In April 2019 at WrestleMania 35, Kofi Kingston defeated Bryan Danielson to become the new WWE Champion. The victory marked a historic milestone, making Kingston the second Black WWE Champion in company history. His reign continued until October of that year when he defended the title against Brock Lesnar on the premiere episode of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. In a moment that shocked fans, Kingston dropped the belt to Lesnar in just seven seconds, a creative decision that has been debated for years.
DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?!@BrockLesnar just took @TrueKofi's championship in 10 seconds!!! pic.twitter.com/goeiQ5CDHg
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) October 5, 2019
Speaking on Cheap Heat, Kingston looked back at the controversial title change and described the events leading up to it as a “very weird day.” He revealed that when he was first informed of the plan for the match, there were actually multiple options on the table for how the segment would unfold. While the final decision resulted in one of the quickest matches in WWE history, Kingston noted that the outcome was not his personal preference.
“No, that’s not what I wanted,” Kingston said regarding the quick defeat. “Hey, we don’t get paid by the hour. Can I get in and get out of there? I wanna go see some friends over here after the show. It wasn’t my choice. Taking it all the way back to what we said in the beginning, people will never understand what we have to go through to give you what you saw on TV. So to me, and I’ve never told this story, but it was a very weird day. When I was told this is kind of what was gonna happen, there was a lot of….many different ways or alternatives to it. But again, at the end of the day, we present what we’re supposed to present and what we’re asked to do. That’s our job. This is what we want. This is the direction we’re going. How can we deliver? And we take a lot of pride in being able to deliver what we are given. We’re given a task to complete. It’s our job as performers to complete that task.”
Following the loss, there was a significant outpouring of support from the public, with many expressing frustration over how Kingston’s reign ended. When asked if that support provided any comfort, Kingston explained that he viewed the reaction as a sign that he had succeeded in his role as champion. He questioned whether he would have done his job correctly if the audience had remained indifferent to the result.
“I’m glad that people cared,” Kingston said. “If people didn’t care, there would have been a problem, right? Then maybe I didn’t do my job the right way. I would have maybe questioned some things, but yeah, it felt good that people cared about the way that things were executed.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Cheap Heat with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
