He had his first exposure to the main WWE roster, when he worked dark matches on March 5 and 26, 2007 before episodes of Raw against Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch, respectively. He also worked live events, defeating Shelton Benjamin on May 5, and Val Venis on May 6.
A series of vignettes for Kingston's television debut began airing on the weekly ECW on Syfy television show starting on December 6, 2007. During this introduction phase, his videos, the official website, and commentators all made note that he would be the first Ghanaian-born person to wrestle for the company. He debuted on the January 22, 2008 episode of ECW as a face with a win over local wrestler David Owen in Charlottesville Virginia. After wrestling sporadic matches, Kingston was involved in his first major match, a 24-man battle royal during the WrestleMania XXIV pre-show with the winner receiving an ECW Championship match, but was eliminated by Mark Henry. Kingston remained undefeated in singles competition in ECW for months and was placed into a feud with Shelton Benjamin at the end of April 2008. After two straight losses, Benjamin got a win over Kingston on the May 20 episode of ECW, ending his undefeated streak. On the June 24 episode of ECW, Kingston defeated Benjamin in an Extreme Rules match to end their feud.
As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Kingston was drafted to the Raw brand. In his first match as a member of Raw roster, he defeated Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions. The win made him the first Ghanaian wrestler to hold a championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and it was also his first championship in his wrestling career. Kingston held the championship until SummerSlam, where he and Women's Champion Mickie James both lost their championships in an intergender "winner take all" tag team match to Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella.
At Unforgiven, he appeared backstage, coming to the aid of then-World Champion CM Punk, who had been attacked by Manu, Randy Orton, and the World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Soon after coming to his rescue, Punk and Kingston were paired together more often, and on the October 27 episode Raw, the duo won the World Tag Team Championship. He was also involved at Survivor Series in the traditional ten-men elimination tag team match on the side of Team Batista, but was eliminated by Orton. Kingston and Punk lost the World Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz at a WWE live event on December 13.
At No Way Out in 2009, Kingston won a spot in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber by defeating Kane, but was unable to officially enter the match, as he was ambushed by Edge, who took Kingston's place and eventually won the match.
Kingston defeated Chris Jericho, after interference from Ric Flair, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, but the match was won by CM Punk. After winning a Triple Threat Number One Contender's match the week before, Kingston defeated Montel Vontavious Porter on the June 1 episode of Raw to win the United States Championship. For the next several months, he went on to defend and retain his title at PPVs such as Extreme Rules, Night of Champions, Breaking Point, and WWE Hell in a Cell, until losing the championship to The Miz on October 5 on Raw, ending his four month reign. On the October 12 episode of Raw, Kingston defeated Evan Bourne to qualify for Team Raw at WWE Bragging Rights. Team Raw lost the match, however, when the Big Show betrayed them by chokeslamming Kingston, allowing Chris Jericho to pick up the win for Team SmackDown.
During WWE Bragging Rights, Kingston and Raw teammate Cody Rhodes argued about Kingston taking the loss in their match. As a result, when Rhodes and Ted DiBiase were interfering on behalf of Randy Orton during his WWE Championship match, Kingston ran out with a chair and chased Rhodes and DiBiase out of the arena. Orton would eventually lose the match. On the October 26 episode of Raw, Kingston began a feud with Orton, as Orton believed Kingston cost him the WWE Championship. After Kingston defeated Chris Jericho, Orton came from behind and attacked Kingston, ending with Orton throwing Kingston onto the side of the entrance ramp. Later that night, Kingston destroyed Orton's car. On the November 16 episode of Raw, Kingston saved guest host "Rowdy" Roddy Piper from an assault by Orton and later performed a Boom Drop from a rail in the crowd onto Orton, sending Orton through a table. Kingston went on to lead his Survivor Series team to victory against Orton's team, where he was the sole survivor, last eliminating Orton. On the November 30 episode of Raw, Kingston was scheduled to face Orton in a one on one match, only to be assaulted from behind by Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Despite the assault, Kingston still wished to continue, and was quickly defeated by Orton. The following week, Kingston defeated Orton in a rematch where guest host Mark Cuban, who had a grudge against Orton since their encounter at Survivor Series in 2003 when Orton performed an RKO on him, gave Kingston a fast count. He then announced that with one victory apiece, the two would face off again at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Orton defeated Kingston at the event. On the December 28 episode of Raw, Orton interfered in Kingston's match for the United States Championship, resulting in their rivalry continuing. On the January 4 episode of Raw, Orton once again defeated Kingston. The following week on January 11, Kingston would compete against Orton and John Cena in a triple threat match with the winner facing Sheamus for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble. Orton ultimately won the match by pinning Kingston. On the February 1 episode of Raw, Kingston won a qualifying match by defeating the Big Show via disqualification to advance to the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the inaugural Elimination Chamber event. Kingston, however, failed to win after being eliminated by Sheamus. On the March 22 episode of Raw, Kingston defeated Vladimir Kozlov to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI. At the event however, Kingston was unsuccessful as the match was won by Jack Swagger.
