It’s been only a few days since The New Day and WWE parted ways. The wrestling world continues to react to the veteran Superstars’ WWE departures. An outpouring of support has come from the WWE locker room, including Kevin Owens, Bayley, The Usos, and more. That said, it looks like Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are AEW-bound. Due to copyrights, Xavier Woods will likely need to revert to his old name, Consequences Creed, or even use his real name, Austin Creed. However, his 13-time Tag Team Championship partner might not have to. Here’s the latest news on whether Kofi Kingston can use his name in AEW.
Kofi Kingston Was Kogi Nahaje Kingston On the Indies
It doesn’t look like former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston will have to reinvent the wheel too much. The New Day star used part of the name before he entered the WWE Developmental system over 20 years ago.
Kofi’s birth name is Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah. So, he can already use the Kofi name. Before joining WWE, he wrestled as Kofi Nahaje Kingston.
In fact, he was using the same Jamaican gimmick that he used upon joining FCW, ECW, and WWE. All that said, this doesn’t mean Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah owns the name Kofi Kingston. WWE currently has a registered trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “Kofi Kingston.”
Can Kofi Kingston Use His Name In AEW?
Under copyright law, it doesn’t seem like Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah can use the name “Kofi Kingston” as-is without coming to a licensing deal with WWE or purchasing the trademark outright.
However, he might have a case to use the name Kofi Nahaje Kingston, as long as his first and middle names are used. He portrayed this character prior to joining WWE, and the placement of “Nahaje” between Kofi and Kingston could plausibly allow him to legally use the name.
WWE and Cody Rhodes used to have this issue. When WWE let Cody go, they kept the trademark on the entire “Cody Rhodes” name. To get around this, the future WWE Champion went by the name “Cody” on the independents.
In AEW, he got around the technicality by being announced with his wife, as “Cody and Brandi Rhodes.” Brandi owned the trademark for that name, as she was contracted to WWE under the name “Eden Stiles.”
Is Kofi Kingston Free to Use “SOS” Theme?
Rumors have been swirling that Kofi Kingston could use his old WWE theme, “SOS.” Just like Kofi’s name, there could be a workaround. However, WWE technically owns the song as most fans know it today.
This was the theme song for his character when he was still portraying a person from Jamaica. Many publishing rights go to Collie Buddz, who produced the track. WWE had Jim Johnston collaborate with Collie Buddz to make a track distinctly for Kofi Kingston. Therefore, WWE owns the rights to the song as millions have heard it on television.
WWE usually finds independent songs and remasters them with their producers to avoid paying royalties. Many songs have undergone this transformation from single to WWE theme.
“Broken Out In Love” used for The Wyatt Family, “Voices” for Randy Orton, “Time to Rock N Roll” for Trish Stratus are some of the many examples where popular music gets the WWE treatment and new copyrights.
Therefore, a version of SOS can be used for Kofi’s future wrestling theme. However, it will sound slightly different than how we remember the former Intercontinental Champion coming down the aisle in WWE.