Brock Lesnar Defeats Kofi Kingston In Seconds To Win WWE Championship On SmackDown

Kofi Kingston’s six month WWE Championship reign came to a convincing end during SmackDown on FOX on Friday night as he was defeated by Brock Lesnar in just seconds.

Kingston charged at Lesnar, who picked up Kingston, F-5ed him, and covered for the pinfall and championship victory.

The fans in attendance at Los Angeles’ Staples Center were shocked at the quick result. However, Lesnar’s championship celebration was cut short as Rey Mysterio and former UFC star Cain Velasquez marched out to confront Lesnar.

Velasquez took Lesnar down and got in some shots before Lesnar bailed and the last couple of minutes of the show featured a tense face-off between the two of them, with Lesnar on the ramp and Velasquez in the ring.

Fans and analysts alike were immediately critical of the decision to take the title off of Kingston so quickly after a lengthy reign for a feud that doesn’t really need WWE gold to be effective.

Kingston first captured the WWE title at WrestleMania 35, capping off a months-long feud with both Daniel Bryan and Vince McMahon by winning a world championship for the first time in his 11-year career with the compnay. Kingston then went on to have successful defenses against Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton before finally being approached by Lesnar. On the Sept. 17 episode of SmackDown, Kingston and the rest of New Day soundly defeated Orton and The Revival in a six-man tag match to end their feud with the trio. Lesnar and Paul Heyman then made their way out to the ring and promptly challenged Kingston to a title match during SmackDown’s FOX premiere. Kingston agreed, then was suddenly hit by an F-5.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Kingston sounded confident that he’d retain in interviews, promos and on social media.

“One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I enjoy proving people wrong,” Kingston tweeted a week prior to the match. “Not as an ‘I told you so’ but rather as a reminder that nothing is impossible. Next Friday, I get the chance to prove a lot of people wrong. And those who do believe in me, I get to prove them right!

“When I do, hopefully believers and nonbelievers alike will see it feasible that they too can overcome the “impossibilities” they face in their own lives. 8 days…Friday night Smackdown is coming… #BeatBrock #Smackdown #Fox,” he added.

Meanwhile Lesnar prepared for the match by viciously attacking both Rey Mysterio and his young son Dominick at the start of Monday Night Raw this week. His assault wound up canceling the Universal Championship match between Mysterio and Seth Rollins.

Lesnar’s last reign as world champion came to an end back at SummerSlam when Rollins managed to beat him for the second time in 2019.