10 Wrestlers Who Became World Champions At The WRONG Time
3. Kofi Kingston
'KofiMania' was never meant to happen.
An injury to Mustafa Ali meant WWE needed a replacement for the gauntlet bout on the 12 February 2019 SmackDown. Kofi Kingston stepped into the breach and entered a performance so impressive that fans rallied behind thoughts of a late-career main event push. Vince McMahon was listening, but seemed unsure.
Eventually, the WWE boss decided to go with it and crowned Kofi WWE Champ at WrestleMania 35. That's when the unfortunate truth smacked everyone on the chops: McMahon had given them their fun, but he didn't view Kingston as a sustainable champion. Still, Kofi survived through until October when Brock Lesnar squashed him on the FOX debut edition of SmackDown.
Vince's plan? Pivot away from the underdog story he hadn't wanted in the first place towards attractions like Brock vs. former UFC man Cain Velasquez instead. The audience hated that, but this was McMahon's sandbox. There's an argument to be made that Kofi would've fared better had Triple H jumpstarted his run as boss earlier.
There's no way Hunter would book Kingston to look so second rate, surely.