WWE News: Kofi Kingston Shares Thoughts After Losing Title In Squash Match
Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship reign came to an end on Friday Night SmackDown in a match with Brock Lesnar, as The Inquisitr reported. While most WWE fans weren’t surprised to see “The Beast” walk away with his fifth championship, the nature of Kingston’s loss was divisive. The match was over in seven seconds after Lesnar hit his F-5 finishing maneuver right after the bell rang.
After the match, Cain Velasquez made his WWE debut by giving Lesnar a post-match beatdown, with the former UFC Heavyweight Champion’s appearance overshadowing the title bout. However, as documented by 411Mania, Kingston did share his thoughts on the loss, revealing that he was disappointed in his performance.
“It’s a lot of emotions, to be honest. You know that your championship reign is not gonna last forever. But to have it go out like that, obviously, I knew what kind of man I was up against. Maybe I was a little bit too anxious. I’ll go back and watch the tape and see exactly where it went wrong. There’s not much tape to watch. It is what it is.”
Kingston then went on to discuss that Lesnar had been a difficult obstacle to overcome. Nevertheless, he’s proud of his reign having defeated great wrestlers he beat during that time. The list of names includes Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles — indicating he has every reason to be proud of his accomplishment.
At the same time, many fans aren’t happy with the facts that Lesnar is champion and how he won the title. As a part-timer, his appearances are limited so the company’s champion won’t be on television as much as fans want him to be.
WHAT?!?!?! In SECONDS!
We've got a new champion! #SmackDown @BrockLesnar pic.twitter.com/o3nAcqQ3xL
— WWE (@WWE) October 5, 2019
On top of that, Kingston is a huge fan favorite who has defended the title with pride on a regular basis. His matches are always competitive and entertaining, and his “fighting champion” spirit is almost the antithesis to Lesnar’s approach to title reigns.
With Friday Night SmackDown set to adopt a sports-centric approach per the demands of Fox, having an ex-UFC fighter with massive crossover appeal as the main champion makes sense from a business standpoint. But it would be easier for fans to swallow if Kingston lost the title after a hard-fought match against “The Beast.”
As the first African-born WWE Champion, Kingston made history after winning the title at WrestleMania 35. He was also given his push as the result of organic fan support he h even though he had to climb over numerous hurdles to receive his opportunity.
