Kofi Kingston stunned the WWE universe on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live by winning his gauntlet match, but was once again undone by Vince McMahon in his quest to have a title match WrestleMania. Although Kingston went through the gauntlet of five opponents, McMahon’s late stipulation led to Kingston fighting Daniel Bryan and coming up short.
Kofi’s first match came against Sheamus, and The Celtic Warrior gave him plenty of scares to start. Despite a back-and-forth match for most of the match, Kofi had plenty of moments where things looked incredibly bleak, including a moment where Kingston took a couple of knees to the head. Fortunately for Kingston, however, he was able to dodge a Brogue Kick from Sheamus and deliver a devastating Trouble in Paradise, which was enough to drop Sheamus and give Kofi the first win.
.@ERICKROWAN is absolutely BRUTALIZING @TrueKofi… #SDLive pic.twitter.com/bTGRfX9qzz
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2019
Immediately after, it was Cesaro’s turn to try and end Kofi’s WrestleMania hopes, and just as Sheamus did, he gave Kingston a good run, but was unable to come away with a victory. After absolutely beating down an obviously fatigued Kofi, Cesaro fell victim to an S.O.S from Kingston that brought Kofi closer to a title shot at WrestleMania. Unfortunately for Kingston, things took a turn once Erick Rowan stepped into the ring.
Rowan immediately got to work attacking Kingston, and eventually threw him out of the ring, where things only got worse. Once out of the ring, Rowan quickly grabbed a chair and delivered a rough slam to Kingston’s back, which disqualified Rowan from the fight. From there, Rowan gripped Kingston in a bear hug, rammed him into the steeler beam of the corner post, and put him through the announcer’s table before departing.
.@TrueKofi is giving EVERYTHING he has left in this match against @SamoaJoe. #SDLive pic.twitter.com/aIpnLizxyw
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2019
Kofi’s next test came in the form of Samoa Joe, who looked to easily overpower Kingston for most of the match. In a stunning development, however, Kingston was able to quickly roll up Joe and get a quick pin in, defeating him and sending Joe into a rampage that ended with Joe putting Kingston in the Coquina Clutch and leaving him nearly unconscious just as Randy Orton – Kingston’s final opponent – entered the ring.
Although Orton was by far the more energized wrestler, Kingston was somehow able to get the job done, avoiding multiple finishing attempts from Orton in the process. At the end of the match, Kingston was able to roll up Orton and completely hold him down, pinning his shoulders to the mat and pinning Orton to clinch his ticket to WrestleMania … or so we thought.
This hurts.
The New @WWEDanielBryan defeats @TrueKofi which means @TrueKofi will NOT be going to #WrestleMania. #SDLive #GauntletMatch pic.twitter.com/0bHtj4a1rH
— WWE (@WWE) March 20, 2019
Shortly after the victory, and amidst a New Day celebration, Vince McMahon stepped out not to congratulate Kingston on his WrestleMania opportunity, but to tell him that he must fight one more opponent in order to have his shot. That man was none other than Daniel Bryan, who came out and continued the smackdown that the other opponents had already given him. Although Kingston fought his hardest and even landed an S.O.S on Bryan, he was simply too exhausted to do much, and a Knee Plus from Bryan knocked out Kingston and led to Bryan pinning him. For now, that means Kingston won’t be at WrestleMania, but with three weeks left until the show arrives, who knows if Kingston won’t be able to find a way there.
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