Kofi Kingston Says Daniel Bryan Pushed For Him To Be In WrestleMania WWE Title Match

It's been eight months since Kofi Kingston won his first-ever WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. For many fans, Bryan's victory was the high point of the event with Kingston's win getting arguably the biggest reaction on the night.

Kingston appeared with the New Day on the latest edition of the After The Bell podcast and revealed that the match with Bryan almost didn't happen. Kevin Owens was reportedly supposed to face Bryan at the show, however the plans were changed for Kingston when his storyline with Bryan caught fire. Kingston said that it was Bryan who pushed for the match between the two to happen at WrestleMania.

"[Daniel Bryan] pushed for that to happen because the plans weren't for me to be at WrestleMania," Kingston revealed. "I'm not sure who it was for Daniel to face but it wasn't me, and Daniel went in and went to bat for me, and for the situation for the title match between us to happen so he had a big part in it, too.

"It's a testament for his state of mind as far as advancing the business and doing the right thing for the people and for the best match or product for the people to take in. So kudos to Daniel Bryan!"

As for Owens, he admitted that he didn't have any sour grapes with how things turned out. While speaking to the State Of Combat podcast this past May, Owens admitted that Kingston vs. Bryan was the right match for the show.

"That was clearly Kofi's match if you paid attention to what was going on in every arena and every SmackDown Live from the time he got into that gauntlet match at Elimination Chamber to WrestleMania," said Owens. "So, to me it was obvious from that point on it was Kofi's match. While it may have changed people's plans, I wouldn't say that he got into anybody's way. All he did was be himself and be Kofi Kingston and that is what got him there because the fans decided that they were going to get behind him more than anybody else."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.