The WWE Championship still needs Kofi Kingston for the long haul

Kofi Kingston will head into SummerSlam 2019 as the WWE Champion after winning the title at WrestleMania 35 and his journey as champion needs to continue well into 2020.

It’s been a long time since the WWE Championship felt like a big deal, but Kofi Kingston has restored prominence to one of the promotion’s top two male singles titles. Kingston’s win at WrestleMania 35 wasn’t just heartwarming; it came after what was legitimately one of the best WrestleMania matches in history.

And in the months since that wonderful crowning moment, Kingston has firmly established himself as one of WWE’s best wrestlers.

How has he accomplished this? By being better than his predecessors.

There’s an argument to be made that Kingston’s reign is the most engaging in a decade. Even Daniel Bryan’s reign as WWE Champion after his own memorable chase five years ago pales in comparison to the quality of Kingston’s reign thus far. Meanwhile, Kingston has taken a title that AJ Styles failed to bring to prominence in a nearly year-long reign and has forced WWE to pay attention to him as the new face of SmackDown Live.

Kingston has put on great matches with Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, and anyone else who has crossed his path. And in the period between WrestleMania and SummerSlam, Kingston wasn’t even given a truly emotional feud. His battles with Owens were set up after a quick turn from “The Big O”, his rivalry with Dolph Ziggler was thrown together for Saudi Arabia and his feud with Samoa Joe wasn’t given a fraction of the time that Styles’s was.

Yet instead of floundering or finding any way for fans to point towards creative as an issue, Kingston made sure to tell a great story with these opponents as a babyface champion.

Whether it was standing up to Owens or defiantly flipping the bird at Joe, Kingston did everything he could to stand out as a champion. And that’s a big reason why neither Joe – who stole the show from Styles in their feud last summer – nor Owens – who is one of WWE’s hottest babyfaces right now – could upstage Kingston during their rivalries.

Whenever Kingston steps into the ring, it’s clear that he’s the guy you need to be paying attention to. All the skills he’s learned over the years and showcased both in and out of the ring with The New Day have translated into a wonderful WWE Title reign. That shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with the high bar he’s set as a mid-card champion or tag team champion.

It’s just that now, Kingston is getting the spotlight of a WWE Champion. And unlike many of his predecessors with that title, he’s actually using the spotlight to tell interesting stories.

The WWE Championship has needed a performer with Kingston’s all-around ability, and it’s needed Kingston badly. So much so that the title needs Kingston to hold it not only into the FOX deal in the Fall as the Blue Brand’s face, but the WWE Title also needs Kofi to remain champion into 2020.

As of right now, no other babyface on the roster has shown that they are on Kingston’s level as a champion. Comparing his WWE Title reign to Seth Rollins’ Universal Title reign, it’s truly remarkable comparing his boring promos and if-you’ve-seen-one-you’ve-seen-them-all matches to Kingston’s artistic genius. It’s not that Rollins is bad; it’s just that he’s boring in ways that someone like Kingston or, say, Sami Zayn isn’t.

Ali, Owens, Zayn, Daniel Bryan, and Roman Reigns are all wrestlers who could conceivably hold the WWE Championship soon after Kingston in 2020, but the title needs to carry the utmost prestige before either another top star like Reigns or an up-and-coming talent like Ali holds it.

In order to make the WWE Championship feel like it did in its heyday over a decade ago, the promotion needs to continue to trust Kofi Kingston and give him even more responsibilities. This match-up against Randy Orton, for example, could easily main event SummerSlam over Brock Lesnar’s nondescript Universal Title reign.

There’s precedent, too, since Lesnar vs. Rollins didn’t main event at WrestleMania and, if this is indeed the match at SummerSlam, a follow-up match would be far less anticipated.

Meanwhile, WWE fans have willingly fallen hook line and sinker for the WWE Title match between Orton and Kingston, which hasn’t shied away from the decades worth of rich storytelling.

Orton held Kingston back in 2009 from his initial run at the main event, and Kingston has finally been given a chance to flourish all these years later. In his heel promos, Orton has leaned into the benefits of his privilege, and he is in the need of the ultimate defeat at Kingston’s hands. Though Kingston’s will be getting vengeance, he will, more specifically, part wisdom towards a man who is rarely willing to learn a lesson.

Kingston not only needs to retain against Orton at SummerSlam, but he needs to have more feuds like the ones with Bryan and Orton going forward. WWE have one of the most creative wrestlers and best babyfaces on the planet as their champion, so use those strengths to the fullest. Put him in detailed stories that pull out our hearts – even one with Ali.

The WWE Championship finally feels important again and that’s all thanks to Kofi and The New Day, but Kofi can still take it to another level over the next several months.

Hopefully, WWE understands the value Kingston has brought to the championship and capitalizes on it like never before. Anyone who is overlooking Kingston’s brilliance as a champion at this stage is speaking in bad faith; in 2019, the man is setting the standard at the industry’s biggest company, whether it’s in the ring or on the stick.