On April 26, as part of the 2010 WWE Draft, Kingston was drafted to the SmackDown brand. In his debut match for the brand, he defeated Chris Jericho. On the following episode of SmackDown, Kingston was entered into a four-man tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship after Drew McIntyre had been stripped of the title earlier in the show. He went on to defeat Dolph Ziggler in the first match of the tournament. Christian defeated Cody Rhodes in the second match. As a result, Kingston faced and defeated Christian in the finals of the tournament to seemingly win his second Intercontinental Championship on the May 14 episode of SmackDown. However, moments later, McIntyre came out with a letter, signed by Vince McMahon, saying that Theodore Long was irresponsible and abused his power. The letter also stated that McIntyre was reinstated to the active roster and that Kingston was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship, which returned to McIntyre.
It was later announced on WWE.com that Kingston would face McIntyre for the title at Over the Limit. At the event, Kingston defeated McIntyre to officially win his second Intercontinental Championship. On June 1, Kingston was announced to mentor Michael McGillicutty on the second season of WWE NXT. On the June 18 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that at Fatal 4 Way, Kofi would defend the Intercontinental Championship against Drew McIntyre. At the event, Kingston defeated McIntyre to retain the title. On July 18 at Money in the Bank, Kingston was unsuccessful as Kane grabbed the briefcase to win the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match. The following SmackDown, Kingston lost to Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. On the July 30 episode of SmackDown, Kingston faced Ziggler in a rematch but lost via disqualification, resulting in Ziggler earning a title match. On August 6 episode of SmackDown, Ziggler defeated Kingston to win the Intercontinental Championship. Kingston got his rematch for the title August 15 at Summerslam, which ended in a no contest after The Nexus interfered. On the August 20 episode of Smackdown, Kingston faced Ziggler once again for the Intercontinental Championship defeating Ziggler by disqualification, but by rule, Ziggler retained his Intercontinental Championship. The following week, Kingston faced Ziggler once again for the Intercontinental Championship with the pre-match stipulation that if Ziggler should be disqualified the title would change hands. Vickie Guerrero intervened during the match and got Ziggler counted out so the title did not change hands. At Night of Champions, Ziggler once again faced Kingston with the Intercontinental Championship on the line with the stipulation that if Dolph was either counted out or disqualified that Kofi would win the title. Dolph Ziggler ended up winning the match by pinfall and retained the title once again. On the October 15th episode of Smackdown, Kingston defeated Drew McIntyre to earn a spot in the Team Smackdown competing at Bragging Rights. At the pay-per-view, Team SmackDown emerged as the superior brand with Edge and Rey Mysterio being the final survivors.
On the December 3 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Jack Swagger to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship but failed to win back the title when Swagger attacked Kofi during the match. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston was unsuccessful in claiming the Intercontinental title against Swagger and Ziggler in a ladder match as he and Swagger unhooked the belt but it dropped to the mat and Ziggler grabbed it and retained the title. On the January 7, 2011 episode of SmackDown, Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler to become the Intercontinental Champion for a third time. Immediately following the match, acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero ordered that Ziggler invoke his rematch clause straight away, but Kingston quickly pinned Ziggler again to retain his championship. Kingston the moved into a feud with Alberto Del Rio, which culminated in a non-title match at Elimination Chamber which Kingston lost. On March 22 at the tapings of the March 25 episode of SmackDown, Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett. On April 1 episode of SmackDown, Kingston won his rematch against Wade Barrett by disqualification. After Vladimir Kozlov was injured at the hands of The Corre, Kingston was chosen as Kozlov's replacement in an eight-man tag team match involving Kofi, Kane, Big Show and Santino Marella versus The Corre at WrestleMania 27, which Kingston's team won.
