WWE offered New Level pay cut of more than 50 percent

WWE didn’t approach Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods with a 50 percent pay cut — the number was actually larger than that.

After debuting for AEW at All In 2026, Kingston (now just known as Kofi) and Woods (Austin Creed) appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show today and addressed rumors of what led to their WWE departure. News of their WWE release broke in early May, with the word being that Kingston & Woods opted to leave instead of taking restructured deals for less money. It was rumored that they were offered 50 percent pay cuts, but Kingston says that’s not quite accurate.

“I don’t know exactly what’s out there. I will say, it was more than 50 percent, which a lot of people don’t know,” Kingston said.

Woods detailed the phone call he received when this pay cut was offered. He never expected the call to be bad news, and what was being said didn’t make sense to him. He and Kingston spoke and quickly came to the conclusion that they had to leave WWE.

“That was the first time that we had the conversation. We realized like, ‘Hey, we gotta go, right?’ This doesn’t work for us,” Woods said. “This isn’t what we want to be doing. To Kofi’s point, we want to work. We want to be able to have these matches and fulfill these goals and dreams.”

Kingston said that, while compensation was “definitely a big part,” of why they chose to leave, the biggest reason was that they want to work and showcase their skills. The thought of joining the AEW tag team division immediately brought excitement, so they knew this was the right move. In WWE, they felt like tag team wrestling wasn’t really a priority.

Though he did not want to sound arrogant, Kingston thought New Day had accomplished enough where they wouldn’t be in this position. He did not feel the offer from WWE was fair, but Kingston is not bitter and holds no ill-will toward the company. He’s excited for the future and ready to keep chasing his dreams.

“This is so like arrogant to say, but I’m just going to say it. Like, I don’t mean it in a cocky way, but when you have the career that we’ve had collectively as a group, you feel like, you know what I mean, you would not have to be in a position where you’d have to go and bet on yourselves again. But here we were,” Kingston said. “We found ourselves in that exact position. And as a father, if we didn’t try to do this, if we didn’t follow our hearts, how could I go back and tell my kids to go follow their dreams? To believe in themselves, to block out what people are saying about you or how they feel about you and believe in yourself. Like, if we didn’t do that, I would feel like such a hypocrite.”

Woods noted that he did not receive a “thank you” call or text from WWE higher-ups upon their departure.

Big E’s WWE status —

The team of Kingston & Woods are now known as The New Level in AEW. They won the AEW Trios titles with Swerve Strickland at All In and are now set to defend the belts against The Rascalz on Dynamite this Wednesday.

During the Helwani interview, Kingston & Woods also addressed no longer being in the same company as their friend Big E. They confirmed that Big E is on a completely different WWE contract that is separate from their situation. Big E is now a broadcaster for WWE on PLE pre-shows and post-shows after having his in-ring career ended due to a broken neck in 2022.

Big E is on a different path career-wise and has been for a while now, but Kingston & Woods said they’ll always be connected and will always be brothers. They want nothing but the best for each other.