What is WWE doing with The New Day? Wasting them. That’s the answer. It is as simple as that. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston are two of the most popular performers on the WWE roster, but WWE isn’t leveraging them to their fullest potential. This is sad to see, especially when looking back at the momentum the duo had last year and comparing that to where they are today.
Remember the storyline where Woods and Kingston were hinting at a split? From there, they’d go on to have one of the most talked-about moments of the year when they turned on Big E, shunning him from the group. Fans were locked in, ready to see what this new presentation of The New Day would look like.
At first, Woods and Kingston would get massive reactions from fans. The heat was real, which is important at this level of sports entertainment. However, that momentum was not sustained thanks to the duo not doing much else. As a duo, they’ve had relatively few matches, which speaks to a larger problem of WWE’s booking of the tag team division. Even with a talented pair like The New Day on the roster, the entire division was left on the sidelines.
Woods and Kingston finally captured the WWE World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 41. More than 70 days since picking up those titles, guess how many times they’ve defended the belts? Just once. They are heading into their second title defense on June 30 against The Judgment Day, but there's no excitement about that angle. There’s no way someone could make an argument about them being booked well as champions if they’ve only had one title match since winning the titles. Triple H’s creative direction is ruining the tag team division and even more so The New Day.
Triple H’s booking is to blame for The New Day’s lackadaisical title run
When talking about The New Day and their current run, the conversation has to start and end with Triple H. While his work is better than what was seen under Vince McMahon, it is far from flawless. The New Day’s booking is one of the glaring examples of an act or title simply being an afterthought. There are pieces of creative that are getting adequate care and development, but there’s even more that is left unattended.
Plus, fans will also use this as another example of Triple H failing to properly book Black men on the main roster. From R-Truth’s release and return to Carmelo Hayes’s booking, and the use of The Street Profits, fans are continuing to point out ways that Triple H underutilizes the Black men on the roster. The failure of The New Day’s latest run as tag team champions isn’t going to help stop those accusations at all.
Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were once two of the most important men on the Monday Night Raw roster. Fans were locked into their story, wondering if they were going to split or rally around Big E. That wasn’t the case, and all that build has left to nothing, creating another example of how Triple H’s booking failed a major act on the main roster.