5 reasons why Kofi Kingston defended his WWE Championship on both Raw and SmackDown

By Ishaan Sharma
Modified May 08, 2019 09:25 GMT
Kofi and Xavier (left) confronted by Zayn and Styles on SmackDown
Kofi and Xavier (left) confronted by Zayn and Styles on SmackDown

This week on Monday Night Raw, Kofi Kingston defended his WWE Championship against a returning Daniel Bryan. It was a WrestleMania rematch, where Bryan lost via pinfall.

The next night on SmackDown, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn challenged him for the title in a triple-threat - to which he duly agreed. The match was instantly SmackDown's main highlight, which saw him defeating the two performers after pinning Zayn.

However, there seems to be multiple reasons as to why the WWE Champion is defending his gold on both brands. Here, let's take a look at five reasons why it could be happening..

Also read: 5 Funniest Backstage Pranks WWE Superstars Pulled on Their Colleagues

#5 WWE Wild Card rule is still a new thing

Zayn, from Raw, was in action on SmackDown as part of the new wild card rule
Zayn, from Raw, was in action on SmackDown as part of the new wild card rule

Vince McMahon introduced a Wild Card rule to the WWE Universe this Monday Night Raw. As per WWE.com, three Superstars from any brand are allowed to appear on the other brand's show at any given time. It means that three Raw superstars could perform on SmackDown Live, without the threat of getting fined or otherwise punished by the company.

However, the problem is that this rule is still a new one and fans are rightly confused by it. Despite trying their utmost to explain this principle to supporters, it's not a simple one to follow.

With Kingston defending his title on both brands, the commentators get an opportunity to discuss the Wild Card rule in more depth to the WWE Universe, explaining why superstars from Raw were able to fight for a SmackDown-exclusive title in the process. It's a clever way to introduce the rule to each WWE fan who might still have been unaware or confused by the rule change.

Also read: 5 WWE Matches That Were Cancelled Due to a Superstar's Illness

#4 Some momentum ahead of MITB match against Kevin Owens

Before a big event, a WWE Superstar needs to have some momentum alongside them and Kofi remains a new WWE Champion who will defend his title at Money in the Bank against Kevin Owens.

Both superstars work well in their matches, but right now, it seems like Kofi doesn't have a lot of attention from the WWE Universe. After all, since winning gold from Bryan at WrestleMania last month, the New Day Superstar hasn't done much to increase his momentum.

It's true that he has become a prominent name now, but we should also agree with the fact he needs momentum too. With MITB only a few days away, it will be his first pay-per-view title defence and he needed some successful victories under his belt beforehand. In addition, retaining a title against some of the company's best performers is a great way not to appear like an underdog champion.

#3 To potentially increase SmackDown's viewership

Despite being distracted from Owens and battling a tough triple-threat, Kofi remained champion
Despite being distracted from Owens and battling a tough triple-threat, Kofi remained champion

For a long time now, WWE's ratings continue to decrease - whether that be on Raw or SmackDown. As per new reports, the blue brand drew the lowest viewership last week, with the closing segments featuring Kingston and Owens accompanied by a match between Randy Orton, Mustafi Ali and Finn Balor.

Despite some great action, they only drew a viewership of 1.833 million viewers, which is the lowest in the show's history. This week, when Kofi defeated Bryan for the WWE Championship on Raw, Monday's show saw an increase in viewership.

It could also be a reason why WWE decided to put him in a match on SmackDown too. This way, not only would their ratings also increase, but his fighting champion image would be strengthened too. Saying that though, we will have to wait for some time before their viewership figures are released.

#2 Kofi needed a Styles win to prove everyone SmackDown is his show now

While fans believe that SmackDown is the house that AJ Styles built, Kofi Kingston doesn't think the same. He even argued about the same on this week's SmackDown Live that Styles is no longer a SmackDown Superstar and Raw is where he belongs now.

However, it didn't stop both Superstars from arguing with one another and then, Sami interrupted them. The reason why WWE put Zayn in this match is simple: they wanted to protect Styles from taking the resulting pin. But one thing this match proved is that SmackDown is no longer Styles' property and Kofi Kingston is its new owner - the WWE Champion and rightly deserves the right to rule this brand too.

#1 Fans love seeing title defences

When Brock Lesnar had the Universal Championship, fans continued to complain about his lack of title defences. The WWE Universe wanted to see more regular matches from the champion, but given his brief schedule, it never happened.

However, we now have two full-time champions on both brands and the company could provide us a championship match at any time. It's also a strong reason why Kofi Kingston defended his title on two nights - if you watched this week's SmackDown episode, you will observe just how hot the crowd was during his match.

After all, three of the company's best performers were slugging it out in the ring and it was enough to send the fans home happy. Kofi is a fighting champion and given recent title defences, he's proving exactly that.

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