The New Day (wrestling)

The New Day

From left to right: Kingston, Big E and Woods in January 2015
Stable
Members Big E
Kofi Kingston
Xavier Woods
Name(s) The New Day
Combined
weight		 702 lb (318 kg)
Debut July 23, 2014
Years active 2014–present
Promotions WWE

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. During their reigns, The New Day defends the titles under the Freebird Rule, with all three members being recognized as champions.

The stable originally debuted in a July 2014 episode of Raw, but made their official television debut as The New Day in November 2014. 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 later that year at SummerSlam.

The early months of the stable were marked by overwhelming negative reactions to their personas from fans and critics alike, however after turning heel in April 2015 they began to receive acclaim for being entertaining, as well as for their in-ring performances.[1][2][3][4] In 2015, the trio were collectively named "WWE Wrestler of the Year" by Rolling Stone, while also becoming the first trio to win the Pro Wrestling Illustrated award for Tag Team of the Year and being recognized as the Best Gimmick of the year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.[5][6] The trio later converted back into faces in early 2016.

History

Early careers and formation

Kingston made his debut on ECW in January 2008 and has since won many championships in WWE such as the Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, World Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship. Big E began his career in NXT, becoming the second NXT Champion after defeating Seth Rollins.[7] On the December 17, 2012 episode of Raw, he made his main roster debut attacking John Cena and aligning himself with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. In October 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".[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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 Goldust and Stardust, before being eliminated by Tyson Kidd and Cesaro.[11] On the December 5 episode of SmackDown, Woods and Kingston defeated Kidd and Cesaro with a pendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[12][13] At the 2014 TLC Kickoff Show, Big E and Kingston defeated Goldust and Stardust.[14]

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.[15] At the Royal Rumble, The New Day's winning streak came to an end when Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defeated Kingston and E.[16] On the March 27, 2015 edition of Superstars, The New Day defeated The Ascension with their pendulum backbreaker and diving double foot stomp combination.[17] A fatal four-way for the WWE Tag Team Championship took place on the WrestleMania 31 kick-off, with the New Day included, but they failed to win the titles.[18]

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[19] though he wasn't actually involved in the bout; this act would solidify the trio as comedic heels 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 Rules after Woods held onto the feet of Sin Cara preventing him from answering the 10 count.

WWE Tag Team Champions (2015–present)

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 falls match 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 a WWE 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, Japan on 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, Xavier walked down the ramp, carrying a trombone, which would later be named Francesca. After Kofi and Big E's match, 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.[20] On the September 28 episode of Raw, Woods answered John Cena's open challenge for the United States Championship. Cena retained via disqualification when Kingston and Big E saved Xavier from submission after previously being ejected from ringside.[21] 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.[22] In a Night of Champions rematch at Madison Square Garden, Woods would similarly get their team disqualified, saving their title reign in the process, but once again being sent through a table.[23] This kept him from appearing at any events up to and including Hell in a Cell.[24] At the event, despite his absence, Woods' trombone (held by Big E) was used to grant New Day the upper hand so that Kingston could hit Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall.

The New Day led their own team at Survivor Series including King Barrett and Sheamus, but left the match prematurely to tend to Big E after his elimination.[25] The following night on Raw, they would celebrate their one-year anniversary with a WWE Tag Team Championship open challenge accepted by both Lucha Dragons and The Usos.[26] The New Day chose instead to cancel their challenge and have the two teams face off the following week for number one contendership.[27] Due to Big E and Kofi Kingston attacking each legal member of the match, it was declared a double disqualification. This tactic turned on the champions as a triple-threat match was then scheduled for TLC for their titles.[28] Later on in the same night The New Day teamed with the newly formed League of Nations to defeat The Usos, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a 7-on-4 Handicap match.[29][30] The New Day successfully defended their titles in a triple threat ladder match after Xavier Woods spiked Kalisto with his trombone off the ladder, allowing Kingston to gain the championship suspended above the ring.[28] The New Day were able to retain their championship again on a special live edition of SmackDown on December 22 against The Lucha Dragons.[31] In January 2016, New Day began a feud with Chris Jericho, who lead The Usos to a number one contendership victory, earning them a WWE Tag Team Championship match at the Royal Rumble, where The New Day successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Championship.[32] Kingston took part in the Royal Rumble match, avoiding elimination by landing on Big E's shoulders and parading around the ring for a few minutes, before eventually being eliminated by Jericho.[33]

