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When Paul Heyman announced that Brock Lesnar would challenge Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX, it immediately became apparent that the ‘KofiMania’ phenomenon was set to come to an end.
WWE planted the seeds for a possible Kingston victory when Lesnar attacked Rey Mysterio and Dominik on the September 30 episode of RAW, prompting speculation that they could prevent “The Beast” from winning the WWE Championship.
As it turned out, Mysterio did get involved, accompanied by Lesnar’s former UFC rival Cain Velasquez, but their appearance only came after Heyman’s client had dismantled Kingston with one F-5 to win the WWE Championship in just nine seconds.
Moving forward, it appears as though WWE fans will see Lesnar vs. Velasquez in the not-too-distant future, but where does this shocking defeat leave Kingston? Will he get a rematch or is he going to immediately fall back down the card?
In this article, let’s take a look at five of the biggest questions that need answering after Lesnar squashed Kingston in one of the most emphatic WWE Championship triumphs of all time.
#5 Will Kofi Kingston receive a rematch?
As of the time of writing, only four matches have been announced for Sunday’s Hell In A Cell pay-per-view: Seth Rollins vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (Universal Championship), Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks (RAW Women’s Championship), Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women’s Championship) and Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper.
Two days on from SmackDown’s premiere on FOX, a short build-up to a rematch between Brock Lesnar and Kofi Kingston at Hell In A Cell seems like the only realistic opportunity for the New Day member to receive another title match against “The Beast”.
Let’s face it, Kingston is not going to defeat Lesnar, so a month-long build to a match at a future PPV would only frustrate fans, especially when the outcome is so obvious.
WWE has not yet announced a WWE Championship match at Hell In A Cell, but they are almost certain to reveal more matches for the show over the next 24 hours.
Speaking to WWE.com after his nine-second defeat, Kingston mentioned that he wants to stay in the title picture, but his comment seemed to be more in hope than expectation.
"I just got to try and stay in the [title] mix. If that road includes a Cain Velasquez in the middle of it, then so be it. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes there. It’s definitely interesting for sure. It’s just a testament to how big WWE has gotten."
#4 Has this defeat tarnished Kofi Kingston’s title reign?
If you take a look through your social media timelines today, you are likely going to find a lot of WWE fans who are angry with the way that Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship reign came to an end.
Having fulfilled his 11-year dream to win the title from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35, the New Day member went on to defeat high-profile names including Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton to keep hold of WWE’s most prestigious prize for a lot longer than many people anticipated.
After all, the whole ‘KofiMania’ story felt as though it was more about the moment – him winning at WrestleMania 35 – than anything that happened after the event, so it was an added bonus when his title victory resulted in a surprisingly long reign as one of WWE’s top guys.
Granted, this article is being written just 12 hours after the match against Brock Lesnar took place, but it feels like it will be very difficult to look back at Kingston’s reign in years to come without adding “...but then he lost in nine seconds…” at the end of the conversation.
#3 Has WWE signed Cain Velasquez?
The simple answer: no. Not yet, at least.
Friday’s closing segment on SmackDown perfectly set up a future WWE Championship match for Cain Velasquez, but the man himself has told ESPN that he is only in “advanced talks” with the company and he is keeping his options open, with AEW and NJPW also interested.
"We've talked a little bit back and forth and nothing happened. They wanted to see my development. I think they're pleased with what I'm doing now."
The 37-year-old, who previously trained at WWE’s Performance Center in 2018, exceeded expectations when he competed in two matches for Mexican promotion AAA in August and September 2019.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, a match between Velasquez and his former UFC rival, Brock Lesnar, is scheduled to take place at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on October 31, but nothing has been confirmed yet by WWE.
As for the storyline reason why Velasquez confronted Lesnar, he explained to WWE.com after SmackDown that he wanted “payback” for what the new WWE Champion did to Rey Mysterio and Dominik.
"I'm here because Brock Lesnar knows what he did. It wasn't right, I saw it. I'm here to get some payback."
#2 Should Kofi Kingston move to RAW?
WWE’s SmackDown debut on FOX ended with Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship, so it is safe to assume that the title will remain on the blue brand after the upcoming draft.
That may seem like an obvious statement – the red Universal Championship is on the red brand, RAW, after all – but every title is technically allowed to move between RAW and SmackDown, as we have seen in the past when the Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship have switched shows.
Assuming Lesnar and the WWE Championship remain on SmackDown, WWE has a decision to make regarding Kofi Kingston’s future on Monday or Friday nights.
Should the New Day member, along with Big E and Xavier Woods, stay on SmackDown, where they have mostly competed since 2017, or is now the time to move the trio back to RAW?
One month ago, all three men held titles on SmackDown and now neither of them do, so they have nothing left to achieve on the blue brand when it comes to championship reigns.
Over on RAW, meanwhile, the Universal Championship is a title that nobody from The New Day has ever challenged for, and a swift switch back to the red brand would allow Kingston to quickly move on from his nine-second defeat to Lesnar.
#1 Is nine seconds a new record for the WWE Championship?
The @WWEStats Twitter account is very helpful when it comes to crunching numbers after WWE shows, and this nine-second match resulted in three Brock Lesnar-related tweets being sent out shortly after his victory.
First of all, regardless of the outcome of the main event, it was revealed that Lesnar had a gap of 15 years and seven months between matches on SmackDown – a tally that puts him third on the all-time list of the largest gap between matches on the blue brand (behind The Headbangers).
“The Beast” also became the first Superstar in WWE history to win the WWE Championship on two occasions on SmackDown, having previously defeated Kurt Angle for the title in a 60-minute ironman match in September 2003.
It was also noted that Lesnar has now joined John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin and Bret Hart in winning the WWE Championship at least five times, while he now has a total of eight World Championship victories.
Although Kingston vs. Lesnar was over in nine seconds, it is not the shortest WWE Championship title change in history. Excluding Money In The Bank cash-ins, that record is still held by Diesel, who defeated Bob Backlund at a live event in 1994 to win the title in eight seconds.
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