WWE Moments: When Randy Orton halted Kofi Kingston's rise to the top

A decade in the making

Time sure does fly fast. It has been almost a decade since Kofi Kingston's main event push was scrapped because of a mistake he made during a TV match with Randy Orton.

As Kofi is heading towards Fastlane, all set to finally get a chance to shine and grab the WWE title, let's travel down memory lane and take a look at what actually happened on that fateful night.

The mistake

At the end of a Number 1 contender's triple threat match for the WWE title, Kofi was supposed to eat a punt from The Viper. Apparently, Kofi seemed to have forgotten the script. No matter how many times Orton tried to make him stay down for the kick to the head, Kofi went back up.

This led to a thunderous and devastating RKO from the former Legend Killer to Kofi, followed by a quick pin. Orton made sure to call Kofi 'stupid', twice before pinning him. After the match, Orton looked visibly angry and things weren't looking good for the Jamaican superstar.

The aftermath

WWE had been building Kofi for the main event push and the WWE title. In one of the most memorable moments in Madison Square Garden, Kofi boom dropped Orton on a table. Kofi went on to destroy Orton's sports car and defeat his team in a traditional Survivor Series match.

Kofi had never been this white hot and revered by the crowd. This mistake proved to be a grave one, as Orton went backstage and complained about Kofi to the upper management. Orton was already a respected ring veteran by 2010, and his opinion mattered behind the scenes.

Kofi's push was immediately halted and he was thrown back to the mid-card. His career only went downhill from that point on, until he became a member of the newly formed "The New Day" faction, along with Big E and Xavier Woods, which went on to become one of the most successful three-men teams in history.

It took Kofi a decade to come back to the point where he once was, and here's hoping he doesn't screw this up and goes on to bag the top prize.