What's the story?
Kofi Kingston has had a rollercoaster of a career, leading up to his WWE Championship win at WrestleMania 35. One of biggest curves of his 11-year run with the WWE came at the hands of Randy Orton.
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Back in 2009, Kofi Kingston nearly broke onto the main event scene of the WWE two years after his debut with the company when he began a heated rivalry with Legacy, headed by the Viper himself. Around this time, we saw the WWE Universe really get behind the Dreadlocked Dynamo, and as Kingston continued to dish out some trouble in Orton's paradise at the top of the card, their cries for him became stronger.
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Some of those moments included the time where Kingston defaced a custom made NASCAR race car, and putting Orton through a table at Madison Square Garden. However, the company cooled on Kingston quickly, and he was back to mid-card feuds in no time. Rumor has it, Orton personally put a stop to his rise to the top back then.
Ten years later, and Kingston is sitting atop SmackDown Live as the WWE Champion. And with the biggest party of the summer so near, he's hoping to right that wrong once and for all.
The heart of the matter
On SmackDown Live, Kofi Kingston made a special announcement, revealing that he wanted to defend his WWE Championship against none other than Randy Orton. Kingston also accused his longtime rival of trying to ruin his career a decade ago. Orton, surprisingly, admitted to it all.
Orton felt that he wasn't ready then, and even though he's the champion, he's not ready now. At SummerSlam, Kingston will get a chance to finally redeem himself and prove that he deserves to represent the WWE.
What's next?
SummerSlam is only two and a half weeks away, and with Kingston laying Orton out with Trouble in Paradise earlier tonight, the multi-time WWE Champion will definitely be looking for some payback.
Will he be able to get into the champ's head, or will Kingston, now a veteran of the game, be able to withstand all of Orton's tricks before their big match on August 11th?
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