Booker T rebooks the WWE Title match.
Fans were stunned and disappointed at the SmackDown on Fox premiere on Oct. 4 when Brock Lesnar immediately hit an F5 and pinned Kofi Kingston to win the WWE Championship. The match didn't go over well with many fans, who believed Kofi deserved to put up more of a fight.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T weighed in on the booking of the bout.
"You gotta look at this two different ways. You gotta look at it from the perspective of Kofi Kingston. He had a meteoric rise to the top of WWE. Almost like the Rocky story; slippin' on a banana peel, getting a phone call, being prepared, and stepping in for Ali. KofiMania was born and it was a beautiful thing. Eleven years on the grind and getting that push. It was a believable story. A beautiful story," said Booker.
"Now, with Brock Lesnar. He's a monster. What would it have looked like if these guys went out there and had a 30-minute knockdown, drag-out? I don't know if that would work for me. The size matchup played out almost exactly the way it was drawn up. I can't say Kofi Kingston has a reason to hold his head down. Just the luck of the draw. No diss against Kofi Kingston. (He had) A six-month run and beat some good guys. It's gonna go on his resume and stick for the rest of his life. I don't think any of us thought Kofi was going to have a two-year run."
Booker joked that Kofi should have talked to an agent before accepting the match with Lesnar, before giving his thoughts on how the match played out.
"Should the title have changed? Yes. Should the title have changed that way? The way people are looking at it is Kofi, maybe should have kicked out just once. We didn't have to take it to [Brock vs. Daniel Bryan]. Just take it to the point of Kofi kicks out after one F5. And maybe Brock gives him another one and Kofi kicks out again. Kofi rolls him up, Brock kicks out. One more F5. One...two...three. That's my call," he said.
Now that Kofi has lost the WWE Championship, Booker also pondered what's next for Kofi and whether or not he can go back to The New Day.
"Where do The New Day go from this point? Kofi goes back with them, and they go back to maybe throwing out pancakes. It wouldn't be the same after a WWE Title run. It's something Kofi has to ponder. It's going to be different over the next few months to get back into that groove with The New Day."
Kofi hasn't been seen on WWE TV since losing the WWE Title to Lesnar. It is unknown if he will be on Friday's SmackDown as he is part of the Raw draft pool in the upcoming WWE Draft. You can view Kofi's comments following his loss by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Hall of Fame podcast with a h/t to Fightful for the transcription.