Kofi Kingston Recalls Getting Vince McMahon's Approval To Flip Off Samoa Joe On WWE SmackDown

Kofi Kingston has recalled Vince McMahon giving him permission to flip Samoa Joe the middle finger during a live episode of WWE SmackDown in 2019.

Joe and Kingston feuded over the WWE Championship in the summer of 2019, with Kingston successfully defending the Title against Joe at Extreme Rules. In the build-up to the match, Joe asked Kingston to shake his hand, offering the guarantee of safety for him and his friends ahead of the bout.

Kingston would turn down Joe's offer, instead flipping him the middle finger, and has now revealed how WWE Chairman McMahon signed off on the idea, saying the camera angles would disguise what the former WWE Champion was doing.

The live broadcast very briefly showed Kingston's action, along with his big grin.

Speaking on the New Day: Feel The Power Podcast, Kingston said: "The whole situation was so funny because we were talking about how we wanted to present this idea and we needed a punchline. I was like, 'it's got to be the middle finger.' Maybe not the middle finger, but something along those lines.

"The more we talked about it, it was like, 'Nah, it's gotta be the middle finger.' We went in and asked He Who Shall Not Be Named and he cleared it. 'Yeah, that'll be fine, we'll just shoot around it.' What? Okay. Good luck.

"Sure enough, the cameraman went over the shoulder and you could see me legit cheesin' that I get to throw the middle finger up on TV. The little things."

H/T Fightful