The New Day: We’ve Felt The Power

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we discuss the breakup and legacy of The New Day.

Is now the right time to break up The New Day?

David Gibb: Two or three years ago would’ve been the right time to break up The New Day. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all-time greats at what they do; I just wish they’d had more opportunities to shine as standalone singles stars. Between New Day and Brodus Clay, Woods has never been his own man on the roster. Similarly, Big E is mostly associated with either New Day or Ziggler. There was a window to spin all three out into viable main eventers for at least a short span and WWE let that window close rather than act.

Chad Gelfand: I don’t think that there was any reason that The New Day had to split up. Big E can still go on his own while Kofi and Xavier can be doing their own separate thing on the same show. We’ve already seen with Kofi’s WWE Championship run that The New Day doesn’t have to be split up for one of them to go on a singles run. The New Day are one of, if not the best factions in WWE history, so why would you want to split them up and take away a major part of their characters?

Juan Bautista: Yes, it’s like when The Shield broke up. They could have lasted longer, but they split at the right time. The major difference is that the audience will be behind all three. It would’ve been nice if we got that image of The New Day with all the gold, but we’ll probably get another Benoit and Guerrero moment down the line.

John Corrigan: It’s the right time for Big E to break out, but I’m not sure what happens to Kofi and Xavier. A long time ago, Kofi implied that The New Day would be his final run. If he leaves and Xavier doesn’t find another partner, I don’t have high hopes for his future in WWE. Perhaps he’ll become an analyst like Booker T or JBL.

Jack Goodwillie: Sure. Look at what they were able to accomplish in terms of longevity alone. Nobody does that in 2020 wrestling, particularly in WWE. And make no mistake, the story of The New Day is not close to over. Through going their separate ways, Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods will have the opportunity to actually show what The New Day was able to do for them as individuals, and there’s a ton of intrigue in that.

Will Big E become a main event star in WWE?

Gibb: If he’s booked as one consistently and picks up dominant wins. He’s not missing anything whatsoever.

Gelfand: In order for the separation to be even justifiable, Big E needs to become Universal Champion. Big E’s ready. He’s been ready, and he’s got all of the tools to be a successful main eventer. WWE just needs to pull the trigger, and it’s imperative that it lets him fully be himself, which yes, includes the silliness that we love.

Bautista: Yes, just let him be. Don’t change his character – he has a nice blend of having fun, but also being serious.

Corrigan: Despite everything I said above, I have no faith in WWE to book Big E properly. And if it does happen, it will be five years later like what happened with Roman Reigns.

Goodwillie: I may have mentioned this in the past, but do you remember the quandary WWE found itself in maybe six years ago? SHIELD was just breaking up and Triple H, who was set to work a program with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose on and off for the next year, was sold on building Reigns into the next face of the company. Vince McMahon, meanwhile, was banging the table for Big E to be that guy. The difference at the time was Big E had no where close to the level of steam Reigns had. While Reigns’ faction had just broken up, Big E was nothing more than Dolph Ziggler’s heavy. My point is Big E always had the qualities a main event star should possess, but at the time was thin on the experience that sort of role demands. Now, he has it and can reach incredible heights if the ball bounces right.

What’s The New Day’s greatest match?

Gibb: The ladder match with The Revival at TLC 2019. The New Day showed they were the complete WWE package with a match that offered both classic wrestling psychology and modern era thrills and chills. Most of all, the match showed New Day’s maturity as an act after five years, as they avoided the rushing over-ambition that plagues most ladder matches.

Gelfand: The Hell in the Cell match with The Usos was a masterpiece and told a great story. It was the perfect conclusion to the Usos and New Day’s rivalry. A brutal match that resulted in both teams growing mutual respect for one another.

Bautista: There are a few good choices. The TLC 2015 match with Lucha Dragons and the Usos. They had probably the most creative Hell In a Cell match in quite some time with The Usos, too. Xavier was handcuffed and hanging from the ring post and Jey Uso was blocked off by kendo sticks. Don’t forget the Payback match against The Wyatt Family, which was highlighted by Xavier overcoming his fear of Bray.

