Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened. For a long time, longer than anyone could have dreamed, The New Day felt like a timeless act in wrestling. A lot can and has changed, and it is time for the New Day breakup to happen.
For so many fans, this felt like one of those sky-is-falling ideas. How could Woods, Kingston, or Big E, before his injury, ever return to being a villain? The truth is that we have seen how week in and week out.
Big E is very likely not coming back. Kofi Kingston remains entrenched in his spot within WWE. Xavier Woods is already one of the roster’s best heels, and he hasn’t even turned yet.
There are no more excuses and nothing left to say. It is time for Brother vs Brother as The New Day explodes.
Xavier Woods Needs a New Day Breakup
The New Day, as a unit, is unquestionably WWE Hall of Fame material. Kofi Kingston, on his own, is also a virtual guarantee. Big E’s career is looking shorter than anyone would have liked.
In general, Big E’s connection with the fans says we need to know why WWE will consider him someday. That leaves Xavier Woods. When looking at the three members of the legendary trio, it is ironic that the “brains” or “mouthpiece” of the group is also the least accomplished in-ring.
Outside of WWE, Woods, as Austin Creed, is incredibly successful. Still, his King of the Ring win is his only WWE accolade. That net him brief feuds with main event acts like Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns.
He watched as both of his brothers ascended the mountaintop without getting a shot at either one of their titles before they lost and never tried to win them back. WWE superstars have “broken bad” for less. His place as the talker in the group means that he has, far and away, the most potential to work as a heel character.
Already, Woods cuts down the faces in his storyline for the faulty logic while bemoaning their insistence on not listening to him. All of this is weighted in the subtle reality that he has not done anything to make R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, or Big E, should he return, follow his lead. He has the most to gain from the breakup and the skills to do it well when his compatriots are in the rearview.
The New Day is Old News, and Feels Like It Too.
The story that Woods and Kingston have embarked on has had several twists and turns as characters fall in and out of their sphere of influence. The core of it, going back months now, is that New Day is in a slump. They do not feel like the top of the division anymore, and they do not have any immediate plans to fix that.
Xavier Woods is seemingly more worried about that than Kingston, who was already the champion. The story is compelling because of the performers, of course. However, a significant reason the story is doing so well is that its premise is true.
Until a few months back, The New Day had become an afterthought, and nobody really cared. Woods, like all good villains, is pointing out a hard truth: no one cares about New Day; it’s gone on long enough.
.@TrueKofi explains how "KofiMania" was a life-changing moment that he will never forget. pic.twitter.com/JRGiAgWF9n
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) April 4, 2024
In wrestling at the national level, and even many of the more niche independent promotions, your gimmick is your career. A guy or girl with good matches is good for two, maybe three people. The rest become the filler folks who lose to make the real characters stand out.
The New Day were the characters for a long time, and they have changed before to stay fresh. Now, though, they are just the guys who have matches. They are there to make The Creed Brothers or The Final Testament look stronger.
They primarily serve as our hero’s backup for feuds against The Judgment Day. With a stale or weak gimmick, you can expect a stale or weak career.
A split now may help Woods the most, but it lets all three of them try and build a new character. That could make a reunion much more fun in the future.
A Fresh Tag Team Division is Coming Together
It may seem unlikely that WWE will spend any meaningful time showcasing their tag team titles, but the talent is there to rebrand the entire division. With new stars and some high-value acquisitions both now and in the near future, an overhaul could be a success.
One of the things holding the WWE back, apart from its own apathy, is the abundance of teams from previous eras, just filling the roster with too many units to showcase across two or even three shows reasonably. The New Day, even being the icons that they are, falls into this problem as well.
The Motor City Machine Guns, Wyatt Sicks, DIY, Lucha Brothers, and more are all expected to share space in WWE. The critical mass of talent means that some of the teams who have been around and doing nothing need to get nudged out of the way. This can, and often does, come from roster cuts.
However, WWE has the opportunity to move them out of the division, the same way it removed The Usos from the mix using The Bloodline. When a compelling story can be told, it should be. Leave the tag team matches for the teams starting, the ones that still need years of development on screen.
The Build-to and Fallout of a New Day Breakup
In an ideal world, this story would involve Big E and happen at WrestleMania. Sadly, there is no real reason to assume Big E will be back, so WWE needs to forge ahead. Perhaps the go-home Raw for Survivor Series has a mini-tournament to determine who has the next dibs at the Intercontinental Champion on the Raw afterward.
After yet another week of fighting, Kingston tells Woods that he seems to have forgotten who he is talking to. Woods wants to prove himself, but Kingston already has. They must face one another in the first round of the tournament.
Kingston wins after a tough bout and offers Woods his hand. Woods accepts and hugs his partner. It is not time for The New Day breakup. On the Raw after the Survivor Series, Bron Breakker is on the ropes against Kingston when Woods helps him retain.
He lays a beatdown out of nowhere on his partner and on R-Truth, who comes out to try and break up the assault. Xavier Woods explains he is tired of watching and talking about other people’s moments. Woods admits that it’s possible that Kingston doesn’t need to worry about his wins and losses, but he does.
They get a match, one-on-one, for Saturday Night’s Main Event, and it is another solid fight. This time, though, Woods is able to roll up Kingston, and then dish out a much worse beatdown. In winning his match, Woods can enter the Royal Rumble at the prime spot of number 27.
He talks about how the Royal Rumble is usually about Kingston, but he took him out, so it is about him this year. When it is Royal Rumble time, Woods does pretty well. When he gets tossed over the top rope to give us our final four, he lands on a cart being pushed by sound techs.
He breaks into a fit of laughter, getting an inadvertent “Kofi Kingston Spot.” After this, he realizes the tech pushing the cart is Kingston in disguise, who tosses him to the ground, ending his match. The rest, of course, is precisely what you would expect.
Saying Goodbye to The New Day
How does the unthinkable become a reality? A false start on a New Day feud would be one of the biggest fumbles in WWE history. If The New Day breakup is upon us, the next few months are going to be critical.
A false flag on the breakup would be interesting; it toys with fans who know the end is here but are hoping against hope that they don’t have to see it. Everyone involved can carry a feud. Xavier Woods is criminally underrated and can come out of WrestleMania poised for a big year in 2025.
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