The New Day is a professional wrestling stable performing in the WWE, composed of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. The trio are the current WWE Tag Team Champions in their second reign. The stable originally debuted on the July 21, 2014, episode of Raw, however made their television debut as "The New Day" months later on the November 3, 2014, episode of Raw. They won their first WWE Tag Team Championship in 2015 at Extreme Rules, with Big E and Kingston gaining the victory. They became two-time tag team champions by winning the titles again in 2015 at SummerSlam. During their reigns, The New Day defended the titles under the Freebird Rule, with all three members being recognized as champions.
The New Day is a professional wrestling stable performing in the WWE, composed of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. The trio are the current WWE Tag Team Champions in their second reign. The stable originally debuted on the July 21, 2014, episode of Raw, however made their television debut as "The New Day" months later on the November 3, 2014, episode of Raw. They won their first WWE Tag Team Championship in 2015 at Extreme Rules, with Big E and Kingston gaining the victory. They became two-time tag team champions by winning the titles again in 2015 at SummerSlam. During their reigns, The New Day defended the titles under the Freebird Rule, with all three members being recognized as champions.
Early careers and formation[edit]
Kingston made his debut on ECW in January 2008 and has since won many championships in WWE such as theIntercontinental Championship, United States Championship, World Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship. Big E began his career in NXT, becoming the second-ever NXT Champion after defeating Seth Rollins.[1] On the December 17, 2012 episode of Raw, he made his main roster debut attacking John Cena and aligning himself withDolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. In 2013, he won the Intercontinental Championship. Woods signed to WWE in 2010 and worked in NXT until the November 18, 2013 episode of Raw, when he made his main roster debut.On the July 21, 2014 episode of Raw, after Big E and Kingston suffered another loss as a tag team in a recent losing streak, Woods came down to address the two. He declared that they could not "get ahead by kissing babies and shaking hands" and that it would be "their time to shine".[2] The duo then joined Woods and on the following day on Main Event, Woods managed Big E and Kingston to a decisive victory over Slater Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil). However, the group disappeared from television soon after (although they continued to make appearances together at house shows).From the November 3 episode of Raw, WWE began airing vignettes for Big E, Kingston and Woods, with the stable now being billed as "The New Day", displaying a babyface black gospel gimmick.[3] The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Titus O'Neil, Heath Slater and Curtis Axel.[4] On the December 1 edition of Raw, Woods and Kingston competed in a tag team turmoil match to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship, eliminating Gold and Stardust, before being eliminated by Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.[5] On the December 5 episode of SmackDown, Woods and Kingston defeated Kidd and Cesaro with apendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[6][7] At the 2014 TLC Kickoff Show, Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust.[8]
Kingston made his debut on ECW in January 2008 and has since won many championships in WWE such as theIntercontinental Championship, United States Championship, World Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship. Big E began his career in NXT, becoming the second-ever NXT Champion after defeating Seth Rollins.[1] On the December 17, 2012 episode of Raw, he made his main roster debut attacking John Cena and aligning himself withDolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. In 2013, he won the Intercontinental Championship. Woods signed to WWE in 2010 and worked in NXT until the November 18, 2013 episode of Raw, when he made his main roster debut.
On the July 21, 2014 episode of Raw, after Big E and Kingston suffered another loss as a tag team in a recent losing streak, Woods came down to address the two. He declared that they could not "get ahead by kissing babies and shaking hands" and that it would be "their time to shine".[2] The duo then joined Woods and on the following day on Main Event, Woods managed Big E and Kingston to a decisive victory over Slater Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil). However, the group disappeared from television soon after (although they continued to make appearances together at house shows).
