WWE Extreme Rules: Kofi Kingston gets powerbombed by Cesaro, but Internet can only see his Breonna Taylor armband
Wrestlers Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated The New Day in a tables match at WWE Extreme Rules on Sunday, July 19, to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Cesaro ensured the win for his team when he powerbombed Kofi Kingston through two tables to end The New Day's eighth tag team title reign. In other matches as well Cesaro and Nakamura had got the better of their rivals on several occasions leading up to the pay-per-view. In singles matches, as Nakamura beat Kingston and Cesaro beat Big E. As a result, Cesaro and Nakamura got to pick the stipulation.
As stated in the Bleacher Report, after a SmackDown Tag Team Championships match between the two teams was thrown out and ruled a no-contest a couple of weeks ago, Cesaro and Nakamura made Kingston and Big E pay by putting both through a table.
Twitter exploded with comments by fans about the match. One user said, “Congrats to Cesaro and Nakamura, they’re both awesome, obviously. Daammmmmnnnnnn to that double table spot on Kofi. Brutal. New Day 4 Lyfe.” Another expressed bewilderment by tweeting, “Cesaro just power bombed Kofi Kingston through 2 tables off the top turnbuckle.” Someone also said, “It’s called a Tables Match. Cesaro puts Kofi Kingston through TWO tables to win. You’ve got to admire the respect for plurals.”
There was something else also that caught Twitter's attention. Kingston wore an arm band with the late African-American emergency medical technician Breonna Taylor’s name on it. “Kofi has Breonna Taylor’s name on his arm tonight - good guys,” said a fan. An user tweeted, “Kofi has an armband for Breonna Taylor. Big E has an armband on each side for Tamla Horsford and Shukri Abdi. Say their names.” Another lauded the players by saying, “Not only did Big E and Kofi Kingston take a knee on #SmackDown, they also wore black armbands representing the names of Shukri Abdi, Breonna Taylor and Tamla Horsford.” Another appreciated this gesture by saying, “Kofi’s armband reminds us that BREONNA TAYLOR’S MURDERERS STILL WALK FREE. Thank you for using your platform, again, @TrueKofi.” An user also said, “Kofi thinks it’s time to arrest the people who killed Breonna Taylor. And we trust Kofi.” There was another tweet which said, “Very heartening to see Big E have an armband in honor of John Lewis and Kofi have one for Breonna Taylor.”
Bleacher Report also stated that The New Day won the titles on the April 17 edition of SmackDown when Big E beat The Miz and Jey Uso in a Triple Threat match, but there hadn't been much of a spotlight placed on them until Cesaro and Nakamura recently entered the fray. Given Cesaro and Nakamura are two of the best in-ring performers in the world individually, having them vie for the SmackDown tag titles was an ideal way to ensure fans would take interest in the division again. The result was a highly entertaining match at Extreme Rules, which fans surely are going to discuss for a long time.