WWE SummerSlam 2019 Results:
Randy Orton vs Kofi Kingston
Randy Orton Is Bound To End Kofi Kingston's Cinderella Reign
Randy Orton isn’t the new WWE Champion, but after his SummerSlam match against Kofi Kingston ended with a double countout and no clear victor, Kingston’s new storybook title reign is likely coming to an end.
“The Viper” appeared to be in route to defeating Kingston at SummerSlam to capture his 14th world championship and putting the nail in the coffin of Kingston’s four-month title reign that no one saw coming. But WWE has obviously decided to extend this feud for the foreseeable future.
The 11-year veteran and heart and soul of The New Day, Kingston has been booked surprisingly well as WWE Champion, especially when you consider that his title reign itself has been a big surprise.
A look at Kingston’s match statistics showed that up until SummerSlam he had lost just two matches, which is precisely how a champion should be booked.
But even though Kingston has performed well as champion and put on plenty of entertaining matches and feuds, WWE must be considering pulling the plug on his Cinderella reign.
And why Orton?
Well, here’s why. In less than two months, SmackDown will move to FOX as part of a pair of massive deals that will earn WWE more than $540 in TV rights fees alone by 2021.
With such huge deals come even bigger expectations, and WWE is going to want to load up the blue brand with as many stars as possible to deliver big ratings on FOX, especially given that FOX officials reportedly haven’t been impressed with SmackDown’s viewership.
For the same reason that Brock Lesnar is now the Universal Champion—ideally to put more eyes on the product—Orton is likely soon going to be the WWE Champion, which means that Kingston won’t be.
And whether right or wrong, it’s likely because WWE doesn’t view Kingston as the draw that Orton is.
A recent statistical analysis showed that as of July 18, Kingston was, in terms of average domestic live event attendance, the fourth worst drawing world champion in WWE history.
While that fact really speaks to bigger issues with WWE’s live event attendance as a whole, it still may be a contributing factor to WWE’s temptation to get the title off of Kingston and onto Orton.
As seen in the rankings below, Orton did much better in that regard, and though there are countless factors that contributed to that, there’s little doubt that WWE has long viewed Orton as much bigger star than Kingston.
According to reports, WWE wants FOX to present its product as a sport while FOX intends on making SmackDown a more “sports-oriented show.”
That is why FOX reportedly wants Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, why UFC star Daniel Cormier has been linked to a potential commentary role on the show and why Brock Lesnar has been advertised as a SmackDown star and will likely be on the show in some capacity.
FOX wants recognizable names who look like professional athletes representing the WWE brand, and while Kingston certainly fits that bill, so too does Orton, who—as WWE’s announcers have been saying for years—looks exactly like the ideal superstar you would build from the ground up.
What’s more, Orton is more over now than he has been at any point in recent memory.
The crowd is reacting to everything that he does, and the RKO is probably the most popular move in WWE history this side of the Stone Cold Stunner.
As long as Orton is continuing to generate those strong crowd reactions, he’s going to pushed strongly and featured heavily, as he should.
In addition, it’s worth noting that Orton’s contract is up soon, and he’s been linked to a potential move out of the company, possibly to AEW.
Thus, WWE could be reigniting a massive push for Orton as a way to entice him to stay with the company when his contract expires next year, which is why a future title reign makes so much sense.
With Kingston’s reign not drawing as well as WWE could have hoped and SmackDown’s upcoming move to FOX, Orton appears to be in line to be the biggest beneficiary of that.
Kingston’s reign isn’t over just yet, but it looks like his Cinderella journey soon will be.
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