From the November 3 episode of Raw, WWE began airing vignettes for Big E, Kingston and Woods, with the stable now being billed as "The New Day", displaying a babyface black gospel gimmick.[3] The New Day made their in-ring debut on the November 28 episode of SmackDown in a winning effort against Titus O'Neil, Heath Slater and Curtis Axel.[4] On the December 1 edition of Raw, Woods and Kingston competed in a tag team turmoil match to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship, eliminating Gold and Stardust, before being eliminated by Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.[5] On the December 5 episode of SmackDown, Woods and Kingston defeated Kidd and Cesaro with apendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[6][7] At the 2014 TLC Kickoff Show, Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust.[8]
WWE Tag Team Champions (2015–present)[edit]
On the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw, while Big E was on his way to a victory against Adam Rose, the team of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, masquerading as Rosebuds, interfered by laying out Woods on the outside and performing their finisher on Big E in the ring.[9] At the Royal Rumble, The New Day's winning streak came to an end when Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defeated Kingston and E.[10] On the March 27, 2015 edition of Superstars, The New Day defeated The Ascension with their pendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[11] A fatal four-way for the WWE Tag Team Championship took place on WrestleMania 31 kick-off, with the New Day included, but they failed to win the titles.[12] The following night on Raw, they were involved in an 8-man tag-team match alongside The Lucha Dragons against Cesaro, Kidd and The Ascension. During the match, the live audience responded negatively to the New Day, with loud "New Day sucks!" chants which carried over into the following weeks. When asked about the crowd's disapproval of them in a backstage interview on the April 6 episode of Raw, The New Day claimed that they were hurt and responded in a more aggressive tone, but maintained their upbeat nature. During their following match against the Lucha Dragons, Kingston attempted a cheap shot from the outside[13] though he wasn't actually involved in the bout; this act would solidify the trio asheels and mark Kingston and Woods' first heel turns in their WWE careers. On the April 20 edition of Raw, The New Day defeated the Lucha Dragons to become number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rulesafter Woods held onto the feet of Sin Cara preventing him from answering the 10 count.At Extreme Rules, The New Day defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship; Big E and Kingston were the participants in the match, but WWE also recognized Woods as champion under the Freebird Rule, in which any two members of a stable can compete for the titles. On the May 4 episode of Raw, New Day defeated Roman Reigns and Randy Orton in a 3-on-2 handicap match. The New Day retained their titles at Payback in a 2-out-of-3 fallsmatch where Woods got the final pin on Cesaro after the referee confused Woods for Kingston who was the legal man in the match. The following night on Raw, it was announced that The New Day would defend their titles at Elimination Chamber in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, in which all three members were allowed to compete. They would retain their titles against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, The Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, Los Matadores, and The Prime Time Players. On June 14 at Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, Kingston would lose the ladder match for aWWE World Heavyweight Championship match contract while Woods and Big E would lose the tag team titles to the Prime Time Players. On July 4, all three members of The New Day competed at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo, Japanon WWE's The Beast in the East when they faced The Lucha Dragons (Big E and Woods) and Brock Lesnar (Kingston) all in losing efforts. New Day (Big E and Kofi) then lost their title rematch with the Prime Time Players at Battleground.New Day would then win the titles for a second time after they defeated the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores, and the Lucha Dragons in a tag team fatal 4-way match at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, The Dudley Boyz made their WWE return and attacked the New Day with Woods being put through a table with the Dudley Death Drop. On the September 14 Raw, Big E and Kofi defeated the Prime Time Players in a title rematch, setting up a title defense against the Dudley Boyz at Night of Champions. On September 20, 2015 at the Night of Champions pay per view, New Day lost to the Dudley Boyz by disqualification and retained their tag team titles.[14] On the September 28 episode of Raw, Woods answered John Cena's Open Challenge for the WWE United States Championship. Cena retained via disqualification when Kingston and Big E saved Xavier from submission after previously being ejected from ringside.[15] The Dudley Boyz appeared afterwards to save Cena, which led to an impromptu six-man tag team match where The New Day were victorious after Kingston pinned D-Von.[16] In a Night of Champions rematch at Madison Square Garden, Xavier would similarly get their team disqualified, saving their title reign in the process but once again being sent through a table.[17]
On the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw, while Big E was on his way to a victory against Adam Rose, the team of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, masquerading as Rosebuds, interfered by laying out Woods on the outside and performing their finisher on Big E in the ring.[9] At the Royal Rumble, The New Day's winning streak came to an end when Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defeated Kingston and E.[10] On the March 27, 2015 edition of Superstars, The New Day defeated The Ascension with their pendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[11] A fatal four-way for the WWE Tag Team Championship took place on WrestleMania 31 kick-off, with the New Day included, but they failed to win the titles.[12] The following night on Raw, they were involved in an 8-man tag-team match alongside The Lucha Dragons against Cesaro, Kidd and The Ascension. During the match, the live audience responded negatively to the New Day, with loud "New Day sucks!" chants which carried over into the following weeks. When asked about the crowd's disapproval of them in a backstage interview on the April 6 episode of Raw, The New Day claimed that they were hurt and responded in a more aggressive tone, but maintained their upbeat nature. During their following match against the Lucha Dragons, Kingston attempted a cheap shot from the outside[13] though he wasn't actually involved in the bout; this act would solidify the trio asheels and mark Kingston and Woods' first heel turns in their WWE careers. On the April 20 edition of Raw, The New Day defeated the Lucha Dragons to become number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rulesafter Woods held onto the feet of Sin Cara preventing him from answering the 10 count.
