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It's official. Kofi Kingston will be challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WWE Fastlane next month. It was announced beforehand that Daniel Bryan's Fastlane opponent would be revealed.
The main event saw Daniel Bryan team up with Samoa Joe and old rival Randy Orton to take on Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy. It's crazy to think that in a ring filled with so many top stars, Kofi Kingston was the main focus of the night.
It's not surprising, however, given his last two performances. He's hotter than he ever has been as a singles star, and as he said himself, all it takes is one good night for things to change.
For the second time in a week, Kofi Kingston ended up pinning the WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. This not only won the match for his team, but it prompted Shane McMahon to come out and tell Bryan that his Fastlane opponent would be none other than The New Day member.
Despite Bryan claiming that he wouldn't face any of the five superstars in the ring, things didn't really work out for him. Here's why Kingston is getting the shot at Fastlane.
#5. Capitalise on his momentum
There are probably few superstars in WWE that has the momentum that Kofi Kingston has right now. With those two incredible performances, he was an instant fan favourite, and the crowd reactions for him have never really been higher.
WWE realized that Kingston needed to be the man to challenge for the WWE title next, simply because he had the most momentum out of all the superstars. You could argue Rey Mysterio would have been a good option, but even Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles wouldn't be viable contenders at Fastlane.
This was definitely the right call that WWE made.
#4. He's not Bryan's WrestleMania opponent
This one should seem like a no brainer, but let us explain. Many fans hoped that Kofi Kingston would end up being Daniel Bryan's WWE title challenger at WrestleMania 35. After all, Kofi Kingston is a veteran, and having him win the WWE title after 11 years would be a great feel-good moment.
Also read: WWE's backstage plans for Kofi Kingston
However, the truth is that WWE likely already had plans in place for Bryan at WrestleMania and want to change their plans because of what happened over the last week or so. While we could naturally hope that Kingston beats Bryan and Fastlane and defends it in a rematch at WrestleMania, that simply doesn't seem to be the case.
From what the rumour mill is buzzing about, it seems like Bryan's WrestleMania opponent will end up being a returning superstar. Whether it's Kevin Owens or Bray Wyatt or someone else, we don't know yet.
#3. To get Daniel Bryan more heat
There are a few things that WWE loves more than getting heat on their heels. Heat is important in more ways than one. Daniel Bryan himself has done a great job himself of getting heat, which is incredible considering that he was, at one point, the biggest babyface of this era.
But that just tells you just how high of a level Bryan truly is on. If he managed to turn from the biggest babyface to the biggest heel, then that's the true mark of a great performer. But you didn't need a reminder for that.
Daniel Bryan beating Kofi Kingston will undoubtedly frustrate fans and get them to boo him more. WWE will definitely hope for this to happen so that the babyface who does challenge Bryan at WrestleMania gets cheered even more. It's a very basic formula, but in such cases, it will probably work.
#2. Last-minute change of plans
Prior to last Tuesday, when Mustafa Ali was still supposed to be a part of the match, it's very unlikely that Kofi Kingston was even considered to be anywhere in the WWE Championship picture.
He did take Mustafa Ali's spot and Ali was reportedly going to have a similar performance in the Gauntlet match, and presumably even a similar performance at the Chamber. Whether he would thrive as much is not certain, but he would have definitely taken the ball and run with it.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted prior to SmackDown Live that there was still a lot of shuffling of plans with regards to Fastlane and it was here that Kofi Kingston became the front-runner to challenge Bryan for the WWE Championship.
This definitely turned out to be a last-minute change in plans. Who his original opponent would be, we can't say, but Ali would presumably be an option himself.
#1. Fastlane needs a solid main event
To absolutely no one's surprise, Brock Lesnar will not be defending the Universal Championship at Fastlane. In fact, it's not even certain that Ronda Rousey will defend her RAW Women's Championship at Fastlane, because, from the way WWE is making it look, Rousey has already secured her spot at WrestleMania.
With no RAW Women's title match or even Universal title match, the no-brainer option to main event the show would be the WWE title match. Kingston and Bryan showed in the Chamber that they have great chemistry together.
They can main event Fastlane because they will be the best match on the card, bar none. If they do get the main event, then they'll also likely get a good amount of time to build and have a great match.
It's time to be excited about Fastlane because Kingston vs Bryan is going to be guaranteed fireworks!
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