Newly signed AEW stars Kofi (Kingston) and Austin Creed (Xavier Woods) spoke to CBS Sports about their departure from WWE and what led to the decision to sign with AEW.
Kofi said WWE’s request to take pay cuts, which was over 50 percent caught he and Creed of guard. The phone call they received from WWE was difficult, however, the decision to leave the company was not.
“I think it was easy for sure. It was a little scary. It was a little scary because of the uncertainty. For the past two decades, I always knew where I was working. Financially, I knew what I had to do to make plans and prioritize my family’s well-being. We all knew the tangibles. All of a sudden, having that uncertainty of what’s next was very, very daunting.”
When Kofi and Creed were asked to take the substantial pay cut, they were said to have been one year into new five-year contracts. According to the duo to them, the money mattered, especially with how much time they were with WWE and the financial security the company provided. However, it was the other half of the proposal, which were reduced roles which bothered them the most. CBS Sports noted the Kofi and Creed did not want to discuss it. It was added that the pitch made to justify reduced pay was the driving force to leave WWE, where Kofi had been since 2006 and for Creed 2010.
Kofi noted he knew that he and Creed as a team were not done, despite the uncertainty at the time. He also added that he is glad it all worked out in the end signing with AEW, seeing the possibilities as endless.
“I knew that we weren’t done. We didn’t have to be done over here. It’s amazing because there’s so much talent here to work with. That was what was really exciting. So there was a lot of uncertainty, but it was all positive because… whatever route that we chose, it was going to be amazing. The result was going to be amazing. I’m so glad that all of this worked out with AEW now because the possibilities are endless.”
The team said WWE provided little explanation why the lessened value in them changed so quickly. Kofi summed it up to how he works with his children to find solutions when applicable.
“Bring a solution. Like I tell my kids all the time, ‘Don’t tell me what you don’t want to eat. Don’t tell me that you don’t want to eat this. Tell me what you want to eat. Bring something to the table. Let’s get to the solution.’ So that’s really our mentality, figuring out what is next, because what’s next is coming regardless of the reason. We were never given that explanation, but we weren’t really looking for it. We didn’t really care to find out. We didn’t cry. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.”
Kofi added they didn’t leave WWE because they were finished, but signed with AEW because they have something left to prove.
“We want it all. We want to say beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are the greatest tag team in the history of this industry. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. This is the ground that we have to prove it on.”
Earlier in the interview, Kofi and Creed said when they called Big E, who became part of the New Day in 2014, he (Big E) was very supportive of their move to AEW. Big E’s in-ring career ended following a neck injury back in March 2022.
“It was intense. We got on the phone. We all talked and let him know what we were going to do. He obviously said, ‘Do what you have to do. Do what you need to do.’ So that image with the unicorn, that whole thing actually happened. Being able to express it through the animation was really cool. It was really cool seeing that it hit a chord with people. This means something to us. And it’s cool to see that it means something to everybody else too.”
Kofi and Creed under their new team of The New Level, debuted at this past Sunday’s All In at Wembley Stadium in London, England. They won the World Trios Titles with Swerve Strickland in the Trios Roulette Royale. They will defend the belts against The Rascalz on Wednesday’s Dynamite, which takes place live on TBS and HBO Max from the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas.
Tell us in the comments section below, what do you think about Kofi and Creed signing with AEW. Are there any matchups you are looking forward to? Did they make a mistake joining Tony Khan’s company?