At Extreme Rules, The New Day defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship; Big E and Kingston were the participants in the match, but WWE also recognized Woods as champion under the Freebird Rule, in which any two members of a stable can compete for the titles. On the May 4 episode of Raw, New Day defeated Roman Reigns and Randy Orton in a 3-on-2 handicap match. The New Day retained their titles at Payback in a 2-out-of-3 fallsmatch where Woods got the final pin on Cesaro after the referee confused Woods for Kingston who was the legal man in the match. The following night on Raw, it was announced that The New Day would defend their titles at Elimination Chamber in the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match, in which all three members were allowed to compete. They would retain their titles against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, The Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, Los Matadores, and The Prime Time Players. On June 14 at Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, Kingston would lose the ladder match for aWWE World Heavyweight Championship match contract while Woods and Big E would lose the tag team titles to the Prime Time Players. On July 4, all three members of The New Day competed at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Sumida, Tokyo, Japanon WWE's The Beast in the East when they faced The Lucha Dragons (Big E and Woods) and Brock Lesnar (Kingston) all in losing efforts. New Day (Big E and Kofi) then lost their title rematch with the Prime Time Players at Battleground.
New Day would then win the titles for a second time after they defeated the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores, and the Lucha Dragons in a tag team fatal 4-way match at SummerSlam. The following night on Raw, The Dudley Boyz made their WWE return and attacked the New Day with Woods being put through a table with the Dudley Death Drop. On the September 14 Raw, Big E and Kofi defeated the Prime Time Players in a title rematch, setting up a title defense against the Dudley Boyz at Night of Champions. On September 20, 2015 at the Night of Champions pay per view, New Day lost to the Dudley Boyz by disqualification and retained their tag team titles.[14] On the September 28 episode of Raw, Woods answered John Cena's Open Challenge for the WWE United States Championship. Cena retained via disqualification when Kingston and Big E saved Xavier from submission after previously being ejected from ringside.[15] The Dudley Boyz appeared afterwards to save Cena, which led to an impromptu six-man tag team match where The New Day were victorious after Kingston pinned D-Von.[16] In a Night of Champions rematch at Madison Square Garden, Xavier would similarly get their team disqualified, saving their title reign in the process but once again being sent through a table.[17]
Characters and reception[edit]
At the beginning, New Day received negative reviews from fans and critics alike. Jim Ross noted that "today's wrestling fan may be a little hard on the talented trio" due to them "espousing such positivity".[20] ProWrestling.net wrote that the New Day "seem to be all about smiling and dancing; one of the three racial stereotypes WWE assigns to their African-American performers".[21] Entertainment website A.V. Club called the gimmick "racist" because "they literally pantomime shooting dice when they get into the ring".[22]New Day began to receive more favorable reactions from fans and critics in mid-2015 after they turned heel and had a series of strong in-ring performances and promos. At times, crowds would chant "New Day rocks" along with the team even though they continued to portray villains on-screen. However, some remained critical of the group; Jim Ross, and Jason Powell from Prowrestling.net, both commented that New Day should be trying to gain "heel heat" as opposed to being comedic.[23]
At the beginning, New Day received negative reviews from fans and critics alike. Jim Ross noted that "today's wrestling fan may be a little hard on the talented trio" due to them "espousing such positivity".[20] ProWrestling.net wrote that the New Day "seem to be all about smiling and dancing; one of the three racial stereotypes WWE assigns to their African-American performers".[21] Entertainment website A.V. Club called the gimmick "racist" because "they literally pantomime shooting dice when they get into the ring".[22]
New Day began to receive more favorable reactions from fans and critics in mid-2015 after they turned heel and had a series of strong in-ring performances and promos. At times, crowds would chant "New Day rocks" along with the team even though they continued to portray villains on-screen. However, some remained critical of the group; Jim Ross, and Jason Powell from Prowrestling.net, both commented that New Day should be trying to gain "heel heat" as opposed to being comedic.[23]
In wrestling[edit]
- Double team finishing moves
- Midnight Hour (Diving DDT (Kingston or Woods) and Big Ending (Big E) combination)[24]
- Pendulum backbreaker (Big E, Kingston or Woods) / Diving double foot stomp (Kingston or Woods) combination[25][11][26][27][28][29]
- Double/triple team signature moves
- The Revolving Door (multiple stomps with frequent tags, followed by Big E Irish whipping Kingston into a corner dropkick to a seated opponent in the corner)
- Entrance themes
- "New Day, New Way" by Jim Johnston[30] (November 28, 2014–present)
- Double team finishing moves
- Midnight Hour (Diving DDT (Kingston or Woods) and Big Ending (Big E) combination)[24]
- Pendulum backbreaker (Big E, Kingston or Woods) / Diving double foot stomp (Kingston or Woods) combination[25][11][26][27][28][29]
- Double/triple team signature moves
- The Revolving Door (multiple stomps with frequent tags, followed by Big E Irish whipping Kingston into a corner dropkick to a seated opponent in the corner)
- Entrance themes
- "New Day, New Way" by Jim Johnston[30] (November 28, 2014–present)
