In 2019, longtime fan favorite Kofi Kingston would finally win the big one in WWE. He was able to defeat Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
The reign that followed would see him defend against the likes of Randy Orton & Dolph Ziggler – but came to a crushing end when SmackDown went to Fox later that year.
Brock Lesnar squashed Kingston in seconds, often cited as a breaking point for fans love with WWE. This was not a last minute choice – being planned since shortly after Kingston became WWE Champion.
Brock Lesnar Was Always The Endgame For Kofi Kingston As WWE Champion
Former WWE Writer Dave Schilling would share the following about the plans for Lesnar to end the reign of Kingston.
“I was there in 2019, I was on the home team on SmackDown. The thing that we were the most concerned with and most involved with was KofiMania. That was a storyline that traded on a lot of attitudes about race and ideas about who should or shouldn’t be the champion. I never felt like that storyline was disrespectful. I never felt that storyline was treated in a way where Kofi came off as a ‘token champion.’
That was a great storyline and I’m very proud of the small part I had to play in that. We can debate how it turned out in the end, when he lost to Brock Lesnar, which I found out about in April. We were talking about, ‘the plan is first SmackDown on Fox, Brock is going to come in and win the title and it’s going to be a quick match.’ That’s exactly what happened after I left. That’s the way it turned out. The writers in the room with me, were always incredibly aware of what we were doing and why it was important.”
Since losing the belt, Kingston has been once again viewed as a tag team specialist. Fellow The New Day member Big E would win the WWE Championship, and also had his reign ended by Brock Lesnar.
Do you think Kingston vs. Lesnar should have been a more competitive match? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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