4 things WWE could be planning to do with Kevin Owens replacing Kofi Kingston at Fastlane 2019

Kofi Kingston's dream run in WWE may slowly be coming to an end. On the latest episode of SmackDown LIVE, during the contract signing segment between the WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan, and the challenger, Kofi Kingston, Vince McMahon interrupted and announced that Kofi Kingston would no longer be competing for the WWE Championship at Fastlane. Instead, that honor will go to a returning Kevin Owens.

Kevin Owens has been on the shelf since the summer of last year and underwent surgery for his knees. Even though WWE has been airing footages of Kevin Owens cutting promos on a mobile cam, the exact date of his return was never mentioned.

Now, since Owens is back, Kingston is no longer in the main event of Fastlane. Thus, on this list, we take a look at a few things WWE could be planning to do with Kevin Owens replacing Kofi Kingston at Fastlane.

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#4 Saving the big victory for WrestleMania

Kofi could get his WWE title match at WrestleMania 35

Kofi Kingston's humongous fan reception was overwhelming for WWE. The company never expected Kofi to receive such a fantastic reaction from the crowd. Thanks to the wonderful support from the audience, WWE made some changes in the booking of the Elimination Chamber main event - with Kofi falling just short of clinching the WWE Championship.

With #Kofimania going wild, it would be stupid if WWE does not capitalize on the trend. Rather than giving Kingston a filler feud on a filler PPV, WWE should be giving Kingston a dream match at WrestleMania. And with WWE's latest action, we can presume that the company is going in that path.

Irrespective of the result of the Fastlane main event, Kofi Kingston would probably get a one on one WWE Championship shot at WrestleMania 35. The most beautiful aspect of such an opportunity is that Kingston will then have a realistic chance of clinching the title, which would not be the case if he were to battle Bryan at Fastlane.

#3 Giving an impactful return to Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens can create an impactful feud out of nothing

Kevin Owens is one of the best trash talkers on the mic, and Vince McMahon treats him like one. McMahon has high regards for the Prize Fighter. However, on the latest episode of RAW, we saw the brilliant returns of Roman Reigns and Batista that got the whole wrestling community talking. If Owens were to return casually, his comeback would have been simply wasted.

With McMahon putting Owens directly in a title match, the majority of the WWE fans who were supporting Kofi Kingston now began feeling bad for Kingston and started making a fuss about the incident. This response is probably what Vince McMahon wants. This decision was brilliant from the management as Kevin Owens' return is no longer ignored by the WWE fans.

Now WWE can promote Kevin Owens' return by giving him an impactful role leading to Fastlane.

#2 Rewarding Kevin Owens with a pretty record

Kevin Owens is the second ever Universal Champion

Kevin Owens had been one of the most ethical workers in WWE before his injury. Owens gladly worked almost all weeks on RAW or SmackDown LIVE (depending on which brand he was in), worked almost every PPV (he once held the record of making the most consecutive PPV appearances) and gave life to most of the feuds he was in with his amazing mic skills.

However, the way he went out was nothing but a disgrace. Ever since moving to RAW, Owens found himself in a never-ending spiral of feuds with Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley, which did nothing good for him. Owens was squashed by Strowman at SummerSlam 2018 in about two minutes - he quit the following week, only to come back the next week.

For all the pathetic booking he went through, Owens does deserve some compensation. If Owens manages to win the WWE Championship - the Prize Fighter will become only the third WWE Superstar to hold both WWE and Universal Championship.

#1 Paving the way for Sami Zayn's return

This rivalry never gets old

Sami Zayn is Kevin Owens' best friend in WWE. Similar to how Owens went out due to injury, Sami Zayn also went out rather unceremoniously. Ever since moving to RAW, Zayn was also involved in some pathetic storylines against Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley.

After all, who does not remember the segment involving Bobby Lashley's three "sisters". Zayn began his hiatus after being squashed by Bobby Lashley at Money in the Bank 2018.

Even though Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are best friends, one fantastic thing about them is that they work amazingly as bitter enemies. Their feud in 2016 was nothing short of brilliant. Thus, if Sami Zayn were to return at Fastlane to prevent Kevin Owens from winning the WWE Championship, that would give a new dynamic to the Owens - Zayn feud.

Remember, all this time, Zayn has played the babyface and Owens has played the heel in their rivalry. But now, Owens may potentially play the babyface and Zayn could play the heel.