On April 26, 2011, Kingston was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. On May 1, Kingston defeated Sheamus in a Tables Match at Extreme Rules to win his second United States Championship, in the process returning the title to Raw. On the May 9 episode of Raw, Kingston successfully defended his championship against Jack Swagger. At WWE Capitol Punishment, Kingston lost the title to Dolph Ziggler. Kingston faced Ziggler in a rematch for the title on the June 20 episode of Raw in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match, but Ziggler retained the United States Championship as the match ended with Ziggler being disqualified.
On the August 22 episode of Raw, Kingston won the WWE Tag Team Championship with Evan Bourne when they defeated David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty. On the August 29 episode of Raw, the duo was called "Air Boom", and they had their first successful title defense when they defeated Otunga and McGillicutty in a rematch. At Night of Champions Air Boom retained their titles against The Miz & R-Truth by disqualification after Miz attacked a WWE referee. At Hell in a Cell and Vengeance, Air Boom retained their titles twice against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. Bourne was suspended throughout November for his first violation of the company’s Wellness policy. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Air Boom successfully retained their titles aganist Primo and Epico. On January 15, 2012, Air Boom lost the Tag Team titles to Primo and Epico at a house show. On the January 16 episode of Raw, Air Boom were awarded a rematch but failed to regain the titles. The following day, Bourne was suspended again for his second violation of WWE's Wellness Policy.
At the 2012 Royal Rumble event, Kingston participated in the Royal Rumble match and although he did not win, he had a stand-out moment when he saved himself from elimination by walking on his hands to reach the ring steps and re-enter the ring. At Elimination Chamber, Kingston failed to capture the WWE Championship after being eliminated third by Chris Jericho. Kingston then began teaming with R-Truth, facing the likes of Primo and Epico and Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger which they both won and lost, respectively. On the February 27 edition of Raw, Kingston and Truth failed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Primo and Epico in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match, also involving Ziggler and Swagger. On the April 30 edition of Raw, Kingston and Truth defeated Primo and Epico to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. At Over the Limit, Kingston and R-Truth successfully defended the titles against Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger and then again in a rematch on the May 28 episode of Raw. In the pre-show of Money in the Bank, Kingston and Truth defeated Hunico and Camacho in a non-title match. The following night on Raw, they successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young). At SummerSlam, Kingston and Truth defeated Prime Time Players to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. At Night of Champions, Kingston and Truth lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Daniel Bryan and Kane and failed to regain the titles from the new champions the following night on Raw. Both Kingston and Truth were defeated by The Primetime Players in the first round of the Tag Team Tournament to determine the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships, causing both Kingston and Truth to disband as a team and each returning to being single competitors.
After defeating Michael McGillicutty on the October 10 episode of WWE Main Event, Kingston was confronted and insulted by commentator and Intercontinental Champion The Miz, prompting Kingston to challenge for the title which Miz accepted. The following week on Raw, Kingston defeated Miz in a non-title match. Two days later on WWE Main Event, Kingston defeated Miz to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time in his career. Kingston then defeated Miz in two rematches, the first on October 28 at Hell in a Cell, and the second on the November 6 episode of SmackDown to retain his title. Kingston then began feuding with Wade Barrett when the two were placed on opposing teams in the traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match on November 18 at Survivor Series. Kingston's team, led by Mick Foley, was defeated by Barrett's team, led by Dolph Ziggler, during which he was eliminated by Barrett. The following night on Raw, Kingston was defeated by Barrett in a non-title match. Four days later on SmackDown, Kingston defeated Damien Sandow to retain the Intercontinental Championship whilst Barrett was on commentary. Kingston, still the Intercontinental Champion, received a shot at the United States Championship on the December 3 episode of Raw, against champion Antonio Cesaro, R-Truth, and Wade Barrett in a fatal four-way match, but was unsuccessful after Cesaro pinned Kingston for the win. On