Road Dogg Reveals Original Idea For Start Of WWE's KofiMania

Longtime WWE star Kofi Kingston saw his popularity skyrocket in early 2019, ultimately leading to him defeating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship for the first time in his career.

On Sportskeeda's "The Wrestling Outlaws" podcast, former "SmackDown" writer "Road Dogg" Brian James talked about the KofiMania storyline. When host Dr. Chris mentioned Mr. McMahon repeatedly attempting to keep Kingston down, James said, "That's what made the people get with him so much, was that 'the man' was trying to keep him down."

In the weeks and months leading into WrestleMania that year, Kingston's pursuit of the title always seemed to be thwarted by McMahon. Whether it be putting him in a handicap match against Gallows and Anderson, or putting him in a grueling gauntlet match, Kingston could never seem to get close to the title.

James revealed that if his suggestion had been approved, KofiMania wouldn't have come to fruition.

"Truth be told, I pitched Big E being 'the guy,'"James said. "Just because I love Big E, his character — he's a big guy so he's a believable character." 

Ultimately, WWE didn't go with James' idea, and Kingston would go on to keep the title for six months until Brock Lesnar returned to "SmackDown" and won the WWE Championship in eight seconds.

James also revealed how he thought the angle with Kingston being told he had to win a gauntlet match to get a title shot should've ended.

"You walk down the line of the five competitors that Kofi was going to have to face. Then you go back to Vince McMahon and he says, 'Good luck next week,'" James said. "And they said, 'No we got to do physicality.'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Wrestling Outlaws" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.