Veteran wanted Kofi Kingston's WWE title spot to go to someone else (Exclusive)
Brian James, also known as Road Dogg, initially had reservations about Kofi Kingston’s inclusion in the WWE Championship picture in 2019.
Kingston replaced the injured Mustafa Ali in a gauntlet match on the February 12, 2019, episode of SmackDown. Randy Orton won the 43-minute contest, but the New Day member proved to be the star of the match. Two months later, he defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship.
James was SmackDown’s lead writer in the build-up to WrestleMania 35. On Sportskeeda’s “The Wrestling Outlaws” show, he gave then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon credit for appearing on-screen as a villainous authority figure in segments with Kingston:
“I would argue that that’s what made the people get with him so much, was that ‘the man’ was trying to keep him down,” James said. “He [Vince McMahon] set up that. Holy mackerel, what a heel. ‘Yes, sir, you can go and have the championship match… if you beat these five guys.’ One of the arguments we got into was literally about the match leading up to that gauntlet match. I just had a different vision.” [2:30-2:59]
James wanted Kofi Kingston’s New Day stablemate Big E to participate in the gauntlet match, but his idea was rejected:
“Truth be told, I pitched Big E [to] be the guy,” James continued. “I love Big E’s character. He’s a big guy, so he’s a believable character. He also cuts those almost southern Baptist promos. I thought if he could find a happy medium between preaching a sermon and cutting a promo, I thought that would be really cool. Maybe it would be [modern-day Dusty Rhodes] of our era.” [3:01-3:32]
Watch the video above to hear the possible reasons why Brock Lesnar destroyed Kofi Kingston in eight seconds to win the WWE Championship in 2019.
Brian James disagreed with Vince McMahon about Kofi Kingston’s booking
Big E and Xavier Woods won a gauntlet match on the March 26, 2019, episode of SmackDown to book Kofi Kingston’s WrestleMania spot. The previous week, Kingston failed to become the number one contender for Daniel Bryan’s title after losing another gauntlet match.
Before the former WWE Champion’s second gauntlet match defeat, Brian James had a difference of opinion with Vince McMahon about how they should set up the match:
“My original idea for that was you walk down the line of the five competitors that Kofi was gonna have to face and you get to the last one and you go back to Vince in the middle, and he says, ‘Good luck next week,’ and you go off the air,” James stated. “But they were like, ‘No, we gotta do physicality.’ I was like, ‘No, don’t do physicality,’ and he [Vince McMahon] said, ‘We’ve got a live event out there.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s Michael Hayes’ problem, not mine!’” [3:34-3:59]
Should Kofi Kingston get another run with the WWE/Universal Title in the future?
I'd be well down for it. I enjoyed his first title run (bar the ending) I think he's more.than proven how capable he is. https://t.co/uOc8Hht1xR
While Michael Hayes oversaw the production of Kofi Kingston’s segment, James was responsible for writing storyline developments at the time.
The D-Generation X member recalled how his discussion with McMahon became heated at one stage. He also felt that the conclusion of the storyline left a lot to be desired:
“We ended up getting all heated over that as things started kind of unravelling for me at that point in my head,” James added. “But it was still great, still great stuff. I wish he hadn’t have lost the title so soon afterwards.” [4:02-4:15]
Kingston held the WWE Championship for 180 days before losing to Brock Lesnar on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX. James, meanwhile, quit his job as SmackDown’s lead writer after WrestleMania 35. He is now WWE’s Senior Vice President of Live Events.
Did you enjoy Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship storyline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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