It’s a match where you knew Bryan was gonna win but man did Kofi make you believe he was gonna pull it out. It be nice to see a rematch for mania but w Kofi actually getting a run w the title he deserves it.
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Putting the title on Kofi would of been the wrong call. Every time they just randomly put the title on a guy it has never been good and just devalues the title. It would of been a nice one time feel good pop but shortly after you realize this 11 year mid carder who has never been that over until a week ago is the champ. It would of been on par with the title wins and reigns of Christian, Swagger, JBL, Sheamus, Jinder, Bray Wyatt and Mark Henry. Winning the title then being a dud pretty much killed some of their careers. They were seen as failures afterwards and never recovered.
I’m not saying Kofi can’t be the champ on the B show just build it up more and see if Kofi is still this over in a couple of months. There is no doubt he is facing Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane. I wouldn’t be shocked if he wins the title there and is champ going into Mania. I wonder if he can stay over that long or will the crowd loose interest. He has no track record of being over by himself for a prolonged amount of time. It will be very interesting to see what they do with him.
I personally will never see him as a top guy. That ship sailed long ago. Granted it’s just the B show title but making him the champ to me just further devalues the title. It feels like a lifetime achievement award just like they did with Christian and Mark Henry. I hated them as champs also.
I loved Christians and Mark Henry’s title reigns and thought that period of Smackdown around 2011 before the end of the brandsplit was really good and the best Smackdown had been in a long time since 2004ish. Mark Henry’s Hall of Pain was a great gimmick.
But did anybody buy him or Christian as the champ though? It just felt like utility mid carders for over a decade getting a participation trophy. Like I said it is the B show title and titles in general mean nothing in WWE but I still personally take them seriously and hope one day they will mean as much as they did in the 80s and early 90s.
Did anybody seriously want Kofi to win the title tonight?
Yes I would have loved to have seen Kofi won tonight. Especially after that match. The last several minutes with Daniel Bryan were fantastic. I was 100% in on Kofi by the end as were the crowd. Over the course of two shows they’ve made Kofi a hotter babyface than Seth Rollins.
Would the rematch have main evented wrestlemania? No. But it would be a great match on a long show. Or opened the door for a big multi-man match (like a ladder match) which the WWE title match still might be anyway.
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This felt like when santino was put in the elimination chamber and was the last guy in the match against then world champion daniel bryan, everybody wanted santino to win the title and where cheering for every near fall only to fail. Kofi just like santino never was suppose to win the belt but it made for a good story.
That was all for Mustafa Ali. Crazy how applicable it is for a 10 year bet as well
Unless this has been stated somewhere, I disagree that Kofi was simply “plugged in” to the Mustafa Ali spot. I think Mustafa would have got a good run in the gauntlet and the Elimination Chamber (he had been beating Samoa Joe on house shows prior to his injury), but I don’t see him getting the same story that Kofi ended up getting. My opinion is that WWE took advantage of an unfortunate situation (Ali’s injury) and changed some of the booking.
Not saying I’m right, but that’s my read of the situation.
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To go back on my own comments, I’m hoping that this was just New Day “it’s the kickoff show, who cares?” nonsense. Not saying that makes it right, but it didn’t fit at all with the story they ended up telling with Kofi.
I still think Kofi probably settles back into the regular New Day schtick in the long-term, but I hope at the very least that he gets Daniel Bryan in a singles match for the strap at Fastlane while he’s hot.
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Entirely possible. I don’t give WWE enough credit to have recognized after one night on Smackdown Live Kofi was going to get that reaction. If they did, then credit to them (but why don’t they run with other guys the crowd wants to cheer?)
Did anyone else fully expect a turn like we’ve seen in NXT shows when they are about to go off the air? I thought that lingering by New Day was setting up perfect for it. A three way at Mania would be a very nice match to see.
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I have no interest in seeing Woods wrestle. I’m not a fan. I thought Big E was going to turn, but I would have liked to see him turn on Kofi, with Woods as his manager. Big E gets the U.S Title off R.Truth and have Big E vs Kofi for the U.S Title at Wrestlemania.
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I didn’t with the New Day, but I was expecting an attack during Shane & Miz long walk up the entrance ramp. I thought at the top of the ramp Miz was about to turn heel and attack Shane. But they can let the tension build up a little more and maybe do the turn at Fastlane to set up a wrestlemania match.
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Miz needs to kill Shane. I legit think he needs to throw Shane off something high. The story kinda calls for it, with Mr. Miz being a fan of Shane and Miz wanting to impress his dad.
Miz actually is a good face with Shane. Anything split will make him feel heel again and this two month build will be for naught. Unless they can convey Shane going heel somehow which I’m not sure ever works.
Thanks, I completely forgot who was actually holding that title.
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