Kofi Kingston

Top 3 highly-rated Kofi Kingston PPV matches of 2019

Kofi Kingston has arguably had the best calendar year of his WWE tenure. The member of The New Day and a veteran of the WWE locker room, The Dreadlocked Dynamo rose to prominence and had an incredible WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 35 and took a win that transcended sports entertainment. The charismatic performer didn't just have a great run back in March/April, but it's clear that will be what he is remembered for.

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With it being so close to the end of the year I wanted to take a look at some of WWE's top performers and their top three bouts throughout the year. For simplicity I have based the ratings off of the standard five-star scale, depending on what I gave the matches at the time.

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So, here are the Top 3 highly-rated Kofi Kingston PPV matches of 2019:

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#1 WrestleMania 35 - Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship - 5 Stars

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A match for the ages
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There are moments in professional wrestling that transcend being 'just' a match. This was the defining moment of Kingston's career and it will be used in highlight packages from now until the end of time.

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Kofi had such a vocal following from the WWE Universe a couple of months before this that the company almost had no choice and had to put him in this match against Daniel Bryan. Bryan, the man who had returned in-ring the year prior to a thunderous reception was the perfect foil to Kingston, knowing how to give and take hope spots and near falls to send the crowd into absolute rapture.

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The finish of the match saw Kingston hit his patent Trouble in Paradise kick to pin the Champion for the three-count, sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy.

This could honestly go down as one of the greatest WWE Championship matches in WrestleMania history. A true match for the ages.

#2 WWE Elimination Chamber 2019: AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan vs Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton vs Samoa Joe - 4.25 Stars

Kingston and Bryan stole the show
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The build to this match was highlighted by the incredible gauntlet match performance by Kingston on SmackDown in the weeks leading up to this match. That caused the WWE Universe to rally behind Kingston, giving him the same sort of reception that Becky Lynch had received back at the Royal Rumble but had since wained slightly.

There was a palpable feeling from the crowd in the building that Kingston could actually win this match, but could he really?

WWE seemed to have no choice in pushing Kingston beyond this, after Daniel Bryan defeated The New Day member at the end of the match to retain his Championship. If the WrestleMania match was Return of The Jedi, then this match was Empire. Absolutely incredible from all men involved but Kingston and Bryan once again stole the show in the build up to WrestleMania.

#3 WWE Money In The Bank 2019: Kofi Kingston vs Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship - 3.5 Stars

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Kevin Owens was one of the first big tests for Kofi as WWE Champion

The last match on my list saw Kingston defend his newly won belt against one of WWE's top heels. The original reported plan for Owens was to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35, the spot that Kofi ended up being rewarded with.

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This match lacked a lot of the pace and excitement that the WrestleMania match had, but to be fair to both performers that is a match that will be difficult for Kofi to beat anytime soon. This was the start of Kingston's arguably tame run as WWE Champion, where he faced the likes of Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe.

Kingston had never been in WWE's Championship plans on January 1st 2019, so it is somewhat understandable that they struggled to feature him as the Champion correctly. Hopefully there is a chance that Kofi will get to regain the title once again and get a better run in 2020.

2 more stars coming from AEW to WWE? More details right here

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Edited by
Alan John
 
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