Vince McMahon Replaces Kofi Kingston in Fastlane Main Event With Kevin Owens

Last night’s episode of SmackDown LIVE from Charlotte, North Carolina opened up with a Fastlane contract signing for Kofi Kingston vs. WWE Champion “The New” Daniel Bryan. After Shane McMahon & Stephanie McMahon praised Kofi for several minutes, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon interrupted. Vince also praised Kofi but then said that he was removing Kofi from The WWE Title Match at Fastlane.

Vince then introduced Bryan’s new challenger for Fastlane – the returning Kevin Owens. Owens had been out of action since October following double knee surgery. Owens vs. Bryan had been rumored for WrestleMania 35. WWE recently ran promos where Owens said that he was still about one month away from returning.

It seems @VinceMcMahon has deemed @FightOwensFight MORE DESERVING than @TrueKofi of a #WWEChampionship match at #WWEFastlane?! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/itWITGKznm

— WWE (@WWE) February 27, 2019

The WWE Fastlane PPV Event takes place on March 10th from The Q Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. This will be the final PPV before WrestleMania 35.

Below is the updated card for Fastlane:

WWE Title Match
– Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens

SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
– The Usos (Jey & Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Shane McMahon & The Miz

WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match
– The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection (Sasha Banks & Bayley) (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina Snuka