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What a whole lot of twists and turns the WWE championship picture has taken this WrestleMania season. It's crazy to think that this all started with an injury. Mustafa Ali was replaced by Kofi Kingston in the Elimination Chamber match due to his injury, and Kofi took the ball and ran with it.
He had a staggering 67+ minute performance on SmackDown Live in a Gauntlet match and came inches from winning the WWE title at the Chamber. While he was originally supposed to face Bryan at Fastlane, he was replaced by Kevin Owens.
Mr. McMahon agreed to make it a triple threat match at Fastlane during the show, but Kingston was then screwed over, and the WWE title match became a triple threat involving Mustafa Ali, Kevin Owens, and Daniel Bryan.
Bryan would pin Ali to retain the championship, meaning that he's heading to WrestleMania as WWE Champion. Here's why Bryan retained the championship heading into the grandest stage of them all.
#5. Protecting Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens had a really good showing along with Mustafa Ali at Fastlane. Though the crowd was chanting for Kofi Kingston throughout the match, that didn't stop the two from putting on an incredible performance.
This Kofi Kingston-WrestleMania storyline seems to have been a change in the last minute, and WWE probably didn't want Kevin Owens to take a clean pin. Ali was a safe option and they could ensure that Owens didn't have to get pinned for Bryan to retain.
Also, this stakes a claim for Kevin Owens to still be in the WWE Championship picture. There's no question that he belongs there, and despite him not being the focal point of the storyline, it won't be surprising to see him still involved.
Either way, it's a good thing that Owens didn't get pinned and hasn't been since his return.
#4. A potential Triple Threat match
Vince McMahon was seemingly convinced by Big E & Xavier Woods that Kofi Kingston should be added back to the WWE Championship match. He made a triple threat between Bryan, Owens and Kofi only to screw Kingston out in the end, forcing him to compete in a handicap match against former champions The Bar.
Kofi was squashed, and while he's clearly entering the WWE title picture again, Kevin Owens may still be in the picture too. As we mentioned, he wasn't pinned at all. Also, the rumour was that the original WWE title match was going to be Daniel Bryan vs "a returning superstar" (Kevin Owens). WWE clearly switched things up in the last minute.
Also, this is WrestleMania and WWE always tries hard to make sure that every competitor is on the card in some fashion or the other. This results in things like battle royals and many multi-person matches.
#3. Potentially the best run in his WWE career
Daniel Bryan is a multi-time WWE Champion, but his current run is longer than all his previous ones put together. That's right. Not only has he been injury free, but it's safe to say that with his current run as the "New" Daniel Bryan, he's secured his spot again as one of the best wrestlers in the world.
It's hard to imagine that fans would boo Bryan the way they do now, but it just goes to show how good his skills actually are. The cream always rises to the top. Moreover, this might be viewed as one of those reigns that "should have lasted a few months more", such as Batista's heel run in 2010 and The Rock's "Hollywood" persona in 2003.
With that being said, we still do believe that Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania would be the right call.
#2. Daniel Bryan is set for an extensive run with the WWE Championship
As I mentioned previously, there are certain heel runs which are absolute gold. Batista was a top babyface for quite a few years in WWE, but when the time was right, they pulled the trigger on a heel turn and he found his true comfort over there, going so far as to admitting that he was a "terrible" babyface.
The same can't be said about Bryan because he's easily the biggest babyface of this era. That's what makes his current heel run all the more special. While Kofi Kingston winning the WWE championship is a no-brainer at WrestleMania, the truth is that WWE may be giving Bryan an extensive run with the WWE Championship - one that lasts nearly, if not a full year.
You can't really argue that he isn't capable or deserving of it. He might even have a better run than AJ Styles' last one.
#1. The Kofi Kingston WrestleMania match
This one is a no-brainer. We've been talking about Kofi Kingston this whole time. The crowd was chanting for Kofi Kingston the whole time, and the WWE Universe online has been buzzing about Kofi Kingston the whole time.
It's his time, and WWE realizes that they have a very special storyline in hand. While it's fair to criticise many of their booking decisions, WWE really made sure to hold back on Kofi Kingston, and from the look of things, he's really being booked as an underdog.
After all, it's Mr. McMahon who's directly screwing him over in storyline. When a superstar feuds against Vince McMahon himself, it means that the chairman of WWE has big fans for them. Kingston will continue to get screwed over, but over the next 28 days, we're going to find out just how he manages to work his way into a WWE title shot.
It's an iconic moment just waiting to happen.
