WWE Forced To Change Original Plans For New Day Split

WWE had slightly different plans for The New Day.

On what should have been a night of celebration, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston blew apart The New Day on the December 2nd edition of Raw.

Instead of celebrating ten years as a group with the returning Big E, Woods and Kingston decided it was time to remove their friend from the equation.

The pair claimed Big E had turned his back on them since getting injured, saying that Steve Austin and Kurt Angle returned after breaking their necks so why hadn’t he? Woods told him to stop lying to himself and his fans, and just admit he’d never be cleared to return.

Despite the hostility, Big E tried to embrace the duo, but they were having none of it, leaving him to head backstage alone.

WWE Changed Original Storyline

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer praised the segment on Raw before revealing original plans called for things to play out differently. Meltzer explained that creative was forced into making some changes after Odyssey Jones was fired in September.

We were told this had been planned for months. When Odyssey Jones came in, they were going to tease issues with them not getting along but it would end up with Kingston & Woods going heel by choosing Jones and having him publicly replace E. But then Jones got fired and the whole thing was put on hold. It was smart to do it this way.

Odyssey Jones was fired by WWE in early September after allegations of domestic abuse emerged online. Although there was no official comment from the company, Jones was removed from television with all creative plans dropped.

Jones signed with WWE in 2019, but despite being called up to the main roster in 2023 he was forced to wait until August 2024 to make an impact when he briefly teamed with The New Day.