Does anyone else want Daniel Bryan to retain at Wrestlemania?
 

I think Kofi is great, but I'm really enjoying Daniel Bryan's current run. Rowan, the belt, all of it. I think there are a lot of legs left. Am I a racist?

Kofi is not world champion material, imo.

Would his belt be made out of pancake batter and cereal? Would X and E also be the champion?

Daniel really should retain. They could do a lot with him and his current gimmick. He needs to hold onto the belt for awhile and have 2 or 3 more high profile feuds. And this is coming from someone who has never liked Daniel Bryan.

Kofi should one day get a thank you run with the title. He's earned it. Let him be a transitional champ one of these days. Or if he wins it now just make sure Daniel Bryan is champ at the end of the feud.

I think Kofi going over is probably the right call here. Bryan is great and all, but I kind of want to know what he does once he's lost his belt.

Yeah. He should.

This whole heel Captain Planet thing he got going on with the custom belt and Rowan as muscle has really been working out.

If Kofi sticks around a little while longer, yeah toss the belt his way for a run. But not now.

I like both guys so I don’t really mind either way, especially since I imagine the story between these two isn’t finished no matter who wins.

My gut feeling is that they’re gonna do a dusty finish. Kofi gets his big WM moment and everyone gets to experience it, but it ends up being taken away.

Kofi is one of those guys like Zac Ryder. They are both solid workers, have a decent look, and they have been workhorses forever for the WWE. But they are just missing something intangible and are not appreciated as much as they should be because of it.

Kofi is WAY better than Zack Ryder.

He does miss that "bass" that a real main eventer needs to have. I guess the more I think about it the more I want the belt to stay on Bryan in order to help the belt, but I feel like that is a fool's goal in 2019.

Kofi winning could be a big moment for a lot of fans of African descent. I'm not saying that facetiously. I was doing some business in Africa once and the way they mark out for black athletes was pretty amazing, and they actually had WWE playing in bars at times. There's probably good to come out of actually pushing a guy born in Africa. But that's basically the Jinder Mahal move with a guy that doesn't absolutely suck.

I think denying Kofi would add some nice fire to Bryan as a heel. Kinda crazy to think about what he was doing last Wrestlemania and what he's doing now.

My perfect scenario for this feud playing out would be: Bryan retains at WM due to a dirty finish. Kofi lobbies for and goes through shenanigans to earn a rematch at the next PPV. Kofi goes over despite Bryan/Rowan trying to screw him again. Bryan invokes rematch clause and they have a 3rd match in which they pull out all the stops, maybe a 2/3 falls match or even an iron-man. Bryan goes over to get his belt back. Kofi tries to invoke his rematch clause and WWE suddenly remembers they decided that there were no automatic rematches anymore and tell Kofi to go to the back of the line. Kofi stays as one of the top faces of the brand and either solo or with the new day runs an anti-authority (I know, its tired, but its a good angle when done right) angle.

I had this idea that Bryan would kick Kofi in the nuts, right in front of the referee. He doesn't care, because if he gets DQ'd he keeps the belt, but the ref doesn't call for it because Mania and all. Kofi kicks out of the knee and also out of one where he's caught in mid-air (like Mustafa Ali at Fastlane). Kofi kicks out of everything and then wins the belt.

Vince presents Kofi the belt on SmackDown and says that he proved him wrong and very few people have ever done that. He presents Kofi a new WWE Title belt and Bryan interrupts and says that Kofi shouldn't be champion because your biased officials didn't call the DQ at Mania. Vince tells Bryan to hold on a damn minute, because Bryan cheated his ass off and Kofi still beat him. The decision stands.

Bryan keeps carrying around his hemp belt, calling himself the "Real Planet's Champion" and Kofi is the officially recognized WWE Champion. They two more PPV matches, with Kofi winning to put him over strong. But a lot of the build is kind of a modern take on Flair/Steamboat, with the subverted Dusty finish and a trilogy of matches.

I was just making the comparison in terms of pointing out that they are both underappreciated in a similar sort of way. IMO Zac is underappreciated more than Kofi by a mile, that dude went YEARS wrestling more matches for WWE than anyone else with nothing to show for it. Hardly even on TV. And yet he still sticks it out. He really is a valuable asset.

But Kofi is easily the way better prospect all the way around.

Oh, I get you weren't comparing them in terms of talent, but you'd think if Ryder worked that much, he'd get good. The guy has been there for like 12 years at this point and is still really bad.

When was he WWE's iron man? I know it's Jimmy Uso now and was Dean Ambrose before that, but I thought it was Sheamus and Kane before that. When was Ryder that guy?

I'd like to see Luke Harper return as MORE muscle for Bryan. Six man tags between Bryan/Harper/Rowan and The New Day down the line could be really good.

They could be, I'm just not sold on Bryan just hijacking the Wyatt Family. I kind of feel like things need to evolve there. I'm sure Bryan and Harper are actually friends, and they're two of the more brilliant guys on the roster, but something about it just doesn't click in my mind.

Just read Noid's thoughts on Harper in Replies, and I see those points. I just want him back on TV. One of my favorites.