Face turn (2016–present)

At Fastlane, The New Day appeared on The Cutting Edge Peep Show, where they taunted Edge, Christian, and The League of Nations. This started a confrontation between the three teams, but The New Day said it was their "day of rest", and left the arena.[34] The New Day then began appearing on a number of backstage segments, parodying The League of Nations members, starting a slow face turn in the process.[35]

After being defeated by the team of Chris Jericho and AJ Styles on the February 29 episode of Raw, the two demanded that The New Day defend their championship against the two on the next Raw. It was confirmed later on that night that The New Day would defend their titles against Y2AJ (Styles and Jericho) on the March 7 Raw. On March 7 they successfully defended the tag team titles against Y2AJ.[36] On March 12 at Roadblock, The New Day defended the titles against King Barrett and Sheamus of The League of Nations, where they emerged victorious.[37] Then on the Raw after Roadblock, The New Day defeated Alberto Del Rio and Rusev too, but then they were attacked by the stable after the match, thus cementing their face turn. Over the next few Raw episodes, the stable members would wrestle in singles competitions. On March 14, Kingston would defeat Barrett, and on March 21, Big E would defeat Rusev. The New Day would suffer a loss to The League of Nations at WrestleMania 32 after a cheap shot from Barrett in a six man tag match (the titles were not on the line). The feud came to an end on the April 4th episode of Raw when the New Day defeated Sheamus and Barrett in a match for the tag team titles, in which afterwards Barrett was banished from their stable and they were attacked by the Wyatt Family.

In the build up to Payback 2016, a tournament was set in place by Shane McMahon to determine the next challengers to the WWE Tag Team Championships. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady and The Vaudevillains competed against each other in the finals; the match ended in a tie after Amore suffered a legitmate concussion during the bout. Due to Amore's injury, The Vaudevillians were granted a title match against The New Day at Extreme Rules (2016).

Characters and reception

Initially characterized as stereotypical black gospel characters, The New Day initially received overwhelming 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."[38] 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".[3] Entertainment website The A.V. Club called the gimmick "racist" because "they literally pantomime shooting dice when they get into the ring."[39]

Upon transitioning away from the gospel aspect, The New Day developed their own unique identity of frequently excited proponents of positivity, which sees them usually encourage live audiences to clap along with them.[40][41][42] In 2015, Woods began bringing a trombone to the ring and playing it during the group's entrance and matches, later naming the trombone Francesca.[43] Also in late 2015, a unicorn pony was incorporated into The New Day's newest shirt,[44] and the trio began making unicorn gestures, using their fingers as horns and even having interviewers claiming to perceive them having "unicorn magic".[45] The group later began wearing plastic unicorn horns during their ring entrance. One of their assault tactics was also named after this theme.[46] Also in 2015, The New Day began using the word "Booty" as their catchphrase and began occasionally using it to mock other wrestlers and the host city where Raw was taking place, such as calling Birmingham "Bootyham". In 2016, The New Day introduced their "Booty-O's" cereal, while claiming "They make sure you ain't booty", and even had a giant "Booty-O's" box at WrestleMania 32 as part of their entrance, and later "Booty-O's" shirts were created and were a very lucrative success.

In vast contrast to the gospel-based version of The New Day, the new positivity-based version of the group began to receive a much more positive reception 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. Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone named the group as WWE's Wrestlers of the Year for 2015, describing them as "a hat-trick of pro-wrestling awesomeness" having "transformed from preachy dreck to a source of constant entertainment".[1] In early 2016, Aaron Oster of The Baltimore Sun described them as "the most entertaining wrestling act of the past few years".[47] Former WWE Champion CM Punk praised New Day for getting over on their own.[2] At the end of 2015, the group won Wrestling Observer's Best Gimmick award.[48] However, some remained critical of the group; Jim Ross and Jason Powell from ProWrestling.net both suggested that The New Day should be trying to gain "heel heat" as opposed to being comedic and, following the 2016 Royal Rumble, James Caldwell of PWtorch noted that the group's babyface opponents came out "mainly to boos since New Day was too entertaining", adding that the group "don't act overly-heelish to get heat. So, [their opponents] continue to suffer opposite New Day."[49]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

1Big E, Kingston and Woods defend the title under the Freebird Rule.

