10 Wrestling Matches With The Most Unexpected Consequences
6. The Gauntlet Match - WWE SmackDown 12/02/2019
When Mustafa Ali went down with an injury in early 2019, the wrestling community's hearts collectively broke.
He'd just debuted properly on SmackDown, earning a huge win over WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. He was set to be involved in the upcoming Elimination Chamber match for Bryan's belt, until he got hurt.
Kofi Kingston was announced as Ali's replacement to a fairly tepid response.
"Whoopie, it's that guy who's been here forever and has never won the big one. He'll make a decent filler, we suppose."
But we supposed wrong.
During a gauntlet match on an episode of SmackDown ahead of the pay-per-view, Kingston put on a star-making performance. He entered first alongside Bryan, pinning the champion to advance. Then he beat Jeff Hardy, and then Samoa Joe, before finally succumbing to AJ Styles.
Kingston put in the better part of an hour's work in this match and the fans noticed. Off the back of this showing, fan support for Kofi grew and grew. KofiMania was born.
This led to Kingston winning his first ever WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, a moment nobody could have predicted just two months earlier.
Shame about his actual title reign, but that's for another time.