12 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 6)

4. Kofi Responds

Kofi Kingston meets his sternest WWE Championship challenger yet at SummerSlam and his opponent, Randy Orton, came through with a great pre-taped promo last week.

The champ had to respond on yesterday's show and did so with a diatribe on-par with 'The Viper's'. Kofi rebutted Orton's claims that he got to the top of the mountain because of the former 'Legend Killer,' claiming that he scaled these heights in spite of him, adding that it's terribly difficult to reach the top in WWE. In 2009, he felt he was getting there. He thought he'd broken the glass ceiling, but it didn't work out. As hard as he worked, Kingston said there were always rumours that Orton was trying to hold him down backstage. He kept grinding, though, kept working, and while Randy uses his influence to hold people down, he wants to use his own to lift them up.

WWE and Kingston himself did a wonderful job of painting the WWE Champion as his challenger's polar opposite here. We already knew they were nothing alike, of course, but they've framed the match well, and leaping this hurdle should prove a defining moment in the popular champ's reign (if it continues).

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.