I'm about to go watch his ladder match with Ziggler for the IC title.

Anyway, I still want Bryan to retain at Mania.

I'll be cheering for Daniel much better than New Day.

Not surprising.

Don't really like Kofi tbh........ Boring... the worst member of New Day imo

Feel like Big E "deserves a title shot" more... Much more entertaining wrestler and more believable as a WWE champ... but now feels like they will never "pull the trigger" on him cause it's "already been done" with Kofi

I think Big E is going to turn heel on Kofi and lose everything about him that makes him interesting.

Going to say no because you can get way more mileage out of Bryan's current gimmick if Kofi wins and also finish the story of him becoming the opposite of everything he stood for his Mania 30 run.

New Day pretty much are the opposite of Bryan's gimmick which has barely been touched upon because too much of the focus for Mania went towards Vince's antics and the implied story of WWE doesn't want minorities holding their top belt.

The only problem I’m having with Bryan’s gimmick is that he’s right. It’s hard for a babyface to say anything to him other than “You’re a jerk about it.”

The way the story is being written I think Kofi needs the win at Mania, but he could lose the title @ Backlash or whatever comes next....


Hmm if WWE is going to Saudi Arabia again after Mania he should probably hold it through that since Bryan won't go.


I agree with Triple A, Big E is much more deserving.

I can really see Big E turning on Kofi the SmackDown after WrestleMania, during some sort of celebration or something. I can see Bryan moving to Raw and maybe Xavier Woods going too to get him out of the way.

As much as I'm not a fan of Bryan I think he should retain. I fear that the only reason they gave Bryan the personal championship was so they can unveil a new blue WWE Championship.

just want kofi to come out to SOS

This would not shock me. I do think that we're going to get a new WWE Title belt out of this at some point. Wasn't there a rumor that WWE were doing up new belts?

If they unify the Women's Championships, which the sheets are disputing is the plan, then that's an excuse for a new one on that front.

I would rather Brock Lesnar retain personally. I just don't feel like babyface Rollins as champion has any real staying power. If WWE truly wants McIntyre to be their monster champ, he should dethrone Lesnar.

I will be good either way.

I'm not feeling it with Rollins, but I feel like if they don't crown him then the fans are going to get pissy at whoever does beat Brock. I'm not really digging the idea of McIntyre as champion either, to be honest.

Me too. Can't get behind Rollins, this feud has been so lacklustre. You can't dethrone BRRROCK LESNARRR with a shitty build up. Now that Roman is back I'm sure they'll play up the "I overcame cancer now I'm going to overcome the beast" and have Reigns win at some second tier PPV or Summerslam.

I do hope DBry wins, he has an actual gimmick and his own personalized belt. As much as I'm not a mark for him, he is currently way more championship worthy than Kofi. Not sure why they chose to go with Kofi tbh. He's not even B+ he's B

Makes a lot of sense, maybe have Kofi face Rowen pull off the win and have him drop to Captain Planet the next PPV.
OR what about havin Rowen win and pull off the good Ol Finger Poke of Doom

I hope Kofi wins.

Not only do I hope Kofi wins, I hope they sustain it and not just have him be "transitional" or instantly lose it back the first show after Mania.

I hope he doesn't have the title, only to lose EVERY non-title match like every other champion in recent history and make him look like a total asshole in the process.

Like others have said aleady, I hope Kofi and Bryan have a feud. Make this a story that lasts for a couple of PPVs. They don't have to touch every week to make folks sick of it.

They don't have to appear on every show.

Hell, they don't even have to both be at every show from week to week. Especially DB. He can milk that heel shit by saying I don't feel like coming to _____ with titantron pretapes. Kofi doesn't have to do the "fighting champion" gimmick that involves him wrestling on every goddamn Smackdown.

Have. Him. Win. Then. Let. It. Breathe.

Use the time on the show where you would have New Day vs Planeteers gimmick tag match happening to... I don't know... put some other talent over to get them up the card mabye. Nobody will instantly forget Kofi is the champ if he isn't on TV everyday. Nobody will forget who Daniel Bryan is if he isn't on TV everyday.

Let Kofi win. Let him be legit. He can lose it back to Bryan later. In that time, when he's healed, push "plan A" (hey, that works as a nickname) and have Mustafa Ali solidify himself, or get disheartned and turn heel (or turn heel with that "plan A" making Ali, on camera, Vince's hand-picked contender). Whatever. It doesn't have to happen in 3-4 weeks like Jinder's half baked main event push.

Basically, don't kill in two Smackdowns what you can milk for at least three months with overbooking and overexposure.

And for God's sake, if he loses, don't job him clean. If they do that, it will be the biggest wasted push since Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar.

That "milking" you speak of is what I think Bryan's run can use.

What I’m worried about is that, sure, you can push Kofi, but when he loses the belt he’s still going to be Kofi Kingston. And now you’ll have former WWE Champion Kofi Kingston jumping around like a jack-ass on your roster, winning some and losing some.

I almost want him to take a lot of time off after he loses the belt, just so people don’t have to see him right away again, and they might actually miss him.

Was anyone hoping Kofi would be a champion before this angle? Maybe for a hot second during that Orton feud.