Xavier Woods to replace Kofi Kingston in Smackdown match

WWE has pulled Kofi Kingston from the Fatal 5 Way to determine the WrestleMania 39 challenger to WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER.

As we’ve noted, WWE announced that this week’s SmackDown will be headlined by a Fatal 5 Way to crown a new #1 contender to GUNTHER for a title match at WrestleMania 39. Kingston was one of the announced participants, but then his status was up in the air when it was revealed that he suffered some sort of leg injury during last Friday’s brawl that included The New Day, Karrion Kross, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and LA Knight. Kingston then posted an update to show that his right foot was bandaged up, but he indicated that he would be OK.

In an update, WWE confirmed today that Xavier Woods will be replacing Kingston in Friday’s Fatal 5 Way.

The match on SmackDown will now feature Woods vs. Kross vs. Sheamus vs. McIntyre vs. Knight. The winner will go on to WrestleMania 39 to challenge GUNTHER for the WWE Intercontinental Title.

WWE has not announced an injury update on Kingston as of this writing, but the replacement shows that he will miss at least one week of in-ring action.

There’s no word yet on who will face GUNTHER on The Grandest Stage of Them All, but a Triple Threat with McIntyre and Sheamus has been rumored.

The only other match announced for Friday’s SmackDown from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh is The Viking Raiders vs. Ricochet and Braun Strowman.