One of WWE's most well known tag teams is no more with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston of New Day no longer with their company after both were given their releases.
As noted initially, it was a mutually agreed upon decision between WWE and the duo with a new report indicating that the team was approached by WWE/TKO and asked to restructure their long term contracts that they just recently signed. Kingston and Woods rejected that ask and instead requested their release which was granted and it is believed that the two made up their mind on leaving WWE by last Monday.
Fightful Select reported that both wrestlers will be under the normal 90-day wait period before they can appear or sign with another wrestling promotion, however, it's no secret that they would draw immediate and significant interest once they are free and clear of their WWE deals.
The backstage reaction to New Day's departure was shock amongst WWE wrestlers, many of whom felt that the two wrestlers would be in WWE for life, especially Kofi Kingston. However, the reality of the current WWE climate is that nobody is a "WWE lifer" anymore.
Kingston will legally still be able to use "Kofi" wherever he may appear since that is part of his real name while the "Xavier Woods" name is owned by WWE but he is likely to use "Austin Creed" once outside of WWE, a name he has been working to establish anyway. The "New Day" name as it pertains to wrestling is owned by WWE.
Prior to being released, Kingston and Woods both signed new five-year contracts paying them seven-figures that would have taken them into 2030. However, TKO undertook a massive initiative to shed millions in dollars of payroll which is why all the releases took place last week and why the company approached Kingston and Woods to take pay cuts.