References

  1. 1 2 "WWE Wrestler(s) of the Year: The New Day". Rolling Stone.
  2. 1 2 "Jim Ross comments on Jimmy Snuka's arrest, WWE Tag Champs New Day going for laughs, Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae locker room segment on Raw". prowrestling.net.
  3. 1 2 Pruett, Will (2 December 2014). "Pruett's Pause: WWE Raw - Laptop in charge, Seth Rollins and John Cena set up their main event program, A New Day's new day, Tag Team Turmoil, Luke Harper, and more!". Prowrestling.net. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  4. ↑ Ferguson, LaToya (31 March 2015). "March 30, 2015 · WWE Monday Night Raw · TV Review · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  5. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/wwe-wrestler-s-of-the-year-the-new-day-20151214
  6. 1 2 "The New Day's first Tag Team Championship reign".
  7. ↑ "Big E vs. Seth Rollins - NXT Championship Match: WWE NXT, Jan. 9, 2013". WWE.com. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  8. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (21 July 2014). "WWE RAW Results - 7/21/14 (Brock Lesnar returns)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "A New Day is coming: Raw, Nov.3, 2014". YouTube. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  10. ↑ Tedesco, Mike. "WWE Smackdown Results - 11/28/14 (Daniel Bryan appears)". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "No. 1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match: photos". WWE.com. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  12. ↑ "WWE SmackDown results, recap, reactions (Dec. 5, 2014): Stretcher job!". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  13. ↑ "WWE Smackdown Results (12/5) - The New Day vs Cesaro/Kidd, Ziggler vs Harper, Ryback/Rowan vs Rollins/Big Show". Wrestlezone. 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  14. ↑ Artus, Matthew (2014-12-14). "The New Day def. Gold & Stardust". WWE.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  15. ↑ "Big E vs. Adam Rose: photos". WWE.com. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  16. ↑ Laboon, Jeff (25 January 2015). "Cesaro & Tyson Kidd def. Kofi Kingston & Big E". WWE.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  17. 1 2 "WWE Superstars TV Report 3-27-15: The New Day vs The Ascension; Emma still dancing, still losing". F4wonline.com. 2015-03-28. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  18. ↑ "Title Match Set For WrestleMania Kickoff Pre-Show". WrestlingInc.com. 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  19. ↑ Benigno, Anthony (6 April 2015). "WWE Raw results: Orton overcomes 'Extreme' odds to become No. 1 contender". WWE.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "The Dudley Boyz def. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day by Disqualification". WWE. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "Raw results". 28 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Raw results page 2". 28 September 2015.
  23. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/network-live-msg-lesnar-big-show/2015-10-03/results-28001373/page-5
  24. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/hellinacell/2015/new-day-dudley-boyz-28014470
  25. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/survivorseries/2015/ryback-lucha-dragons-usos-new-day-barrett-sheamus-28222442
  26. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-11-23/wwe-raw-results-28258193/page-4
  27. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-11-30/wwe-raw-results-28306413/page-6
  28. 1 2 http://www.wwe.com/shows/wwetlc/2015/tag-team-championship-triple-threat-match-28305728
  29. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-11-30/wwe-raw-results-28306413/page-10
  30. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=142216&page=2
  31. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2015-12-22/supersmackdown-live-results-28409722
  32. ↑ http://heavy.com/sports/2016/01/wwe-royal-rumble-2016-results-highlights/
  33. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2016/01/24/wwe-royal-rumble-live-results-and-reaction/#12ca43992cf5
  34. ↑ http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/wwe-fastlane-2016-live-results-brock-lesnar-vs-roman-reigns-vs-dean-ambrose-207716
  35. ↑ http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/0224/607985/the-new-day-mocks-the-league-of-nations-video/
  36. ↑ http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/682167-wwe-raw-results-030716/5
  37. ↑ http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/684063-wwe-roadblock-results-031216
