Former WWE Champion Big E has reflected on The New Day’s shocking split in December 2024, admitting that the storyline’s follow-up “didn’t go the way we wanted.”
During a celebration marking 10 years of The New Day on Raw, Big E made a surprise appearance and offered to manage his former teammates, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. Instead, the pair rejected him and kicked him out of the group in one of WWE’s most emotional segments of 2024.
Following the split, Kingston and Woods became two of WWE’s most hated heels, but the storyline gradually lost momentum as they drifted back into the tag-team division without a major feud or reunion angle involving Big E.
Big E addressed the issues while speaking with Chris Van Vliet. The former World Champion first addressed criticism from fans who questioned the angle, given that he was not expected to return to in-ring action. Big E also revealed original pitches to have R-Truth or Jey Uso be The New Day’s target:
“So, I know a lot of the complaints afterwards were, ‘If Big E wasn’t going to get cleared, why are we doing this?’ We were not in limbo about me being cleared or not. We knew that those guys really wanted to turn heel, and they wanted to do something with me that would service that.”
He then revealed that early pitches for the heel turn involved either Jey Uso or R-Truth before WWE ultimately decided to make him the focal point of the angle:
“Initially, the goal was Jey was a babyface at the time, very hot, and the initial thought was, okay we’ll do something where the physicality is on Jey, that gets shut down. We thought, oh, R-Truth is beloved, maybe the physicality would be on Truth, that gets shut down. So we thought, okay, these guys want to turn heel. I know I’m not going to be cleared. We’re not leading to anything with those guys, so they kind of came up with a bit of an idea, and I thought, okay, cool, this is what you want to do. I’m still in this position where I’m with the company, and it doesn’t behove me for me to be a heel commentator, that’s not what we’re trying to do.”
The former WWE Champion added he was excited by the prospect of creating a genuinely emotional segment and wanted to draw on his growing acting experience to make the moment feel authentic:
“So, the idea of doing something with some real gravitas, or something that actually hit people in the chest, was exciting. So, I had some feedback, and I thought the idea of, please forgive me audience, but I thought the idea of throwing out this hook of I could return, I could help you remember who you are, I could come here, I’m not cleared yet, but I’ll be your manager, I’ll be here with you weekly, we’ll bring back that old New Day that people remember and love, we’ll get our juice back. I love the idea of throwing out a hook that got people up, and then having those two take it away, and just that moment of, and for me too. With the article, I was reliving a lot of my pain, a lot of my struggle, and I just wanted to stay in that feeling, as someone who is trying to do more acting and learning more about actors’ process, I wanted it to feel real and genuine.”
Big E Explains Why The New Day Split Never Got Its Payoff
Continuing, Big E recalled his idea to get some revenge on his former friends. Noting that Kofi Kingston became famous for his elaborate Royal Rumble saves, Big E wanted him and his fiancée to be hidden in the crowd when Kingston landed on the barricade. The couple would then eliminate Kingston from the match. However, the backstage team did not want to do this plan at the time:
“It’s the follow-up that, unfortunately, I don’t think went as well as we all would have liked. I even pitched an idea. I love the idea of me sitting for the Rumble. Imagine Kofi does a save where he ends up on the barricade. There’s some dude with his hat low because they were taking shots at my fiancée at the time too, so I love the idea, maybe our hats are real low at the time, Kofi lands on the barricade. We tilt our heads up, take our hats off, and then maybe there’s a swipe of the foot, and we cost him the Rumble, he goes out, something like that. But creative had other plans, I was told, ‘Hey, that’s something we can get to later, ‘and I’m not a save it guy. Oftentimes, people like, oh, let’s save that idea for later, but things with creative and direction move so much, we have a great idea, let’s capitalise on it now.”
Concluding, the former WWE Champion stated that while they put their all into Big E being kicked out of the group, the follow-up did not go the way that they had intended:
“But ultimately those were the two who were going to carry it. Creative had ideas. My role is now as a broadcaster for the PLEs, so ultimately I just thought let’s try to make this break-up the best we can, and the rest is in their hands. So unfortunately, the follow-up of that turn didn’t go the way we wanted, but we were proud of the initial heel turn.”
The storyline’s lack of payoff became an even bigger talking point after Kingston and Woods departed WWE in May 2026, leaving fans wondering whether the angle would ever receive a proper conclusion. Big E was asked if the frustration about the segment was what led them to exiting the company:
“I don’t want to speak for them. I know when the time is right, I’m sure they’ll have a lot of things to say. There are things out there about pay cuts and whatnot. I just know, look, this ownership is not the same ownership that existed when we first signed to the company. It is their company, it is not ours. So they make their decisions with how pay goes, and ultimately, we all have to abide by that.”
Despite the storyline’s disappointing aftermath, Big E made it clear that he remains proud of the emotional segment itself, believing The New Day’s breakup succeeded in creating a genuine reaction from fans, even if the planned payoff never materialised.
Featured image: WWE
