Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston say Big E’s neck injury stunted The New Day: ‘We should have evolved’ years ago

The New Day are no strangers to reinvention. Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E were once three directionless superstars. Together, they formed one of WWE’s most decorated tag teams after escaping the old regime’s outdated vision of how a Black male faction is portrayed. More than a decade after The New Day’s debut, Woods and Kingston’s characters are changing drastically.

Woods and Kingston, once two of WWE’s most beloved superstars, can hardly be heard under choruses of boos. Fans loathe them for abandoning Big E and expelling him from the group. Woods and Kingston’s callousness was something fans hadn’t seen from them before.

“This has definitely been an incredible creative outlet,” Woods told CBS Sports at the WWE 2K25 red carpet ahead of the game’s March 7 release. “…Every seven years you change. You are a completely different person. Your mind changes because you get new social stimuli and you figure things out about yourselves. It’s always a work in progress.

“Our work in progress is now something we can share with people. Unfortunately for them, they don’t seem to like it. But just like when we started New Day, they didn’t like it. We were sharing who we were then. This is who we are now and you don’t like it. So will this be a thing where in a couple of months or a year they’ll say, ‘Oh, you know what? We really like this.’”

The New Day re-debuted in 2014, after coming together and quickly being removed from TV, with a one-dimensional, heroic black gospel gimmick that didn’t connect with fans. The negative crowd response encouraged the WWE to turn the group villainous. It was a blessing that gave The New Day more creative license to sprinkle their personalities into their characters. A trombone, unicorn horns, and references to anime and video games fleshed out their characters. The fans — finally allowed to see the superstars’ true personalities — caught on. 

A meteoric run followed that saw the trio collect 11 main roster tag team titles, one WWE championship reign for Kingston and Big E each, and a King of the Ring crowning for Woods. The New Day’s major tonal shift in 2025 again allows them to deviate from what others expect them to be.

“We’ve always been ourselves,” Kingston said. “We always know what we’re doing is for a good cause. Whether the people get on board right away or get on board later, that doesn’t affect us either way. Our job is to go out and do what we think is right. We know eventually people will get on board too.”

The New Day was irreversibly shaken on March 11, 2022. Big E was stretchered off of WWE SmackDown after being spiked on his head and legitimately breaking his neck. It’s unlikely The New Day’s powerhouse will wrestle again despite recovering well. Big E’s terrifying injury and potential comeback put The New Day in a holding pattern that took years to break out of.

“We stayed the same. We stayed The New Day,” Woods said. “We stayed bright, colorful and unicorn horns and, ‘Yay! Ice cream and pancakes.’ We stayed that way for E, not realizing E wasn’t coming back.”

WWE’s critical success has flourished under the guidance of chief content officer Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H. WWE superstars are given more flexibility in how they approach their on-screen personas compared to the rigid, heavily scripted direction of former chairman Vince McMahon. Until now, Woods and Kingston have sat idly by as others benefitted from the new landscape.

“We should have evolved and changed into something else years ago,” Woods said. “Every single other person on the roster has explored their minds and the new space they have. We have guys like Bron Breakker on the roster now. Killers! Guys like Bronson Reed. Killers! And we’re supposed to stay the same? No, we can’t.”

Check out the full interview with The New Day below.

This bitter new iteration of The New Day is a refreshing update to one of WWE’s most influential acts of the last decade. The New Day certainly has enough memorable moments to one day star in a WWE 2K “Showcase Mode.” The mode is a consistent high point in the series interweaving gameplay and archival video footage to relive iconic careers and moments. 

Kingston and Woods naturally picked their WWE and King of the Ring title wins, respectively, as worthy inclusions in a theoretical “New Day Showcase,” but called on their personas to produce a tongue-in-cheek answer about which Big E match deserves recognition.

“I think the one he had with Titus O’Neil,” Kingston said. “It was a SmackDown. I’m not sure, you’ll need to do your research. It was a fantastic match. Titus was ensnared in some microphone wires. E was very mad. It was a good beating. He taught him a lesson.”

Kingston also applauded their countless matches against The Usos, which could potentially be included in this year’s showcase starring The Bloodline.

“The Hell in a Cell match with The Usos,” Kingston said. “I don’t say it to be braggadocious, I say it because it’s the truth. Any match we had with The Usos exponentially got better. If you watch the historic progression of the matches we had, it’s top-notch stuff. Anything involving The Usos and The New Day would be amazing for the people to play.”