New Level Detail WWE Exit; Say They Were Asked To Take More Than A 50% Paycut, Didn’t Get A ‘Thank You’ From Higher Ups

After ten years as a group and even longer as individuals, New Day, now known as New Level in AEW, departed WWE in May.

The decision to exit the company came as a surprise given their tenure with WWE.

It didn’t take long for them to find work as they joined AEW at AEW All In.

In the aftermath of their departure, it was reported that they were asked to take a pay cut.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the Ariel Helwani Show, Kofi & Austin Creed detailed their WWE exit.

“We just thought the terms that they wanted us to perform under were not fair based on what we brought to the table, based on what we’re worth, based on the knowledge and prowess we have as performers and wrestlers. What we can give back to the younger people and do in entertainment. Being able to go out there and garner a reaction as good guys or bad guys, no matter the situation. We took a lot of great pride in being Swiss army knives. Whatever the situation was, we would make it great and make it entertaining. Compensation was definitely a big part, for sure, but more so, we wanted to work,” said Kofi.

He continued, “We wanted to go out there and showcase our skills and our talents. We wanted to go out there and mess with the fans, threatening to ground kids, garnering reactions from people, and sending them home with memories. We were at a convention, and someone brought up a pancake they had that was 10 years old. We take a lot of pride in giving people their money’s worth. We wanted to work. When it came to tag team wrestling, it really wasn’t a priority, so we looked across the pond and saw the Bucks, FTR, Cope and Christian, Private Party, the Dogs, all these tag teams having bangers. ‘Man, what if we could be involved with that?’ They look like they’re having so much fun. You watch AEW pay-per-views and I’m jumping out of my seat, like a fan again. It excites me to watch that show. We’re thinking, ‘What if we could be part of that and add ourselves as one of, if not the greatest tag team in history?’ That was really the determining factor. Let’s go and try to do what we love to do and feel passionate about our craft and feel like we’re able to give in a way that is significant and matters. To go have bangers every night. That’s what this is supposed to be. You’re not supposed to go to work and feel frustrated with whatever is going on. You want to be able to have time to have matches that are incredible and entertaining. That’s what the goal was. Four months later, here we are. Manifesting and believing in yourself, that’s the major message. When you’ve had the career that we’ve had, you feel like you’re not going to be in the position that you have to bet on yourselves again, but we found ourselves in that position, and if we didn’t try to do this and follow our hearts, how can I go back and tell my kids to follow their dreams and believe in themselves? To face unemployment and not know, even though everyone knew we were coming here; we legitimately didn’t know what the future held. That was exciting. Betting on yourself is exciting.”

Asked if the pay cut was for 50%, Kofi said, “I will say, it was more than 50%. It was more. The compensation is a big part of it, for sure, but the bigger part is being able to go out and live your dream in a way you want to live it out and be appreciated for it. We took it all into consideration and we knew this was the only path to take.”

Helwani followed up, asking if they were blindsided.

Creed replied, “I’m at my kids’ football game, and my phone rings, a 213 number. ‘How do I not have this number?’ A few minutes later, I’m like, ‘It’s close to after Mania, usually there are releases. We’re not getting released. We’ve been helping out and pulling our weight.’ That was a flicker of a thought in my mind that it would be a negative conversation. I get a call from Kofi and he’s like, ‘They called me, they said this and this.’ ‘How is that the conversation?’ It doesn’t make sense to me because of what we’ve been able to do, what we bring to the table, how much we have left to provide for the landscape of pro wrestling. I call them back, I call Kofi, and that was the first time we have the conversation and realized, ‘We have to go. This doesn’t work for us. This isn’t what we want to be doing.’ We want to work. We want to be able to have these matches and fulfill these goals and dreams. When we made that decision, we knew Kofi had never really been on the independents. He’s been in WWE for 20 years. I was on the independents and TNA. Feeling like when we want to wrestle again, we’re going to be able to do some cool things.”

Creed said he was looking forward to getting back out on the road and having Kofi with him to do what they wanted to do.

Kofi gave his story, saying, “When I got the call, it was my son’s birthday. We were celebrating at the RetroCade and I’m like, ‘Why is he calling now?’ I pick it up, he says what he says and is offering the terms and the renegotiation and all that. I hung up, and the most bizarre feeling was like the world had been flipped upside down, getting a call that you never thought you would have or make a decision with, but it’s my son’s day. I can’t emotionally let myself go or fall apart or be pissed off or worried because it’s his day.”

He noted that just because something bad happens in your life doesn’t mean the rest of the world stops, and he had to keep being a father.

He continued, “When I called Austin, it was almost immediately that we knew. We have a hive mind where if I’m thinking one thing, he’s thinking it, E is thinking it. We’re always on the same hive mind. We knew that we couldn’t stay, but you want to do your due diligence and weigh your options. Am I okay financially? Is my family going to be okay? What do I have to do to be okay? The next couple of days was talking with the financial advisor to make sure things were fine. Once we realized the freedom we had, it became very exciting, very quickly.”

Kofi said it was great getting out to the conventions and talking to people again and not having to be a bad guy.

Asked if he thinks WWE was happy they made the decision to leave, Creed responded, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not sure. I don’t know who makes the decisions. We didn’t really have the conversation with anybody super high up.”

Asked if he spoke with higher ups after the decided to leave, Creed replied, “Nope,” saying that there was no call, no thank you, no text.

Kofi said that they aren’t bitter or pissed about things, saying he was grateful and thankful for his time in WWE and everything it brought him.

Fans can find the duo discussing signing with AEW by clicking here.

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