Kofi Kingston Is Officially Headed To WrestleMania To Face Daniel Bryan

Xavier Woods and Big E found themselves in a similar circumstance this week as Kof Kingston did [...]

By Ryan Droste

Xavier Woods and Big E found themselves in a similar circumstance this week as Kof Kingston did last week - a gauntlet match with a WrestleMania title shot on the line.

However, Woods and Big E weren't wrestling in their own interests. Instead, they were attempting to win the gauntlet and send their New Day tag team member to WrestleMania to face WWE Champion Daniel Bryan.

The first team in the gauntlet was Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, wrestling only their second television match in the last four months. Not surprisingly, they promptly loss in a matter of mere minutes to the Up-Up, Down-Down.

Team two consisted of Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, and this one went quite a bit longer than the first match. In the end, it was another victory via the Up-Up, Down-Down.

Out came The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) as the third team. This one got the most time yet and was a hard fought contest between both teams, with The New Day even appearing to be beat at several times. In the end, New Day once again prevailed after Woods rolled up Sheamus, but afterward Sheamus and Cesaro snapped and put Big E through a table.

The SmackDown World Tag Team Champions, The Usos, came out next. It looked like the odds were stacked against Woods and Big E, until The Usos got on the microphone and announced that Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Woods had already earned their respect. They said nobody deserves to go to WrestleMania more than Kofi, wished them luck in the gauntlet, and said they forfeit the match.

At this point, Bryan was shown backstage absolutely losing it and throwing chairs and televisions around in the locker room.

It was then announced that Woods and Big E would have to face one more tag team: Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan. Just like last week, it appeared the odds were insurmountable, but that wasn't so this time.

They had a very good couple of minutes in the ring. While Bryan and Rowan were on offense initially, Woods changed the trajectory of the match by flying in with a dropkick. At this point, everything broke down and the match ended when Big E turned over a table on the outside, pinning Erick Rowan underneath. Rowan was then counted out to end the match and officially (finally) send Kofi Kingston to WrestleMania to face Daniel Bryan.

Kayla Braxton caught up with Vince McMahon backstage just as he was leaving the arena. She confirmed with him that indeed, Kofi is headed to WrestleMania. He said the question will now be whether a "B-plus player" such as Kingston can defeat Daniel Bryan.

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