Kofi Kingston Fails to Win Opportunity to Fight Daniel Bryan at WWE WrestleMania

Kofi Kingston won a gauntlet match during Tuesday night's episode of SmackDown Live to earn a match against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.

Or so he thought. 

Despite the odds being stacked against him, Kingston beat Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Sheamus, Cesaro and Rowan to become No. 1 contender for the title.

Then Vince McMahon pulled the rug out from under Kingston yet again. The WWE chairman forced Kingston into yet another match, this one against Bryan, for the right to face him at WrestleMania. That's where Kofi's Cinderella run ended, as Bryan put him away to the overwhelming chorus of boos from the crowd. 

On last week's SmackDown, Kingston and New Day cohorts Big E and Xavier Woods made an impassioned plea to McMahon regarding a WWE Championship match against Bryan at WrestleMania. McMahon told Kofi he didn't "deserve" the match but gave him the opportunity to earn it in a match that saw the odds get stacked heavily against him.

For as much as the WWE Universe has been behind Kingston in recent weeks, McMahon has been equally opposed to him rising up the ranks.

Kofi's improbable emergence as a world title threat began on the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to Elimination Chamber. When an injury rendered Mustafa Ali unable to compete in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship, Kingston was named his replacement.

In a gauntlet match to determine who would be the final entrant in that match, Kofi lasted over an hour, and he even eliminated Bryan in the bout.

At Elimination Chamber, Kingston and Bryan were the final two participants remaining. Kofi pushed the champ to the brink and came agonizingly close to winning the title on multiple occasions before Bryan finally pinned him.

Shane McMahon named Kingston as Bryan's opponent for Fastlane, but Vince threw a curveball by replacing Kofi with Kevin Owens. Then, at the Fastlane pay-per-view, Vince pulled the rug out from under Kingston once again.

After telling Kingston that he would make the WWE Championship match a Triple Threat, Vince booked Kofi in a handicap match against The Bar. Vince then added Mustafa Ali to the WWE title match rather than Kingston.

That only served to get the WWE Universe even further behind Kofi and his cause, which is reminiscent of what happened with Bryan leading up to WrestleMania 30.

Odds are we haven't heard the last of this story. 

         
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