Were The New Day Misused By WWE?

When people think of the New Day, they think of pancake-throwing, trombone-blowing, unicorn-saying pranksters. Their origin, however, is not what one would expect.

In July 2014, amid a losing streak, Kingston and Big E were approached by Woods, who implored them to find themselves. Nothing came of it at first… until November, when they made their first formal appearance together in a vignette.

While the trio’s initial encounter hinted at something militant a la Malcolm X, they were ultimately revealed to be a preachy group inspired by black churches. While billed as faces, they were not liked by fans, who booed and insulted them. Thus, they were turned heel, and something unprecedented happened.

It was not surprising for the New Day to become tag team champions, given their in-ring ability. What was surprising, however, was how quickly they became over even as heels. Their entertaining persona soon endeared to the fanbase, so much so that they turned face when they opposed the League of Nations.

That run as fun-loving heroes would last for over eight years, during which Kingston and Big E won the WWE Championship. Unfortunately, the good times were not to last.

In March 2022, Big E suffered a severe neck injury after he landed on his head following a suplex from Ridge Holland. It basically ended his career, although he would not officially retire until 2025. Almost a year before this retirement, however, he had one last on-air contribution.

It was November 2024. Kingston and Woods were on rather bad terms with each other after multiple losses and a failed attempt to recruit Odyssey Jones. A segment featuring them was booked for Raw, and fans believed that this would be where one would attack the other and turn heel.

Instead, both of them turned heel by expelling Big E after he had mediated between them and offered to be their manager. They would remain this way until their departure.

Some Missed Creative Opportunities

While the New Day were undoubtedly very successful throughout their WWE careers, their story deserved more than token moments.

Take Kingston’s WWE Championship reign, for instance. It was not even planned to happened, but Mustafa Ali suffered an injury, and Kingston had a career-defining performance. It did not help that Brock Lesnar ended it in nine seconds in Smackdown’s Fox debut, which turned out to have been the plan all along.

A better end would have been Ali winning the Money in the Bank briefcase, as had been planned. He would then meet Kingston one-on-one and invoke his contract in advance for SummerSlam. A high-flying marvel of a match would follow, only for Ali to turn heel with either a low blow or outside help and win.

One can also take Big E’s 2021 reign. Have him defeat Brock Lesnar at Day 1. The New Day are celebrating but then Kingston attacks Big E and turns heel. The reason is simple: jealousy, as Big E achieved what Kingston could not. Woods can even absolve himself of the situation, then decide to stake his claim. It would be an emotionally charged triple-threat on par with The Shield.

End Of My The New Day Rant

Also released alongside the New Day were JC Mateo and Tonga Loa. Both men had been part of Solo Sikoa’s MFT stable, but while Kingston and Woods had long possessed charisma, they were the opposite. They were just there to look menacing, have matches, and do nothing else.

With new stars coming in from NXT, cuts were inevitable. People without clear direction were the ones under the most threat. Kingston and Woods had been lacking one since their last reign, and they saw the writing on the wall and (perhaps rightfully) decided to take control of their careers…