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Vince McMahon kickstarted this week's edition of Monday Night RAW. And he was soon joined by three members of SmackDown Live who came to the red brand to stake their claim.
You had Roman Reigns, Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan all show up on the red brand as part of a new move dubbed the Wild Card Rule. They would be joined by Lars Sullivan during a later segment who came over from the blue brand to annihilate No Way Jose.
Well, to cut a long story short Vince McMahon would book a huge main event match where Kofi Kingston would take on Daniel Bryan for the prestigious WWE Championship. Kofi Kingston came out on top and is still your beloved WWE Champion.
In this article, I shall attempt to answer why WWE did not book a major title change on this week's episode.
#5 This was Kingston's first real title match after WrestleMania
Kofi Kingston proved his doubters wrong and emerged victorious at WrestleMania in what was a contest for the ages against Daniel Bryan. He did defend the title once since then, on television, but it was against Seth Rollins in a match that never really got underway to any degree. I'm guessing that WWE wants to prove that Kingston isn't a transitional Champion and wants him to hold the title for a reasonably long time, going forward.
Kofi Kingston's win isn't only significant because the WWE Universe wanted him to come out on top. He is an inspiration to many who've wanted to follow in his footsteps and carve a legacy of their own in WWE. This is all Kingston ever wished to do and he is living his dreams right now.
KofiMania is underway! Are you guys ready for the ride?
#4 Kingston has unfinished business with Kevin Owens
Lest you forget, there's another big match in Kofi Kingston's future. Kevin Owens had replaced Big E for a brief spell in The New Day, and he seemed like a perfect fit in the fun-loving group, at least, for a period. And then he would turn heel and set up a Championship match against Kofi Kingston for Money In The Bank 2019.
Had Daniel Bryan become the WWE Champion, the current program would have gone for a toss. Also, a heel vs. heel program for the WWE Champion, while possible, would have been quite a strange deal in my personal opinion. A triple threat would have made more sense but it would just have been a force fit scheduled for no real reason.
Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens have a story to tell us fans. We should let them tell it to us!
#3 Uncertainty about Daniel Bryan's health
Daniel Bryan was once told that he would never wrestle again owing to the injuries that he had sustained through the course of his highly successful career. Bryan would visit medical professionals the world over and convince them to allow him to compete once again.
Not only is he back in the roster again, but he is competing at the highest level in WWE with the best in the world. At the same time, we cringe every single time he takes a bump because we know that the worst could potentially come our way when we least expect it to.
Not long ago, we learned that Daniel Bryan was injured after his appearance in WrestleMania 35 and this scared many members of the WWE Universe. Thankfully he is back again, but I wonder if he can pull off a Champion's schedule.
WWE will definitely be careful with Daniel Bryan.
#2 A SmackDown title changing hands on RAW would have been weird
One must not forget that even though the main event of RAW featured Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan, the two men are SmackDown Live superstars. Imagine the kind of message that would have been sent out had a title changed hands on RAW this week. It would have said that anything important and significant only happens on WWE RAW.
This would have been an extremely foolhardy move on WWE's behalf. They are moving to a new network that has paid them a billion dollars for their product already. Moreover, SmackDown Live is netting the poorest viewership it has in its rich and illustrious history at this point.
Therefore, in a sense, I'm really glad that WWE did not book a title change to take place during the show. It wouldn't have been a smart call and it would have led to long-term issues.
#1 The fan backlash would have been quite severe
Maybe it happened accidentally, but many fans have said that Kofi Kingston becoming the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 35 was one of the greatest WWE moments in the company's history. Nobody expected the audience to gravitate towards Kingston as they did back when he replaced Ali at the Elimination Chamber.
If the WWE product has any goodwill right now, it stems from the fact that almost all of the titles are held by the crowd favorites. Kofi Kingston is a gem of a human being (I've interviewed him a whole bunch of times and can attest to this) and everyone wants him to succeed.
WWE cannot attempt to alienate fans especially with Double Or Nothing coming soon on the horizon. Had a title change happened, WWE fans would have turned on the company at once.
And this is why Kingston is still your champion!
