Following his shocking removal from what would've been his first ever WWE Championship oppurtunity at WWE Fastlane, Kofi Kingston has released the following statement.

"I needed to take a couple days to process what has actually happened. Shock, sadness, emptiness, frustration, anger, confusion are but a few feelings on a roller coaster of emotions.My entire career has been a series of ups and downs, starts and stops. I really shouldn’t be surprised, but this one hurt. We came so close. And I say ‘we’ because this journey has been bigger than just me. It’s Woods’ journey, it’s E’s journey, it’s every one of you who has followed and supported my career for the past 11 years.To have it all stripped away so suddenly is painful, to put it mildly. I appreciate you all more than you know and I thank you all for your love and support. Mark my words: We will be back. The journey does not end here."

The returning Kevin Owens was granted Kofi's scheduled match against defending champion, Daniel Bryan by Vince McMahon.