Why Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship should main-event SummerSlam 2019

On last night’s episode of SmackDown, Kofi Kingston issued a challenge to Randy Orton for a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam, which the latter accepted. Considering the matches currently announced for the pay-per-view, this is the one that should be the main event of the Biggest Party Of The Summer next month.

Out of the six matches already on the card for SummerSlam, the only other contest that has potential to be the main event is Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. While that will likely be the main event due to Lesnar’s star power and Rollins' recent push, it is not a match a decade in the making. We already saw these two face off at WrestleMania in April and it wasn’t much of a match. There is also a general exhaustion surrounding Lesnar holding the Universal Championship hostage; moreover, the recent direction of Rollins' babyface run has left much to be desired.

On the other hand, Kingston has been booked strongly since winning the WWE Championship. He has only been pinned thrice since winning the championship, and none of them came in a one-fall contest. Two pinfalls occurred in tag team matches (one recorded by Orton), and the other in a 2-out-of 3 falls match against Dolph Ziggler, where it is customary for both wrestlers to get at least one fall.

The story of Orton vs. Kingston is also main event worthy. There is real history between the two since late 2008, when Kofi was on the fast track to the main event scene before the infamous 'Stupid' incident took place in a match against Orton. Kofi did not follow the planned finish to the match, causing Orton to audibly call him 'stupid'. Subsequently, Kofi’s push came to an abrupt end, resulting in a long spell on the mid-card and tag-team scene until this year. Orton even mentioned in his promo last night that he held Kofi back after the aforementioned incident because he wasn’t ready then for the main event, and he isn’t ready now. There is an organic story to be told here.

Meanwhile, Rollins vs. Lesnar doesn’t have a very compelling story to it. Rollins already “slew the beast” at WrestleMania, albeit with a low blow. Lesnar won the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed in on Rollins at Extreme Rules. The only story that can be told is Rollins going for redemption, but that doesn’t sound as appealing at this point. WWE tried to insert some more tidbits by mentioning Lesnar revenged Rollins cashing in on him by returning the favor at Extreme Rules, but that has already happened and does nothing to boost the hype for theri upcoming bout.

Given the backstory for the two World Title matches at SummerSlam and the trajectory that Orton and Kingston are on, the WWE Championship match should be the main event of this year’s SummerSlam event.