Kofi Confirms WWE Pay Cut Rumors Are Even Worse Than Reports Suggest

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, now Kofi and Austin Creed, left WWE earlier this year after well over a decade each with the company. One of the reasons why the New Day pair decided to leave was reportedly tied to the pay cuts they were asked to take. Not only has Kofi confirmed that to be true, but the reports actually downplayed the drop in pay he and Creed were presented with.

Kofi And Creed Were Asked To Take Big Pay Cuts

Kofi and Creed made their first appearances post-WWE on Sunday, debuting as New Level at AEW All In. As is often the case after departing WWE Superstars leave the company, now that their non-competes have expired and they’ve signed elsewhere, Kofi and Creed can finally talk about how it went down and what really motivated them to part ways with WWE.

In one of their first interviews since leaving WWE, Kofi was asked by Ariel Helwani if there was any truth to the 50% pay cut reports. Reports in which it was also claimed the new deals offered to Kofi and Creed would have also seen them wrestle less and do more community work for WWE. Kofi confirmed that those reports are accurate, in part, but that the pay cut detail is wrong.

“It was more than 50%, a lot of people don’t know,” Kofi confirmed. The former WWE Champion didn’t go as far as to say exactly how much more than 50% he and Creed were asked to leave on the table in exchange for new WWE contracts, but Creed clearly wanted to jump in at that stage too, as he audibly replied “no” to Helwani’s question before Kofi provided the full clarification.

Just How Much Were Kofi And Creed Asked To Sacrifice?

It’s also unclear just how big a pay cut that would have been for the two of them in terms of dollar amounts. However, it’s also most certainly in the millions, especially for Kofi. Not only was Kofi signed to WWE for almost two decades, which would have meant he received several pay bumps, but he was a top star for a significant chunk of his tenure. His final contract would have almost certainly been netting him millions every year.

Kofi and Creed aren’t the only Superstars who have been asked to take big pay cuts by WWE. Sheamus is also leaving the company, and while not confirmed, it’s widely believed that a request for him to sign a new deal worth a lot less than the one he was on is what convinced him to head for the door after all these years.