50 Absolute Worst Things WWE Has Done In The 21st Century

'KofiMania' was one of the few highs from WWE's 2019, and it was never supposed to happen. Kofi Kingston had been a late substitute for the injured Mustafa Ali during a gauntlet bout earlier in the year, and his performance was so strong that even Vince McMahon couldn't deny Kofi a main event run. Remarkably, Kingston went on to beat Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 35, and everyone was chuffed to bits for the guy.

A so-so title reign ensued, but nobody was too bothered. After all, WWE had listened. They'd let an organic push take shape like it was Bryan in 2013-2014 all over again. Then, McMahon reminded his consumer base who was really in charge by having Brock Lesnar wreck Kofi in seconds to become the brand new champ.

That squash occurred during SmackDown's debut episode on FOX in October. At once, Kofi was made to look like some out of his depth scrub against the might of Lesnar, then WWE debuted ex-UFC mauler Cain Valesquez as a would-be foe for Brock. This was a rapid fire one-two punch of 'we didn't want that...or that' for fans.

Again, McMahon was conditioning his audience to go along with his pushes, not ones they wanted to see. It was counterproductive. Kingston dropping the title wasn't the issue, but jobbing him out like SD Jones against King Kong Bundy when he'd soared to the highest of highs earlier in 2019 was plain cruel.

Some shock thumpings are worthwhile. This wasn't one of them. Kofi deserved better.