December 16 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Kingston successfully defended his title against Barrett. Two weeks later on the December 31 episode of Raw, Kingston lost the Intercontinental Championship to Barrett. Kingston received his rematch four days later on SmackDown, but was again defeated by Barrett. At the 2013 Royal Rumble event, Kingston had another stand-out moment in the Rumble match. After eliminating Tensai, he was pushed out of the ring but Kingston jumped on Tensai's back, landed on the announce table and used an office chair from JBL to hop to the ring apron before being eliminated by Cody Rhodes. He then would go on a losing streak to the likes of Wade Barrett, Damien Sandow and Mark Henry throughout February and March. Kingston ended his losing streak against United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in a non title match. On the April 15th edition of Raw, Kofi would beat Antonio Cesaro to win the US Title. Kingston made his first televised title defense on the May 1 episode of Main Event, defeating Cesaro in a rematch. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Kingston lost the United States Championship to Dean Ambrose of The Shield, ending his reign at 35 days. Kingston received his rematch on the following episode of SmackDown, defeating Ambrose via disqualification after Shield members Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins interfered, but not regaining the title as a result. The Shield would continue their assault on Kingston until Randy Orton and Sheamus made the save. Theodore Long then came out to set up a six-man tag team match that ended with Ambrose pinning Kingston for the win. Three days later on Raw, Kingston failed again to reclaim the United States Championship from Ambrose. The following night on Smackdown, Kingston was defeated by Ryback. After the match, Ryback powerbombed Kingston on 3 tables, trying to send a message to John Cena, which injured Kingston on his neck and increased damage on his elbow which had underwent a surgery. It is revealed Kingston will not be in action for 4 to 8 weeks. Kingston returned on the August 5 episode of Raw, defeating Fandango. That same week on Smackdown!, he was defeated by Fandango. The the next week on Raw, he was defeated by World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. Later on that night he fought nineteen other superstars in an Over the Top Rope battle royal, which was eventually won by the returning Rob Van Dam. The next week on Main Event, he teamed with The Usos to face The Shield, which The Shield won. On the September 6th 2013 edition of Smackdown, Kingston would defeat Curtis Axel in a non-Intercontinental Title match, putting him in future contention for the title. Kingston received his title shot on September 13 at Night of Champions, but was defeated by Axel. In late September, Bray Wyatt would start delivering cryptic messages to Kingston after his matches, leading to a match between the two on October 6 at WWE Battleground, which Wyatt won. On the October 18 episode of Smackdown, Kingston and Miz lost to Eric Rowan and Luke Harper in a tag team match. At Survivor Series, Kofi was defeated by The Miz. In the upcoming weeks, Kingston would lose to The Miz in multiple matches. Kingston would finally win a rematch against The Miz at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a No Disqualification Match. On the 13th of January edition of Raw, Kingston defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton in a non-title match; he faced Orton again the following week, but allowed himself to lose by disqualification by holding Orton in place to allow John Cena to attack Orton for attacking his father.
Kingston entered at #8 at the Royal Rumble, and once again performed an amazing feat of - when thrown out - landing on the crowd barricade and made an 11-foot jump to get back in the ring. He was later the seventh person eliminated by Roman Reigns.
On February 13th edition of Smackdown, Kingston would tap out to Jack Swagger in a number one contenders match for the intercontinental championship in a match also featuring Mark Henry and Rey Mysterio; on the March 21st edition of Smackdown, Kingston was announced in the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal at #REDIRECT WrestleMania XXX; Kingston would have a standout moment in the match, getting thrown of over the turnbuckles by Cesaro and to avoid elimination by keeping his toes on the steel steps, he would later be eliminated by Sheamus. At Payback, Kingston would compete in a match against Bo Dallas, but he would be assaulted by Kane for his tweets against Stephanie McMahon. Kingston defeated Cesaro by reversing the Neutralizer into a sunset flip rollup for the win on the June 30th edition of Raw. Kingston was in a rematch with Cesaro which he won on July 7 edition of Raw. Kingston competed in the Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal at Battleground where he again avoided elimination by being caught by Big E and rode his shoulders to the ring. Despite this he did not win.
