Getty

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston attend Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum on May 31, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

WWE superstars Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods (aka New Day) left the company due to management not wanting to pay their ideal figure for a contract extension. TKO’s ownership of WWE has led to major changes in established talents no longer easily getting the contract bump they desire. Both Woods and Kingston were asked to change their contracts since TKO seemingly didn’t like them making major money. The veterans had no interest in accepting a pay cut after being a legendary team for over a decade.

Bryan Alvarez reported the following news, via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

“We can also confirm that in the case of New Day, it was their decision to leave based on what TKO was offering for a new deal. To be specific, New Day’s deals were not up. They were asked to restructure to TKO deals, they didn’t like the deals, so they were then granted their release.”

WWE has been under fire lately for being cheap when it comes to retaining or signing talents that aren’t established top singles stars. New Day will be remembered as a top five all-time WWE tag team due to their record-breaking tag title reign and many iconic moments in a Hall of Fame tenure.

Will New Day Join AEW Next?

AEW talents have been posting in support of Kingston and Woods all day today. Noteworthy names like MJF, Swerve Strickland and Renee Paquette, among others, have posted things in appreciation of both members of New Day. Many wrestlers worked with both men in WWE and even before WWE to give them a friendly environment if they sign there.

Fightful reported that many top names in AEW have already reached out to Tony Khan in favor of signing New Day. Woods and Kingston will likely receive a strong offer and push to join the company as part of the tag division.

AEW currently has legendary teams Edge and Christian, the Young Bucks, and FTR in a fun feud to carry them throughout the spring and summer. Khan can now sign New Day and Motor City Machine Guns with two other Hall of Fame teams now on the market.

Why Losing New Day Hurts WWE

One of the main reasons that TKO felt content releasing New Day is that WWE no longer cares about pushing tag teams. The tag division has been treated with less importance over the past year under Triple H’s leadership, like how Vince McMahon viewed tag team wrestling.

Neither of the male tag titles had a presence on the WrestleMania 42 card, and a legendary duo like Kingston and Woods didn’t have a role. TKO wasn’t going to pay New Day their current contracts out if Triple H wasn’t going to use them as relevant players.

Many established names on the WWE roster may be gone over the next few years, if they aren’t an established main eventer or a younger prospect with long-term upside. WWE also shows no faith in restoring their tag team division to become an important part of the program any time soon.