Kofi Kingston Beats Samoa Joe, Retains WWE Championship at Extreme Rules

Kofi Kingston defeated Samoa Joe to retain the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules on Sunday night.

Joe largely had the upper hand throughout the bout.

Kingston only needs a split-second to connect with Trouble in Paradise, though, and that's exactly what happened at Extreme Rules. He sidestepped Joe, and as soon as Joe rebounded back off the ropes, Kingston hit his finisher for the win. 

Joe marked Kingston's third different pay-per-view opponent since he beat Daniel Bryan for the WWE title at WrestleMania 35 on April 7, and The Samoan Submission Machine was perhaps a bigger threat to his reign than anyone previously.

After winning consecutive matches against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on Raw a few weeks ago, Kingston was attacked from behind by Joe, who put him to sleep with the Coquina Clutch.

Joe took advantage of a weakened Kingston, who was pushed to the limit in a steel cage match against Dolph Ziggler one night earlier at Stomping Grounds. At that same pay-per-view, Joe dropped the United States Championship to Ricochet.

While that initially seemed to be a major loss for Joe, it elevated him by paving his way for a return to the WWE Championship scene.

If Joe's initial attack on the champion wasn't enough to prove he was a legitimate threat, he put Kingston on notice during a six-man tag team match on Raw pitting him and The Viking Raiders against The New Day.

Joe put Kingston to sleep again with the Coquina Clutch to lead his team to victory, and he suggested it was a sign of things to come at Extreme Rules.

On the ensuing episode of SmackDown, the rivals engaged in one of the best promo battles in recent memory, with Joe imploring Kingston to shake his hand to ensure the safety of himself and those he holds near and dear.

Instead, Kingston flipped Joe off and laid him out with Trouble in Paradise, which cemented the fact that it was game on entering Extreme Rules.

Joe had fallen short in several previous attempts to win the WWE Championship, but he seemed more likely to get the job done than ever before at Extreme Rules because of the somewhat tenuous nature of Kingston's reign.

Even so, the champion managed to retain, but a rematch is possible since their rivalry is still fresh and SummerSlam is on the horizon on August 11.

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