WWE SummerSlam 2019: Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton must main event

Going into WWE SummerSlam 2019, there are plenty of options that could main event the show, but there’s only one right option: Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.

WWE SummerSlam 2019 will be airing live from the WWE Network one week from this Sunday and the card is already stacked to the nines. We’ve got high profile rematches like Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship, dream matches like Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus, and a Canadian homecoming for Natalya as she challenges Becky Lynch for her Raw Women’s Championship. And that just barely scratches the surface as to how stacked this card is.

Looking at the card from top to bottom, WWE has plenty of options when it comes to choosing a main event to close out the show. However, there is one match that I think is deserving enough to close out the card and that is Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship defense against Randy Orton.

It’s a match that lies more than a decade in the making. Dating all the way back to 2009 when the two feuded in what should have been a huge main event push for Kingston, but was suddenly halted outta nowhere. Supposedly, judging by what Orton admitted onscreen, it was due to some backstage politics of Orton himself.

However that situation really turned out, Kingston overcame whatever – or whoever – held him back to 10 years later win the WWE Championship. Now, he goes into SummerSlam looking for the retribution he never got 10 years ago from The Viper.

All things considered, this storyline has the history and the intrigue from fans to justify main eventing the show, but that’s not the only reason why they should. They must main event to make the WWE Championship feel important.

In terms of pure wrestling, Kofi Kingston has done a lot in his 100+ days to make the WWE Championship feel prestigious. The only thing he needs now is to actually main event a PPV, as not one time has the WWE Title seen a WWE PPV main event since he won the belt. Even beforehand, the title never got its just due on PPV.

Previous title holders Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles both rarely main evented PPVs during their WWE Championship reigns. Bryan only main evented this year’s Elimination Chamber, while Styles – who held the title for a historic 371 days – only main evented Fastlane 2018. He also main evented Starrcade, but that doesn’t count as it was a televised house show, not a PPV.

The title always gets the dirty shaft when it comes to PPV main events, either in favor of the Universal Championship or in favor of bigger stars like Roman Reigns main eventing for grudge matches or number one contenders battles. You can even go as far back as 2011-12, when during CM Punk’s own historic long running title reign, he rarely main evented; it was John Cena who main evented most of the PPVs held during that reign.

The precedent continues with Kofi Kingston’s title reign, as he has not closed out a single PPV this year yet. He did close out Smackville, which was a televised house show, which again, does not a PPV.

It’s time for that to change. No better time to change the precedent than at SummerSlam where Kingston vs. Orton is more hotly anticipated than a third Lesnar vs. Rollins encounter, or most other matches on the card for that matter.

Kofi Kingston’s reign has been highly critically acclaimed so far. It’s time WWE treated him like an actual main eventer by having him main event PPVs.