The following night he and Big E lost to Rybaxel. After the match Xavier Woods came to the ring talking about how dancing for the fans won't give opportunities and how they have to take opportunities. He and Big E seemed interested and accepted Woods' new management. The next night on Main Event, the duo (accompanied by Woods) defeated Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil. However, Woods' group quickly and quietly disbanded. On the August 8 episode of SmackDown, Big E wrestled a singles match with no sign of Woods in his corner, as did Kingston on the August 12 episode of Main Event. However, Woods did appear in the corner of Big E and Kingston for a tag team match at a live event on August 22, signifying that the group may not have disbanded. On the November 10, 2014 edition of RAW, WWE aired a vignette of Kofi Kingston as a preacher type character in front of a gospel character with a quote of "a new day", similar to Wood's vignette with the same background, suggesting their alliance is still on WWE TV. The New Day eventually made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Titus O'Neil, Heath Slater and Curtis Axel. The trio have started a feud with Gold and Stardust, after their interfering ways cost Kingston and Big E an important tag team turmoil match. In March 2015, The New Day participated in two matches on the pre-show to WrestleMania 31 in a losing effort. On April 6, during a match with The Lucha Dragons that he was not apart of-- Kofi Kingston attempted to aid his team in victory with a cheap shot from the outside, thus turning heel in the process for the first time in his entire WWE tenure. At Extreme Rules (2015), Kingston and Big E defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to win the WWE Tag Team Championships. At Payback The New Day defeated Kidd and Cesaro in a rematch for the titles. At Elimination Chamber, The New Day retained their titles in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, where all three members were allowed to compete in the match. At Money in the Bank, Kofi competed in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, but was unsuccessful even though Big E and Woods attempted to help him win. The match was ultimately won by Sheamus. Later that night, The New Day (Woods and Big E) would lose the titles to The Prime Time Players, therefore Kofi also lost the titles. On July 4, at The Beast in the East live event in Tokyo, Japan, Kingston was quickly defeated by Brock Lesnar.
New Day would then win the titles for a second time after they defeated the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores, and the Lucha Dragons in a tag team fatal 4-way match at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, The Dudley Boyz made their WWE return and attacked the New Day with Woods being put through a table with the Dudley Death Drop. New Day lost to the Dudley Boyz via disqualification at Night of Champions but retained their tag team titles. The next month, at Hell in a Cell, they defeated the Dudley Boyz to once again retain their titles. In 2016 New Day began a feud with Chris Jericho who lead The Usos to a number one contendership victory, earning them a WWE Tag Team Championship match at the Royal Rumble. The New Day successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Championships at the Royal Rumble. Kingston would enter the 2016 Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the tenth spot. Kingston would avoid elimination by being thrown over the top rope right on to Big E's shoulders. Kingston would later be eliminated by Chris Jericho. On the March 7 episode of Raw, the New Day took on Jericho and his tag team partner AJ Styles for the tag team titles where they would retain, with Jericho assaulting AJ after the match. The New Day then defeated one-half of the League of Nations for the tag-team titles at WWE Roadblock, turning face in the process. On the March 14 episode of Raw, the New Day defended their titles against the other half of the League of Nations. After the match, the four League of Nations members assaulted the New Day. On March 17, Kingston surpassed John Morrison to become the longest combined-reigning tag team champion at 541 days, a title Morrison has held since February 2008.
At Extreme Rules 2016, The New Day successfully defended their titles against The Vaudevillains. The next night on Raw, The New Day defeated The Vaudevillains in a non-title match via disqualification after they were attacked by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, sparking a feud between the two teams. The feud was settled at Money in the Bank, where The New Day successfully retained the titles against Gallows and Anderson, The Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a fatal-4 way tag team match. Afterwards, The New Day began feuding with The Wyatt Family, after The New Day interrupted their return promo and proceeded to make fun of them. While Kingston and Big E expressed no fear, Woods became increasingly scared of The Wyatt Family, and on the July 4 episode of Raw, he claimed that if Kingston and Big E didn't started taking them seriously, then The New Day wouldn't survive, and walked out on them.
In the 2016 WWE Draft, Kingston, along with his fellow New Day teammates, was drafted to Raw. Three days later, on July 22, Kingston, along with Xavier Woods and Big E, became the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history, breaking the record of 331 days previously set by Paul London and Brian Kendrick. After SmackDown established the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships after the brand split, the titles held by the New Day were renamed the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. At SummerSlam, The New Day lost to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson by disqualification in a title match after Big E, who had been injured by the two, returned and attacked them. At Clash of Champions, The New Day defeated Gallows and Anderson in a rematch to retain the titles. On the October 31 episode of Raw, The New Day revealed that they were made captain of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016. On the 21 November episode of Raw, the New Day successfully retained their titles against Cesaro and Sheamus. The following week, they defeated The Club for another successful title defense. At Roadblock: End of the Line, the New Day lost their championships to Cesaro and Sheamus thus ending their record breaking championship reign at 483 days. Despite their disappointment, they have retained their "Power Of Positivity" nonetheless.