If they have no intention of giving him the title, tonight should be the end of Kofi's chase for the WWE Championship for awhile.
-The CW title match was good.
-Baron vs. Braun, didn't care.
-The SDL Tag match was, ok.
-The Women's EC match was pretty good. A bit sloppy at first, but it got better (and it was certainly better than the last Tag Team EC that WWE tried). And thank goodness the right team won.
-The REALLY did Ruby Riott dirty during this whole thing. At least when she faced Charlotte as Fastlane last year, she got to look pretty good in defeat. Here, they didn't even pretend like she mattered in the buldup and she got squashed, what a waste of potential her MR booking has been so far.
-The Becky thing was cool (and her outfit reminded me of Uma Thurman from Kill Bill just with the colors inverted). But they need to drop the injury crap already, it's so lame.
-The Men's EC match was, really good and I REALLU hope that Kofi vs. DB continues because Kofi is on a roll recently and the crowd is behind him.
All in all, an ok if a bit superfluous show.
I think they will out of necessity. Firstly because I don't think they have any better options lined up for Bryan at WM. I think the only potentially better challenger might be a face Miz, but he seems to be doing something with Shane.
Secondly, I think they are in dire need of creating new main eventers. Roman is out. Dean is leaving. AJ MIGHT be leaving soon if he doesn't resign his contract. Who knows when we'll see Brock again after Wrestlemania. KOfi was arguably the most over person last night... arguably more over than even Becky. And it's not exactly an accident... they PUT him in that position first in the Gauntlet match then in the Chamber.
Yeah the SDL main even scene right now is just AJ, Bryan, and Orton, with Joe hovering just below. And we've seen variations of those guys already and AJ might be leaving or taking a reduced schedule at least.
So they need new talent there, and Kofi is a guy who already actually has a HOF-worthy resume if you look at it. And he's over, and they made him look like a star in both the gauntlet and EC matches. At this point, it'd be a waste NOT to at least try it imo.
I do wonder though if that's what they had planned for Ali. Kofi was obviously a last minute replacement, and I do think they did lay the seeds for an Ali/Bryan feud on Smackdown which nver fully materialized because he was primarily feuding with AJ. Was the idea to ultimately put Ali with Bryan at Wrestlemania? It's sort of hard to imagine given Ali just got there ... but at the same time it didn't seem as though they were really laying the ground work for anyone else to feud with Bryan.
I keep saying that Big E is like the total package talent-wise, he could easily be a ME guy if given the chance I think. And Xavier ain't no slouch either.
I am so glad you say this. I have seen Kofi get meh responses forever. It wasn't because people didn't care. When fans realize that Vince doesn't care, then they lose interest. So on one episode, Vince shows Kofi living his potential. They showed him as relevant and not a cornball, and them shockingly.....he is over.
They did the same with Becky. Boom, and she is over.
The formula is simple. Take a fan favorite which the WWE is littered with and just him or her as relevant, and the fans will do the rest.
DX is the first inductee this year to the HOF and yes Chyna is in
I'm still waiting for Harper to come back do he and Rowan can be the planet bros.