5 Possible reasons why Kofi Kingston appeared on Monday Night Raw alone 

Kofi Kingston appeared as one of the superstars from SmackDown Live last night on Monday Night Raw to step up a fantastic main event between himself and Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.

Kingston wasn't joined by his usual New Day members as he joined Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan on Monday Night Raw with some unfinished business since Bryan had a rematch clause that he needed to cash in.

It was a shock that Kingston made the trip to Cincinnati on his own since The New Day has come as a package deal over the past few weeks, ever since he became WWE Champion and they have become his protection against a number of his opponents as well, so it was strange of him to go into enemy territory alone but WWE could have had a much bigger plan.

---

#5. To prove that he can defend his Championship alone

Did WWE want to prove that Kofi Kingston could go it alone?

Kofi Kingston has had the help of The New Day over the past few weeks, and the likes of Big E and Xavier Woods have been able to protect Kofi to the point where he mentioned that The New Day held the WWE Championship under the "Freebird rule."

Of course, this wasn't the case last night since Kingston was forced to move over to Raw and defend the Championship on his own without Woods or Big E, but he was able to do it and able to put on a fantastic show.

As a face Champion, Kingston needs to prove that he's able to pull it out of the bag even when the odds are stacked against him otherwise it's not going to work out well for him since it's a very heel thing to be reliant on your teammates to help you win every match.

It was a good outing for Kingston, and it proved beyond a doubt that he deserves to be holding that Championship, regardless of what the people backstage in WWE believe.

#4. Xavier Woods and Big E are both injured

Xavier Woods could have just been selling an injury

Kofi Kingston danced out to The New Day's theme all on his own last night on Raw, before explaining that Xavier Woods wasn't there because he was attacked by Kevin Owens last week on SmackDown Live.

Woods was obviously kept off the show so that he could sell the injuries that he suffered at the hands of KO when he was powerbombed into the apron after he turned his back on his former friend.

Big E is still injured from the week after WrestleMania when he was sidelined in a six-man tag team match and it's still unknown as to when he will be making his return. The former Champion has since been replaced in The New Day by Kevin Owens but that obviously didn't go to plan, which could be why Kingston decided to go it alone on Raw.

#3. Teasing a split between The New Day

Are WWE teasing a split between The New Day?

Ever since Kofi Kingston became WWE Champion there has been talk about The New Day splitting and going their separate ways, after all Big E will want a shot at that title in the future and their friendship may not be able to withstand that sort of pressure.

WWE has teased it over and over and recent interviews between The New Day and other outside journalists have always covered the same ground. This could easily have been WWE's way of continuing to tease a split, since Kofi Kingston now knows that he's able to defend the biggest Championship in WWE on his own on enemy soil.

Whether this will lead to any kind of backlash from Woods tonight on SmackDown remains to be seen, but it's allowed Kingston to prove he's a worthy Champion.

#2. Only a select number of superstars were allowed

It's likely that Xavier Woods wasn't actually invited to Raw

Vince McMahon came up with the plan to allow three superstars to be part of an invasion of each brand in the coming months, which he calls the "Wild Card Rule." The fact that Xavier Woods wasn't with him on Raw could have literally just been because McMahon wanted it to just be three superstars, something that he later changed to four because he was scared about Lars Sullivan.

The most Woods would have done on Raw was hang out at ringside and perhaps talk for Kingston at the beginning of the show, which was stuff that wasn't needed since the WWE Champion was able to talk for himself and go on to set up a fantastic match between himself and Daniel Bryan which went on to become the main event of the night.

#1. So that Kofi Kingston didn't have an advantage

WWE didn't want to give Kofi an unfair advantage over Daniel Bryan

As a face Champion WWE needs to be careful about giving Kingston an advantage in any of his matches, since The New Day are always in his corner this could be seen as a heel tactic.

Daniel Bryan didn't bring Erick Rowan over to Monday Night Raw with him last night, which meant that in the main event, Kingston would have had an unfair advantage if he was able to have Woods at ringside whilst Bryan had no one.

Having this kind of advantage is usually the way that heels play mind games since they then usually get involved and help their friend to cheat. Since Kingston is a face Champion and Bryan didn't have an advantage of his own there would have been no need for Woods to be at ringside helping him.