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WWE Is Going All-Out To Build Kofi Kingston’s Road To WrestleMania

By Kevin Parvizi

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Wrestler Kofi Kingston attends WWE's opening night party honoring the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and 20th Century Fox/WWE's upcoming feature film '12 Rounds' at Haven by HFM on February 18, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/WireImage)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Wrestler Kofi Kingston attends WWE's opening night party honoring the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and 20th Century Fox/WWE's upcoming feature film '12 Rounds' at Haven by HFM on February 18, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/WireImage) /
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Kofi Kingston was initially slated to face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at Fastlane 2019, but Vince McMahon promptly swapped him for a returning Kevin Owens. And just when it seemed like he’d have a change of heart, well, he pulled a fast one on all of us.

There’s no doubt that the WWE Universe has been waiting to see Kofi Kingston with a world championship around his waist for years. As Big E and Xavier Woods told Vince McMahon in a backstage meeting during Fastlane, Kofi has been an important part of the company for 11 years, fighting for a world championship opportunity. He has the entire WWE Universe behind him, so he is the type of “box-office draw” Vince is looking for in a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania.

It seemed like Vince agreed to reason, taking in Xavier and Big E’s impassioned words. He informed Kofi that he would be added to the WWE Championship match at Fastlane, competing in a Triple Threat with Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens, who had a show of respect with the three members of The New Day during the Fastlane kick-off show.

Instead, in front of Cleveland fans who wanted to see Kofi in a WWE Championship match – one that was advertised weeks ago before Vince made the swap for KO – Vince fed the multiple-time champion to the wolves.

In this case, the “wolves” were Sheamus and Cesaro. It was a trap set up by the devious Mr. McMahon, and “The Bar” beat Kofi all over the ring. They could have easily ended the punishment earlier, but they just kept going and going – and the crowd was clearly upset with the beatdown of their beloved superstar.

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Woods and E tried to make the save, but they were stopped by Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, who ambushed the babyfaces. From there, Sheamus and Cesaro cleaned things up, pinning Kofi to a chorus of boos, quickly followed by stunned silence as the helpless Kofi Kingston lay there in the middle of the ring.

It was a heinous lie from Mr. McMahon, who had informed Kofi that he would have a Triple Threat WWE Title match right then and there…only to call for two of Kofi’s long-time rivals to serve as his goons.

Vince has now screwed over two babyfaces on SmackDown Live in title matches, Kofi and Becky Lynch. But like Becky, Kofi will eventually earn his way to a WrestleMania title match, which has been a decade in the making for one of WWE’s greatest superstars of this era.

Kingston will surely get his, and as frustrating as it has been to see him miss out on opportunity after opportunity lately, it feels like Vince’s involvement will lead to that special ‘Mania moment for Kofi. Vince doesn’t just screw over anyone, and he’s done this twice with Kofi, with this act at Fastlane being the most unforgivable, speaking in kayfabe here, act yet.

There’s a reason why the hashtag is #KofiMANIA, and there’s a reason why Bayley gave Kofi a shoutout afterwards – and Elias took a shot at him in his heat-seeking encore performance.

WWE knows how much the fans are behind Kofi, and they seem to be capitalizing on the opportunity. Kofi was a huge standout in the Elimination Chamber match and in the preceding Gauntlet Match; he’s shown that he’s earned a WrestleMania WWE Championship match, which is why Kevin Owens’s match got bumped up to Fastlane. WWE sees and hears us, so it’s time for us to scream as loud as we can. Because this ambush by The Bar was setting up Kofi’s moment on a platter. Every time Vince screws over Kofi, it’s an opportunity for us to pound the table harder for a superstar who, again, has yet to receive a one-on-one match for a world title in his career.

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It seems like WWE is pulling out all the stops for Kofi on the Road to WrestleMania, and all that’s left is for the WWE Universe to continue to will him towards that elusive, career-defining WWE Championship victory at The Show of Shows. He’s the perfect person for this story, and Kofi, as he always does, has shined brightly ever step of the way. And yes, it’s about damn time we got another Black world champion in WWE.