It was always going to be tough following Kofi’s big title victory

Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Kevin Owens

WWE championship match

Kofi’s first title feud was always going to be a challenge.

His journey to his WrestleMania WWE championship victory was an emotion packed ride that was paid off perfectly at the Grandest Stage of Them All. It’ll be a story and match that people talk about years from now. It was the reason so many of us love wrestling.

But the story didn’t end at WrestleMania. In a way, it only just began. Now Kofi is champion and they need to tell stories with that. So, how in the world to you try to follow such a emotional climax? How can the next chapter come close to reaching the heights of the journey?

In short, it’s can’t.

None-the-less, that’s what WWE was tasked with after Kofi’s big victory. And while they were never going to touch the thrilling ride that came before, they did a good job telling a story with enough emotion that it doesn’t feel like the steepest drop.

This story had the benefit of many things, but one of them is the fact that Kevin Owens is a fantastic performer. In short, the story was that KO pretended to be a friend to Kofi and slotted in as a temporary member of the New Day (known as Big O) as Big E is out dealing with an injury until 2028 or something. Kevin mainly plays a heel, but he was quite charming in the role, which made what was to come a bit harder to swallow.

Of course, a leopard never changes its spots, and Owens very shortly turned on Kofi and Xavier Woods, even power bombing X on the apron in the dreaded apron bomb spot.

To find the emotion of the match, they tapped into what was such a crucial element of Kofi’s journey to the title: The family bond of the New Day.

It’s been well established that the three men in the New Day are like brothers so accepting a spot in that group, even shortly, is a big frickin’ deal. By infiltrating such a unit just to betray them and then injuring Woods, Kevin pretty much spit in the face of Kofi Kingston. That reignited the first inside the champ.

There’s another aspect to this story that is intriguing, and that’s the addition of Sami Zayn. To close out SmackDown last week, Owens told the champ that he’s nothing without his friends before revealing he has friends of his own. KO and Sami tried to ambush the champ, though Kofi was able to fight them off and stand tall.

Owens and Zayn have a very long history together, former enemies turned friends. Adding them to the mix adds another layer to the match. Will Sami (who competes in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match tonight) be a difference maker? Can Xavier Woods overcome his injuries to make sure Kofi has a fair shot? These are little questions that adds intrigue to what will already be a great match.

It’s only been a bit over a month since Kofi won his title, but they’ve found a way to make sure there was not a big drop in interest after that major moment at WrestleMania. Using a versatile performer in Owens as the antagonist, continuing the theme of brotherhood within the New Day, and adding someone from Owens past in Sami, they found a story that helped cushion the inevitable emotional drop after WrestleMania.

Kofi Kingston will defend his WWE title against Kevin Owens tonight at Money in the Bank, which airs on the WWE Network starting at 7 pm. Keep it here to CagesideSeats.com for all of your Money in the Bank coverage.