  38. ↑ Post date: 12/23/2014 - 4:33pm (2014-12-23). "VADER on Ross Report Podcast Tonight, Lucha Underground, Ken Shamrock, #WrestleKingdom9 & the Sooners, RAW Thoughts, Bones vs. Cromier @ufc | J.R.'s Family Bar-B-Q". Jrsbarbq.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  39. ↑ Ferguson, LaToya (31 March 2015). "March 30, 2015 · WWE Monday Night Raw · TV Review · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  40. ↑ "PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler in an Intercontinental Title match". PWTorch.com. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  41. ↑ "HITS & MISSES - 12/15 WWE Raw: Jericho, Lesnar's Return, The New Day, Roman Reigns, TLC fall-out, more". PWTorch.com. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  42. ↑ "2K Tournament of Champions: Xavier Woods". March 6, 2015. [wearing a "BRONY" shirt] Xavier Woods here, reigning and defending 2K champion. This year at WrestleMania, people are gonna come and try to take my title, take my championship. That cannot be done, you ban't neat me! Brony: don't care, what up? Step up, and get bought!
  43. ↑ "1/19 WWE on ESPNews – New Day introduces new trombone, more". 19 January 2016.
  44. ↑ "The New Day "Feel The Power" Authentic T-Shirt". PRODUCT NO: W10497
  45. ↑ "Superstars and Divas pick Survivor Series dream teams: 2015 edition (page 4)". 19 November 2015. Woods disappeared in a puff of unicorn magic and the booming note of a trombone.
  46. 1 2 Layfield, John. "Ryback & The Usos vs. The New Day: Raw, November 16, 2015". This is the Unicorn Stampede, is what this is.
  47. ↑ "The Rock returns on Raw". The Baltimore Sun.
  48. 1 2 Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (Campbell, California): 46. ISSN 1083-9593.
  49. ↑ Caldwell, James. "1/24 Royal Rumble PPV Results – CALDWELL’S Complete Live Report". Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  50. ↑ "Big E and Xavier Woods(The New Day) - The Midnight Hour". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  51. ↑ "Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston(The New Day) - Backbreaker and Top Rope Double Foot Stomp Combo". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  52. ↑ "12/16 WWE Main Event Results: New Day in Action". Wrestlezone.com. 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  53. ↑ "The New Day vs. The Ascension: WWE Superstars, March 27, 2015". WWE.com. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  54. ↑ "The New Day vs. The Ascension: WWE Superstars, March 27, 2015". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-08-24.
  55. ↑ Big E & Kofi Kingston vs. Heath Slater & Titus O'Neil: WWE Main Event, July 22, 2014. YouTube. 22 July 2014.
  56. ↑ http://www.wrestleview.com/wwe-wrestling-results/wwe-raw-results/56905-wwe-raw-results-11-16-15-live-results-from-greenville
  57. ↑ http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/results/wwe-raw-results-11-16-the-wyatt-wyatt-vs-kane-the-undertaker-lots-more/4
  58. ↑ http://www.1wrestling.com/2015/11/10/what-happened-this-week-wwes-monday-night-raw-15/
  59. ↑ http://www.wrestleview.com/wwe-news/56433-wwe-msg-results-10-3-15-live-results-in-new-york-city
  60. ↑ http://tjrwrestling.net/the-john-report-wwe-battleground-2015-review/
  61. 1 2 "FCW Profile". Florida Championship Wrestling. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  62. ↑ "4/15 FCW TV REPORT".
  63. ↑ Chiverton, George. "CHIVERTON'S WWE NXT EVALUATION – 8/1". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 10, 2012. The best was undoubtedly where instead of a clothesline, Big E. simply ran into/over Mercer. It was frankly hilarious. The finish came with E. hitting "The Big Ending," which is a powerslam pick-up into a cutter.
  64. ↑ "Just for Kicks: WWE’s top 10 kicks". WWE. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  65. ↑ Parks, Greg (January 31, 2014). "PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1/31: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including The Shield vs. Daniel Bryan & Sheamus & Rey Mysterio". PWTorch. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  66. ↑ "JAMES'S WWE NXT RESULTS 6/19: Wyatts vs. Ohno & Graves & Neville six-man tag, Summer Rae wins tourney match, El Generico, Xavier Woods, more".
  67. ↑ "SmackDown analysis". ProWrestling.Net. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  68. ↑ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2015-11-23/five-point-preview-28252687/page-4
  69. ↑ Layfield, John (22 November 2015). "WWE Network: 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Survivor Series 2015". Survivor Series. We got an Irishman, we got unicorns down. (as Sheamus and New Day fall out of the ring)
  70. ↑ "WWE: New Day, New Way (The New Day) - Single". iTunes.
  71. 1 2 "WWE Wrestler(s) of the Year". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
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