The New Day’s decade of dominance in WWE may never have happened had Xavier Woods followed backstage advice to avoid Kofi Kingston. Today marks ten years since the New Day’s first match with WWE which saw them win a six-man-tag on SmackDown.
On WWE’s YouTube channel, Woods, Kofi, and Big E reflected on their time together and how The New Day got started. Despite becoming one of the most popular groups, Woods shared that he was warned to keep his distance from Kofi Kingston.
“My entire WWE career, I’d been told to stay away from Kofi. Not because he’s bad, but because we’re very similar.
“in wrestling, you’ve got to carve out your own spot and they say, ‘If Kofi’s doing this and we automatically see you and imagine that you’re kinda a secondary Kofi, that’s not going to be good for you.’ And so I always stayed away from him.”
Woods shared that he doesn’t see himself and Kofi as similar and that it was a choice by he and Big E to bring Kingston into the New Day. The decision clearly worked as the group has become a staple of WWE TV, with Kingston and Big E both holding the WWE Championship.
A ten-year celebration of The New Day will take place on Raw, though comes amid growing tensions between Kingston and Woods. The pair have been unable to get on the same page for months now, leaving fans to speculate that tensions will boil over in a matter of days.
Fans are hopeful that Big E, who remains out of action due to his neck injury, will be able to smooth things over during the coming celebration. Stay tuned to SEScoops for the latest on The New Day and whether the group can get back on the same page, or if the damage to the friendship between Kofi and Woods proves to be irreparable.