RAW and Smackdown Live are heading into Fastlane and WrestleMania buildup following an odd week that saw four NXT megastars get force fed to both audiences with no real storyline.
But as the NXT debuts were a little clunky, Kofi Kingston seized the moment and has moved into legitimate World Champion consideration.
Kofi’s performance at Elimination Chamber actually took a logical conclusion of Daniel Bryan defending and made it seem as if there may be a new champion at the end of the night. Kingston has stolen the show three times in a row and has gone from someone who could always be reliable to someone eyeing the top prize. And it is unlikely WWE saw it coming.
The rise of Kingston is not unlike Becky Lynch, except that it happened right in the middle of Lynch’s move into the top spot. Kofi in just two weeks has had an organic rise that is catching fire and has seemingly forced the WWE’s hand for Fastlane.
The question is will the front office move him into the WrestleMania face role against Bryan. A WrestleMania finishing with Kingston dethroning Bryan and Lynch toppling Rousey would be as memorable as the Guerrero, Benoit finish at WM 20, giving the fans what they want while riding the hot box office attractions. It would also allow The New Day to show how well a champ can be while still being involved with a stable.
While Kofi was solid, the rest of the week was completely shaky as four super-talented NXT stars were forced into the fold on both shows without any real buildup or any real explanation.
Aleister Black, Ricochet, Ciampa and Gargano are all certainly ready for the big time and all are extremely captivating, but is it really time to take the top guy from NXT for the last year and make him part of a tag team with his greatest rival?
Does Ricochet need to be bouncing around on RAW and Smackdown without any real storyline on why he is there? And is there nothing that can be better done than having Tommy End show up and continue to muddle exactly how the crowd is supposed to react to Elias?
All in all, it distracted from both shows. It distracted from the fact that Ruby Riott was able to have a much better second match with The Baddest Woman on the Planet. It distracted from new RAW Tag Team Champions — who randomly got beaten by a team from NXT — and it distracted from Finn Balor as the new Intercontinental Champion.
Mostly, it distracted from Bayley and Sasha Banks ushering in an entirely new era for the women’s division.
And all of the random shuffling distracts heavily from the build-up of Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar, which could carry the show all the way to the Granddaddy of them All if done correctly.
