Pay cut WWE offered New Level rumored to have been 75 percent

The pay cut WWE offered Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods is rumored to have been as high as 75 percent.

While making the media rounds after their AEW debut, the former New Day members confirmed that the offer they were given to remain with WWE came with a pay reduction of more than 50 percent. They chose to be released rather than take those restructured deals. Kingston & Woods have now landed in AEW and are already the Trios Champions with Swerve Strickland.

Conrad Thompson, while co-hosting the Grilling JR podcast with Jim Ross this week, said he’s heard the proposed pay cut from WWE was 75 percent. That has not been directly confirmed by Kingston & Woods, past that the number is more than 50.

“More than 90 days ago when we found out that New Day was no more in WWE, and there was lots of rumors and innuendo at the time that they were [offered] a 50 percent pay cut,” Thompson said. “The rumor and innuendo that I’ve heard is it was actually a 75 percent pay cut. And some of that was confirmed on an interview with Ariel Helwani. Now, they didn’t say 75, but that’s the number I’ve heard bandied around.”

Jim Ross reacts to Kofi Kingtson & Woods joining AEW —

Kingston & Woods are now individually known as “Kofi” and “Austin Creed” in AEW. Their new tag team name is “The New Level.”

On Grilling JR, Ross said his assumption is that WWE ran out of ideas for Kingston & Woods and offered them this significant pay reduction as a way to get them to leave. Ross believes they’ll be great additions to AEW and could thrive as either babyfaces or heels.

“It’s a good hire, and they’re going to be great additions to the team,” Ross said. “No matter if they’re babyfaces or heels. For a while, I’d keep them babyface — for sure. Until they got more established and their gimmick and their name got more established, so forth. But somewhere down the road, the perfect bodies and temperament to be outstanding heels. They can feed a comeback amazingly well… and that’s an art form. Arn [Anderson] and Tully [Blanchard] used to do the same thing, but they didn’t fly like those two cats.

“Nonetheless, good get for us. I’m happy for them. They’re good guys. They’ll be a positive influence in the locker room, because AEW’s got a lot of young guys… They’re great additions to the roster. Kudos to Tony Khan for getting them, and getting them in a hurry.”

Kingston has said that, while financial considerations were a factor in their decision to depart WWE, the biggest thing is that he and Woods want to work and showcase their skills. Changing scenery is scary, but they knew this was the right decision. They’re excited to work with all of the tag teams in AEW.

New Level competed on Dynamite for the first time last night, teaming with Strickland to retain the Trios titles over The Rascalz.