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What's the story?
Former Universal Champion Kevin Owens made a return from injury on SmackDown Live this week. Vince McMahon chose him as the candidate to replace Kofi Kingston in the match at WWE Fastlane 2019.
In a video that was posted on WWE's official Twitter account, Kevin Owens spoke about replacing Kofi Kingston at the pay-per-view. He got emotional during the interview, talking about his wife and kids.
In case you didn't know...
Kofi Kingston has been on a hot streak of late, becoming a hero for the WWE Universe because of his outstanding performances. A last-minute replacement for the injured Mustafa Ali, Kingston has become an underdog hero for the WWE Universe.
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He earned an opportunity to face Daniel Bryan at WWE Fastlane last week. After the same was taken from him, he was forced to team up with Kevin Owens in the main event.
Owens picked up a victory with the Stone Cold Stunner.
The heart of the matter
Kevin Owens brought up the fact that a lot of people aren't happy that he took Kofi Kingston's spot. Surprisingly enough, he said he gets it:
I'm going to address something that a lot of people have an issue with and that's the fact that I'm taking Kofi Kingston's place in this match at Fastlane, after he more than earned that spot in that match. And that's totally fair. Look I'm not blind. I'm not deaf. I've been watching for the last 5 months. But more importantly I've been watching for the last two weeks and I've seen this phenomenon and I've seen it happen. What they call KofiMania.
Owens went on to add how the whole deal came about. He also gets emotional towards the end of the video:
But the thing is I negotiated this with Mr. McMahon. First of all, he came to me. Which was a surprise to me as much as it was to anybody watching tonight. The thing is I would be crazy to turn that down no matter how much Kofi Kingston deserves it.
What's next?
Kofi Kingston will likely compete for the WWE Championship at Fastlane. Right now, it'll be Bryan vs. Owens. Who do you think will come out on top in this encounter between veterans?
