A couple of weeks ago, Kofi Kingston’s Championship reign ended in 5 seconds when Brock Lesnar dropped him with an F-5. The match was so quick that there wasn’t even time for the promotional graphics to be removed from the screen.
With the abrupt end of a WWE Championship run that no one could have predicted at the start of the year, I believe it is time to reflect on Kofi’s title reign honestly.
The first thing we should all understand is that this reign probably shouldn’t have happened. We all know the story. Before the Elimination Chamber, Ali was taken out of the match due to an injury he suffered at the hands of Randy Orton.
Then, Kofi Kingston was chosen to be his replacement. No one could have predicted that one-third of a pancake-throwing faction would end up becoming one of the top faces of the company.
WrestleMania took place, and it as one of the best moments in sports entertainment for the entire year. Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan had perhaps the best match of the entire night, and it culminated in a very feel-good moment, as Kofi Kingston became the WWE Champion.
Emotions were running high and Kofi mania was running wild. However, once he won the title, something just did not feel right. Personally, I believe that it had to do with the feuds that he was engaged in. Nothing that came after Kofi’s initial title in reached the intensity as his journey towards it.
After he won the WWE Championship, his next feud was against Dolph Ziggler. Dolph has quite a few accomplishments, and is actually a familiar opponent of Kingston. About a decade ago or so, it felt these two were fighting over mid-card titles every week. My problems with Kofi’s matches with Ziggler was that it was as by-the-numbers as it can get.
There is only so many times I was able to hear Dolph cry, “it should have been me”, before I had to lower the volume. Basically, the matches were repetitive and about as formulaic as it can get. In addition, does anyone take Dolph Ziggler seriously as a threat?
We knew he was never winning the WWE Championship, yet WWE was trying to push the narrative that Kofi was fighting the odds. Remember when Kofi had to hop over Ziggler in that steel cage match to win? That finish was heavily telegraphed, but it was supposed to add to his “beating the odds” persona.
Next up was Samoa Joe. My issue with this feud was more with Joe himself. Look, I love Samoa Joe as much as the next guy. Unfortunately, Joe has lost every big match in his WWE career. He is quietly growing a reputation of an all talk, no action kind of heel.
Remember when he looked menacing against Brock Lesnar a couple of years to go, only to lose to him in about 6 or so minutes with one finisher out of nowhere? Or that time where Joe was going to embarrass Roman Reigns after he lost to Brock at WrestleMania last year, only to have a snoozefest of a main event in a losing effort at Backlash?
How about all of those countless WWE Title matches he got against AJ Styles, failing to come away with the gold each time no matter how much he threatened his family? When Joe challenged for the WWE Championship, we were led to believe that his big body and power would be too much for Kofi to handle. Yet, he ended up defeating Joe with little difficulty at all.
Wrestling fans can debate as to whether or not wins or losses matter, but i certainly believe the frequency with which one wins can determine how much of a threat one is perceived to be. That’s why I knew Joe was going to lose. In his match with Kofi, there was never a moment where I felt like Kofi’s title reign was in jeopardy. That serves as a direct antithesis for what Kofi’s title reign was supposed to signify.
So after his first couple of title defenses, we then get what was supposed to be the climax of his feud. A feud that was about a decade in the making. We probably knew it would happen eventually. That being his feud with Randy Orton. I’d like to say that the historical context that they put behind these two was great, and I liked how seamlessly they brought up their history together.
Unfortunately, the matches did not reach the intensity of the feud. Kofi’s feud with Randy was supposed to be about Kofi looking to prove that he belonged and Randy validating his burial of Kofi all those years ago. So why were their matches filled with chin locks and wrist holds? They should have been throwing haymakers from the jump. It was simply the wrong type of match. What’s worse is that they did it twice.
At Summerslam, their match was average at best. They topped an average match off with a non-finish to protect both men, which I DESPISE. However, I thought that would mean we’d get a better match next time. Or maybe a situation where both men couldn’t win by a technicality. Instead, we literally got the same exact match, only with a finish. What was supposed to be a moment of validation for Kofi’s career just ended up being a whole lot of “meh”.
Finally, we got Kofi’s biggest challenge in the form of Brock Lesnar. It was advertised for Smackdown’s move to the FOX network. They had advertised this match for up to three or so weeks, in fact. I’ll be honest in saying I believe a part of me was crazy enough to believe they would allow Kofi to go over Brock. If not, at least Kofi would give himself a fighting chance after what he’s done.
However, I saw the time when the match started, and I knew that one way or the other, the match would be short. Kofi lost the title in five seconds, and Cain Velasquez immediately came out afterwards. That was actually rather alarming. Let me explain.
When Cain and Rey came out, it made me believe that WWE never took Kofi Kingston seriously as a main eventer. Since that embarrassing defeat by Kofi, we have yet to see him mention it.
We did get him very subtly squishing a pancake last week in a backstage segment when it was briefly mentioned, but nothing was overtly stated. In fact, he’s just gone back to being one-third of the pancake-throwing trio like nothing ever happened. I highly believe that was symbolic. Maybe we were supposed to pretend that the title reign never happened because it was uneventful.
Towards the middle of Kofi’s title reign, I as under the impression that we weren’t supposed to take Kofi seriously as WWE Champion. It was more WWE’s way of rewarding Kofi for his years of service and giving his due. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. Kofi is a pro’s pro and does whatever is asked of him while never complaining.
I just think that the way his title reign ended means that his title reign peaked the moment he won it. There was never going to be a moment that topped WrestleMania, and the longer his title reign was, his feuds progressively lessened in intensity. It makes sense that it in the new era of Smackdown, they want to make Lesnar the new face. Kofi ended up being a face that was quickly forgotten.
In the end, I would have done the Kofi story all over again, because it was fun while it lasted. Everything from the unlikelihood of his entry in the Elimination Chamber match, to his inspiring Gauntlet match performance to the momentum that came out of that was fun and felt organic. Kofi remains a hell of a performer an deserved this accolade.
Unfortunately, there was only so long that the flame would have remained hot. We reached the mountaintop early, and it only went downhill from there. What is your view on Kofi’s title reign?
