WWE Smackdown Live: The 10 for February 12, 2019

6. Gauntlet, part the second

Bryan’s defeat thus led to the emergence of Kingston’s second opponent, Jeff Hardy. It was a much shorter affair, both out of necessity (there are no overruns to WWE’s live programming on the USA Network any longer) and practicality (why have Hardy in a 30-minute match if there’s no real reason for it). Kingston picks up the victory, this time with the SOS.

It should be noted that Sunday’s affair marks the first time that Kingston has been in an Elimination Chamber match since 2010 and though he has held the Intercontinental Championship four times (and Raw and/or SmackDown tag team gold seven times), he has never been WWE Champion.

That’s not to say that WWE has decided to blow up whatever plan they had in place on Sunday in order to make Kingston the new champion. But Kingston’s insertion into this match, the way the company booked it and how Kingston commanded his opportunity proves that he is singles title-caliber, doubters be damned.

We won’t forget what Kingston did on Tuesday and the WWE won’t, either. By way of Ali’s injury, the possibilities for Kingston’s future in the company just got significantly wider. Necessity is the mother of invention, but sometimes WWE births some really weird babies in these kinds of situations. Tuesday’s child was a beauty.