It’s no secret that Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods have strongly resisted previous attempts to break up The New Day.
“We’ve heard rumors in the past and had a conversation with a very important person who said, ‘Okay, here’s the idea,'” Big E explained in a May 2020 interview with the “My Mom’s Basement” podcast (h/ t fight for transcription). But we were stubborn [not breaking up]. I understand why the fans want a break up. This is something new. But if you look at the history of breakups, say something more than Shield: they’ve always been designed to split into individual stars, I can’t think of a breakup that benefits all members.”
Thursday afternoon, Faithful Selection Report Vince McMahon in particular, who Big E called “the most important person” in 2020, made several attempts to break The New Day. Notably, prior to the team’s injury woes, first with Big E’s broken neck and then Kingston’s recent ankle injury, McMahon “made repeated attempts” to break them up. Two specific incidents were mentioned: a brief attempt to avoid referring to Woods and Kofi as “The New Day” unless Big E was with them, as well as Woods, who had recently won King of the Ring, taking on Kingston. McMahon chalked up the latter to “what a king would do”, and Woods successfully fought him.
The Fightful Select Report was the catalyst for some exposure when WWE writer Dave Schilling tweeted the day before about McMahon’s reaction to the fanbase rejecting his choice of Kurt Angle as his opponent. match at WrestleMania 35.
