be able to look a child in the eyes and just shake their hands and see the disbelief that this is actually happening.
I tried to imagine how I would have felt as a kid if Shawn Michaels or any WWE superstar would have come to my school and came to my assembly and had given a speech that we would have had to listen to I would have lost my mind.
I honestly believe that if you are able to entertain and interact with the crowd, it doesn't matter what ethnicity you may be.
People always say, 'Oh, there haven't been many black champions,' but on the other hand, there are a whole lot of white people that never won a belt either.
Ronda Rousey, arguably... I mean, she might've been the one that actually started the whole 'Divas Revolution' by being so awesome in UFC.
With Punk, I consider him to be like a brother to me. He's one of the guys who took me under his wing when I first came. So we've been able to maintain a good relationship. And there are very few people in the business that you can call true friends, so I consider Punk to be that and more. So yes, 'road wife' is the term we used to sum that all up.
The New Day has been the New Day because what we have done. We can be entertaining but then we can get serious, too.
For me personally, I'm going to continue to do what I do in the ring.
What I'm trying to do is reinvent what the face of a champion looks like. I'm out there trying to represent for the people who question whether they can become a champion or not.
I'm just so proud to be champion and to have the support of my peers and my fans.
Winning the WWE Championship has been my dream for a very long time. But what motivates me more is to inspire people to go out and follow their dreams.
It was a very real thing, not a storyline thing when Randy Orton didn't want me to get to a certain point in WWE.
When I was training before I was even signed, I was listening to the Damian Marley CD 'Welcome to Jamrock,' and I got the idea one day in promo class to cut a promo in a Jamaican accent and everybody in the class went wild. That was the character I played from that point on and it kind of stuck until it didn't.
You never quite know what's in store for the Royal Rumble, and I think that's the beauty of it.
A lot of times when teams break up, it's to do better as singles competitors than they're doing as a group.
I've always said that 205 Live is one of the best-kept secrets in WWE.
I'm a guy who struggled to get to where he is, and only through hard work and dedication have I been able to find my success.
I can be the guy to motivate people from all different backgrounds and all different walks of life.
I always want people to experience the feelings I am experiencing. Anything I can do to get you to feel, that's an honor and a duty that I take very seriously.
Jamaica actually had a pretty big influence on my life.
I'm really into music.
I realized a very long time ago, that I was never going to be the guy who, 'Oh, you look so big, let's push him in the main event and see,' or, 'Oh, this guy's got the best physique ever, let's put him in the main event and see.' It was always going to be the hard way.
I'm lucky and blessed to have so many tag-team championships.
Never in my wildest dreams did I set the goal to be the longest-reigning tag-team champion.
To be honest, I've always been a guy who looks at everything with a pretty positive outlook.
My goal is always about getting better.
Ever since I was a kid, this is all I've ever wanted to do. I used to pretend to be a WWE superstar.
I'm living, breathing proof that you can be anything you want to be.
E and Woods are incredibly talented individuals that I am so blessed to have been grouped with these guys. To have met these guys in life, to have met such great guys that I call my family.
I didn't expect to become the guy who people look to do something cool in the Rumble in terms of avoiding elimination.
It wasn't until I got my first son that I wasn't really able to play video games because when you have a child at home, there are infinite other things you should be doing.
Playing video games, as funny as it might sound, it's a very important part of our day. Our schedule is so hectic, chaotic, demanding that we need an outlet. We need ways to express ourselves and let our energy out.
Samoa Joe is an opponent that I really wanted to face in the ring. There was a time when you never thought that you will able to see Samoa Joe in a WWE setting but that has changed and this can be considered to be one of my fantasy bookings.
My dad is actually from Ghana in West Africa, and I was actually born in Ghana, too, and came to the United States when I was two years old. It's always football over there, soccer, but becoming a Massachusetts native, you can't help but get sucked into all the sports.
When I come to a baseball game, I appreciate the athleticism of these top-tier athletes. When they come to our shows, it's the same thing.
Baseball is called 'America's Pastime,' but you could argue WWE and wrestling is very similar. We've been around since the carnival days. People want to be entertained. It's obviously two different sports, but everyone appreciates the athleticism of another sport.
WWE is all about doing things that have never been done.
I always want to go up against the best competition, I want to have as many championship matches as possible.
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 WWE superstars.