In what will go down as one of the greatest performances of his young WWE career so far, Cedric Alexander was narrowly defeated by Baron Corbin in their King of the Ring quarter-finals matchup.

Alexander dazzled with excellent space and in-ring moves throughout the match, and it looked like he was going to pull off the big upset against Corbin. But the latter ducked out of trouble and hit Alexander with the End of Days finisher, thus putting him away with the pinfall victory.

But it wasn't all roses and sunshine for Corbin. Samoa Joe and Ricochet fought to a draw, so it was announced that those two and Corbin will square off in a triple threat match for the King of the Ring semi-finals on the Raw side of the bracket. The winner there will go up against the SmackDown victor at Clash of Champions to determine the King of the Ring.

But despite falling short to Corbin, not all hope is lost for Alexander. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Ringside News), WWE was actually using Alexander's loss to Corbin as a way of getting him over, that the bout was "designed" to help "get people behind" him.

Related: King Of The Ring Triple Threat Match Booked For Next Week's Raw

via WWE.com

It was reported by Meltzer last month that new Monday Night Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman "is very high on" Alexander, so that obviously bodes well for the former Cruiserweight Champion. Alexander has been receiving more opportunities and attention on television, and big things appear to be in store for him.

Alexander has gone a strong stretch run dating back to mid-July, scoring victories over Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Cesaro. He may not be your 2019 King of the Ring winner, but Alexander is still on the verge of something special.

What This Means

WWE's creative team has ignored the Cruiserweight talents for far too long, and it was overdue for somebody to get a push. It's nice to see Alexander finally get some attention from the higher-ups, because he's an elite in-ring performer and has the ability to be a strong mid-card and potential main event talent. Let's hope WWE doesn't move away from his special push any time soon.

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