Kofi Kingston Talks The New Day Possibly Moving On To Singles Careers
Kofi Kingston's career didn't start with The New Day, but his union with Big E and Xavier Woods revamped all three of their careers. Forming the stable didn't happen all at once. The former Intercontinental Champion appeared on The Unsanctioned Podcast and discussed how the five-time WWE Tag Team Champions started their union.
"Myself, Xavier Woods, and Big E were just three guys who were just not satisfied with our positions in the company," Kingston began. He said they wanted to join forces and told Vince McMahon no matter what they were given to do, they would make it a success. This attitude worked in time, but it took some patience.
"We had about 5 or 6 months of going back and forth with [McMahon] trying to figure out what we wanted to do, and then one day he pulled us into his office and said: 'Okay guys, I got it, I want you guys to be preachers. I want you to preach positivity.'"
The New Day eventually evolved into more than preachers, but the three knew they could take the initial idea and make it work. The three mid-carders realized this new preacher idea was just a starting point and it would at least get them on television. They were also confident their chemistry would carry it to success.
"We all were kind of feeling the same thing, like oh my gosh, he took us for our word. In his mind, he thought it would be well received by people, but in our minds, we knew that it was not, but we knew that our chemistry would be able to carry it though."
Fans didn't accept The New Day at first. Kofi said the initial rejection was disheartening, but at least they were getting a reaction. Fans reacted with "such vitriol and hate and anger" that The New Day knew they had something with their new gimmick. Thier mission was to preach the Power Of Positivity, but the trio's heel tactics made hypocrites out of them.
"This got under people's skin, but after a while of being the bad guys, people started to embrace us," Kingston continued. "This is the thing that is very telling of our society today, is that we came out telling people to be better, be anything that you can be, be positive, and they rejected us. And then when we started doing bad things, they embraced us. Where are we in society that we do bad things and get cheered for it. But either way, it's been a wild ride, man."
The New Day has a great time, but nothing can last forever. Kingston addressed the possibility of a breakup and pointed out how all three of them had singles careers before the group's formation. Kingston has no complaints because he's been on WWE television for over ten years at this point and considers himself fortunate. The New Day isn't so much looking for a breakup, but to utilize their numbers advantage to pursue successful singles careers as part of a stable.
"The reason that we formed the New Day in the first place is because we weren't satisfied with where we were as singles competitors. And now, we have three people, which makes going for a singles championship that much easier, because why wouldn't you come out there with your friends? Every time we go out there it's a three on one situation. So, as far as pursuing singles careers, we've talked about that and it would be cool to have a 'New Day Rules' where we defend a singles title."