5 Unscripted WWE moments that led to someone receiving a push

#2 Kofi Kingston replaces the injured Ali

Ali was originally supposed to compete in a six-man WWE Championship match at Elimination Chamber in February 2019, but he suffered an eye injury against Randy Orton in a match on SmackDown Live shortly before the PPV and had to be replaced by Kofi Kingston.

The unscripted moment led to Kingston lasting over an hour in a gauntlet match on the following week’s episode of SmackDown Live – a specific role that was reportedly due to be given to Ali – and he went on to receive huge cheers of “Kofi! Kofi! Kofi!” when he went one-on-one with Daniel Bryan at the end of the Elimination Chamber match.

Despite previously having no plans for the New Day member as a singles competitor, it was clear after his performances in the gauntlet match and inside the Chamber that WWE's creative team was fully behind Kingston and the ‘KofiMania’ phenomenon that fans had created.

Two months after replacing Ali in the WWE Championship storyline, Kingston defeated Bryan in what was widely viewed as the best match of the night at WrestleMania 35 to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career.