Corrigan: vs. Usos at Hell in a Cell 2017. They told a great story with Xavier being tortured until making a last-ditch effort to overcome the odds, but ultimately falling short.

Goodwillie: Battleground 2017 against The Usos. The reason? In my head, I knew it had to be one of the New Day’s many matches with The Usos, but my first thought was, “could it have been Battleground 2017?” And sure enough, the two tag teams did have a match that night, and just as I remembered, it was in this match that Xavier Woods actually got to work the match instead of manage and he may have been the MVP of the four members. Anyhow, if you’re going to go to the well of dozens of Usos and New Day matches, I don’t blame you. It was through their work with one another that really opened my eyes to how special both teams are.

What’s The New Day’s greatest moment/angle?

Gibb: It’s pretty well-documented that I hate fun, but the first time they did the big Booty-O’s plug was very funny.

Gelfand: The entire KofiMania angle was one of the best storylines of all time. Everyone in The New Day helped to elevate that storyline by doing some of the best, most meaningful promo work of their careers and helping to make the storyline bigger than wrestling.

Bautista: The Rap Battle probably has to be at the top. Kofi talking shit about country music in Nashville. Big E making pancakes in the back seat on Ride Along was great, too.

Corrigan: Kofi’s run to the WWE Championship. From hanging with Daniel Bryan inside the Elimination Chamber to Big E and Xavier going through the tag team gauntlet to Kofi finally striking gold at WrestleMania. Even though they’re a team, it felt like their purpose was to get Kofi to the top of the mountain, and they succeeded.

Goodwillie: It’s definitely NOT “The Old Day.” Say what you want about Paul Heyman “getting Gallows and Anderson fired,” but anybody with a shred of respect for their careers would have fought tooth and nail to make sure that segment didn’t happen. Honestly though, there aren’t a ton of great New Day segments that come to mind. The cereal box and pancakes, that was all a bit goofy for me, but I do remember the first time Xavier Woods brought out the trombone and would actually blow the horn and use the slider as Big E would hit moves in the ring. I remember popping big for that element the first time I saw it.

What’s The New Day’s legacy?

Gibb: New Day grew from a generic WWE offering of “three people with one thing in common grouped together” into one of the great “true teams” of their era. On top of that, they were a powerful force for representation in WWE during a time where the look, feel and style of the roster was evolving rapidly.

Gelfand: They’re the greatest faction in WWE history. Over DX, over Evolution, over The Shield. The New Day is the greatest faction in WWE history. Their longevity and chemistry is unmatched. The New Day built themselves from the ground up and took it all the way to winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Along the way, they never compromised who they were. They were great wrestlers, silly and unapologetically Black, all wrapped in the same package. New Day were uniquely themselves, and that’s why fans loved them so much, and that’s what their legacy will be.

Bautista: Everybody needs to be given time to succeed. Xavier Woods was fresh out of the WWE Performance Center, Big E was unfortunately just another guy on the roster and Kofi Kingston was floundering. They got together and made an audience that hated them at first fall in love pretty quickly. Hell, they even got their own cereal!

Corrigan: The New Day has transcended tag team wrestling – they’ve become a staple of pop culture. Merchandising mavens, they’re known around the world for their unicorn horns, colorful T-shirts and of course, Booty-Os. With Kofi Kingston’s unlikely WWE Championship reign, Xavier Woods’ uber-popular UpUpDownDown video game channel and Big E’s popcorn-gobbling meme, the trio has become the cornerstone of WWE and the finest sport-entertainment ambassadors. And that’s not to mention being the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions ever!

Goodwillie: It’s still yet to be determined once we see where the three members go from here, but as of this writing, in terms of the lump sum of what it takes to be great superstars and a great tag team, The New Day is the best tag team to come through WWE in a very long time. How long? Well, that depends on how you see tag team wrestling in WWE. We know how WWE views tag teams, though, and this particular team gave WWE a reason to care about them and put the marketing machine behind them to make all three guys look like a million bucks. Still, longevity is definitely the first thing that jumps to mind when I think of The New Day.