Shawn Daivari says Daniel Bryan was supposed to face Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 35
Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan had an incredible feud with Kofi Kingston last year which led to a WrestleMania match. But Bryan was originally not supposed to face Kingston, as per former WWE producer Shawn Daivari.
Bryan and Kingston's rivalry culminated at WrestleMania 35, where the latter won the WWE Championship for the very first time.
Daivari, on his recent appearance on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast, spoke about his time as a producer in WWE, including the build-up to the WrestleMania 35 match between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. Kingston and Bryan were the final two in the Elimination Chamber match at last year's PPV of the same name, where the former lost.
Daivari said that the original plan was for Daniel Bryan to feud with Kevin Owens and face off against each other at WrestleMania 35.
"The next SmackDown, Kevin Owens would’ve come back and Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan would’ve wrestled at WrestleMania. It might’ve been good, it might’ve been bad, it might’ve been indifferent. Probably would’ve been great. The audience, that electricity made Kofi Mania happen and as we know, that turned out f*cking amazing." (H/T Post Wrestling)
Kofi Kingston won the title at WrestleMania 35 after landing the Trouble in Paradise after a gruelling 23 minutes in the ring with Daniel Bryan.
How Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston's feud came about
Daniel Bryan turned heel in late 2018 after winning the WWE Championship on SmackDown. He had a long feud with AJ Styles, following which he briefly feuded with Mustafa Ali who unfortunately suffered an injury. Kofi Kingston replaced Ali in the Elimination Chamber match, which also featured AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton. Although Kingston was unsuccessful, the WWE Universe backed him loudly which resulted in him facing Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35.
Shawn Daivari spoke about the electric atmosphere at Elimination Chamber in the match for the WWE Championship and he said that he watched the match from behind the curtain backstage to feel the energy in the arena.