5 things we learned about Kofi Kingston on Lilian Garcia's podcast

#2 He trained with a couple of former NXT stars

This was full-circle for Kofi.

Kofi Kingston's family moved around the United States, living in New Orleans among a couple of other cities for a few years before they eventually settled in Boston. He looked to live a normal life and worked a desk job at Staples for three years, before quitting and trying his hand in wresting. Kofi trained at Chaotic Wrestling, along with a couple of familiar faces. In his class was former NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa, who did mention that he and Kofi had teamed up during a dark match in WWE in 2006.

The head trainer of the class was Ivar, formerly known as Hanson, of the Viking Raiders. When WWE came to Chaotic Wrestling for a tryout, Kofi would become the only member of the class to be signed. He impressed in front of legends like Dean Malenko and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, having multiple matches as both a face and a heel. Kofi looks back fondly at those times but felt bad for some of the others that he was the only one picked up.

Ciampa and Hanson would eventually sign for WWE, much to Kofi's delight. The match between the New Day and the Viking Raiders on Raw was a special one for the WWE Champion, as he finally got to wrestle his Chaotic Wrestling trainer in a WWE ring. It was a full-circle moment for those who knew about it, as described by Kofi.