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A former WWE writer has recently disclosed details about the company's decision to have Brock Lesnar end Kofi Kingston's title reign in 2019. Kofi Kingston's victory over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 remains one of the most unforgettable and heartwarming moments for WWE fans.
Although it wasn't the main event, Kingston's win solidified his place in WWE history after a decade of hard work, marking the event as "KofiMania" forever. Kingston held the WWE Championship for 180 days, approximately six months, successfully defending his title against renowned opponents like Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler.
However, on October 4, 2019, WWE Smackdown premiered on Fox with Kingston defending his title against Brock Lesnar. Within nine seconds, Lesnar defeated Kingston with an F5, becoming the WWE Champion again. This decision disappointed many fans who had hoped for a more competitive match instead of Kingston being swiftly defeated.
Schilling Unveils Kingston Loss Plan
Dave Schilling, a WWE writer in 2019, recently spoke with Fightful's Jeremy Lambert and Joel Pearl about the company's decision. He revealed that WWE had planned Kingston's title loss to Lesnar several months in advance.
Schilling was part of the home team on SmackDown and was heavily involved in the development of KofiMania. Schilling stated, "That was a storyline that traded on many attitudes about race and ideas about who should or shouldn't be the champion.
I never felt like that storyline was disrespectful." He went on to express pride in his small part in the successful storyline and shared that the writers were always aware of the importance of their work. Regarding Kingston's title loss, Schilling said, "We can debate how it turned out in the end when he lost to Brock Lesnar, which I learned about in April.
We were talking about, 'the plan is first SmackDown on Fox, Brock is going to come in and win the title, and it's going to be a quick match.' " The plan was executed as discussed, even after Schilling departed from the company.
Schilling emphasized that his fellow writers were always incredibly conscious of the storyline's significance and impact on WWE history.