WWE SmackDown Grades: Kofi Kingston Has Career-Defining Performance Even In Defeat

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1. Gauntlet Match

It was around this time last year when Seth Rollins put forth a career-defining performance in a gauntlet match on WWE Raw prior to the Elimination Chamber match.  Lightning struck twice last night, but this time in the form of the SmackDown brand, in anticipation of this Sunday’s WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match.

Daniel Bryan will defend his WWE Championship against Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, and now Kofi Kingston of The New Day inside the Elimination Chamber, but last night saw all six men compete in a gauntlet match where the winner would enter the chamber match last on Sunday.  It started out with Bryan and Kofi, who replaced the injured Mustafa Ali.

And these two veterans put on a clinic that lasted 20-plus minutes that undoubtedly stole the show in terms of the individual matches in this gauntlet match.  Kofi managed to shock Bryan and pin the WWE Champion just before Hardy entered the match.  The momentum continued to roll for Kofi and after a much shorter match against The Charismatic Enigma, Kofi pinned Hardy to advance to the next leg.

Samoe Joe was waiting and he controlled Kofi throughout, but he just wouldn’t stay down and it infuriated Joe to the point where Kofi countered an attempted Coquina Clutch into a rollup, where Kofi shocked Joe and won.  Joe attacked Kofi after the match just before Styles entered and asked if Kofi wanted to continue, and he emphatically said he wanted to fight.  His valiant effort eventually came to an end when Styles made Kofi tap out to the calf-crusher.

Orton followed with an RKO outta nowhere, literally, and he won the match to earn the right to enter the chamber match last.  But the story of this match was undoubtedly the epic, career-defining performance of Kofi that will have fans talking for a long time after this fantastic gauntlet match.

Final Grade: A+