WWE: Kofi Kingston’s win will stand the test of time as one of WrestleMania’s most iconic moments

WWE WrestleMania has had no shortage of “where were you” moments – conic ones such as H Edge spearing Jeff Hardy off of a ladder at WrestleMania 17 and Shawn Michaels retiring Ric Flair in one of the most emotional moments in pro wrestling history. Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan are adding their names and moments to the WrestleMania history book.

This match was placed in the middle of the card and rightfully so. The women in the main event deserved that billing for having the most invested story-line pre-#KofiMania. Yet in my mind, the WWE championship victory that Kofi Kingston secured over Daniel Bryan will forever stand the test of time as THE moment of WrestleMania 35.

Kofi Kingston’s underdog story began with him becoming the final competitor in the Elimination Chamber after (Mustafa) Ali had to withdraw due to an injury. We were unclear if Kofi was even going to be THE member of the New Day to enter the Chamber? One could argue Xavier Woods had the charisma to be added and Big E. being the total package in the group. Kofi has the longest tenure in the WWE of the New Day and with it came his decision to be added one of the greatest  in recent WWE memory.

To further cement his place in the Chamber, Kofi Kingston lasted one hour in a Gauntlet match to determine the last entrant in the Chamber match. He drew a tremendous crowd response with his performance in that match and while he fell to A.J. Styles at the end of the match, Kofi Kingston had won over the crowd. This is the exact moment that propelled #KofiMania to the stratosphere.

While Kofi would again impress the crowd with his encore performance in the Elimination Chamber, he would fall to the WWE champion Daniel Bryan after outlasting the other 4 men in the match. He continued to put on a show in each and every appearance following his heartbreaking loss. If you thought #KofiMania had hit its peak, you were surely wrong.

These are only a few of the responses you saw from Twitter land. Hundreds of thousands people became fully invested in the journey that accompanied Kofi Kingston and his quest to become the WWE champion. The underdog story closely resembled the one that his counterpart Daniel Bryan had at Wrestlemania 30. The Authority viewed Bryan as a B+ player, too small to lead the company and was missing the “it” factor which came with being the WWE champion.

Needless to say, Daniel Bryan overcame the insurmountable odds five years ago and accomplished his dream to become the WWE champion. The “YES” movement exploded, fans all over the World wanted Bryan to be the man.

My oh my how things change over the course of 5 years. Bryan became the authority, the man who would fend off #KofiMania once and for all. He even took it as far as to call Kofi Kingston a B+ player himself. This is one of the few times in the case of WWE booking that a recycled story-line would prove to loom larger than the original was. With it came a larger ovation at the end of this instant classic between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston.

My goodness did this match deliver in every way imaginable. Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston put on a masterpiece for the WWE championship at WrestleMania 35. The pace was picture perfect, the crowd was hanging on to every moment of this contest. Even the WWE roster backstage were biting their fingernails in anticipation of a potential historic WWE title change. B

oth men would trade the edge in this back and forth encounter. There wasn’t a single person watching this magnificent bout who wasn’t emotionally invested in what would transpire. After 20 minutes of action which included multiple ‘LeBell Locks’, missed S.O.S attempts and outside interference from The New Day and Rowan, Kofi Kingston would have his moment.

Kofi Kingston would connect with ‘Trouble In Paradise’ for the 1-2-3 and become the first African-American born wrestler to win the WWE championship. Booker T and Mark Henry held the World Championship in WWE. This truly was a monumental moment in which 80,000 plus people in New York lost their collective minds.

Millions watching around the World were hugging friends, strangers and loved ones. #KofiMania had prevailed, one of the biggest underdog stories of all time had a fairy-tale ending. Most importantly, the outcome was exactly what the wrestling Universe desired, craved and deserved.

You would see grown men openly weeping tears of joy, this writer included. #KofiMania is more than a movement for African-American culture.

This victory was also a symbol for wrestlers backstage who have dedicated years upon years to their craft and never received their true push to the top of the Industry. Current superstars such as Cesaro, Rusev and Kingston’s stablemate Big E are example of those talents. Men who could breakthrough at a given moment and become the next WWE champion. That is if WWE management and some more magic from the WWE Universe resurface to propel them to the top of the mountain. It can indeed happen and Kofi Kingston is living proof.

Let’s not forget about Daniel Bryan either. After a three-year retirement due to multiple injuries suffered in the ring, his WWE championship win in November 2018 over A.J. Styles would cap a miraculous comeback from said injuries. His heel turn after the match would be a huge spark to this feud with Kofi Kingston. Bryan deserves a huge round of applause from fans around the World for his microphone and in ring work. He was the perfect villain to Kofi’s superhero.

We as wrestling fans will never forget this match at WrestleMania 35. The match between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston deserves to go down into folklore tales with the predecessors before them.  The Undertaker retiring Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin winning his 1st WWE championship are just some of the magical moments that this match joins in the pantheon of WrestleMania history. A tremendous round of applause for giving the WWE fans Worldwide such an amazing memory. It truly has carved its way into the legion of the all-time greatest WrestleMania moments.