02:53

Immediately after beating Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston must square off against The Critic of the Critics’ friend, Kevin Owens.

For a while, Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship reign had the feel of a magic-carpet ride; something that was too good to be true but too good to last. Nice guys finish last, right? But then a funny thing happened: He kept defending the title and winning. And winning. And winning. And winning. He even won tonight, too, twice — first against Sami Zayn, and then against Kevin Owens, though as the commentary team pointed out, Kofi’s pace and desire to be a fighting champion may eventually catch up to him.

How right they were: Not only did a depleted Kofi allow himself to be goaded into a match with Owens after pinning a very game Zayn, he had to resort to a count-out victory over KO after planting him with an SOS on the ramp. Competing in three matches in 24 hours left Kingston visibly exhausted, and therefore ripe pickings for Samoa Joe, who bulldozed the titleholder from behind when the WWE Champion was making his exit, slingshot him into the stage, Uranage’d him on the ramp and finally locked Kingston in a Coquina Clutch that put him to sleep. And for all the worry of a metaphorical wall waiting for the fighting champion, the thing he actually ran into may have been worse.

Immediately after beating Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston must square off against The Critic of the Critics’ friend, Kevin Owens.