Backstage Report On New Day's WWE Raw Heel Turn
It's a new era; yes, it is, for The New Day, following the dispute heard around the squared circle this past Monday on "WWE Raw." After leading the charge as singles and record-breaking tag team champions, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods refused Big E's guidance to return to their light-hearted/kind ways after Kingston and Woods accused Big E of abandoning them. However, it was no fault of his own after a career-altering neck injury, and he is still awaiting his medical clearance to compete again.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kingston and Woods' plan to turn heel in general has been in the works for months. Initially, when former star Odyssey Jones teamed with the New Day in August, the plan would have been to have Jones replace Big E eventually. This idea changed following Jones' removal from WWE due to domestic violence claims and unprofessional rhetoric on his social media platforms. Before this Monday's segment, Kingston and Woods' temperaments had gotten the best of them in verbal exchanges, both men demoralizing the other, including comments about their shortcomings throughout their tenure on the roster. The back-and-forth jabs led speculators to assume it was only a matter of time before Woods turned on Kingston. If so, it would have propelled a feud between the former tag team, but in the opinion of Dave Meltzer, while arguing he could envision a short-term feud between the two, it wouldn't be something the fans would want to see.
Meltzer also noted that now that WWE is away from former CEO Vince McMahon's creative plots, the idea of Kingston and Woods becoming a heel tag team offers abundant long-term opportunities. As he put it, in the McMahon style of booking, Kingston and Woods separating and then feuding would only leave them worse off because they would become two stars lost in the roster with no creative prospects in front of them. Collectively, Kingston and Woods have carried every tag team championship in WWE, making them the third-ever Triple Crown Champions.