WWE reportedly has some regret over allowing Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed to leave the company following The New Level’s successful AEW debut.
Kofi and Creed, formerly known as Xavier Woods in WWE, made their surprise AEW debuts at All In 2026. The longtime tag team joined Swerve Strickland in the Trios Roulette match and immediately captured the AEW World Trios Championships.
The New Level have also made it clear that the AEW World Tag Team Championships are among their goals since arriving in the promotion. Their departure from WWE reportedly represented a significant internal loss, and their immediate success in AEW has now raised questions about how their exits were handled. According to WrestleVotes via Fightful Select, a WWE source believes this is the first time the company has shown genuine regret over not bringing the pair back.
“I did meet up with a source in WWE. He told me that this is the first time he thinks there is regret on WWE’s side of things for not having them come back. This is the first time there is a disconnect between TKO and WWE.”
WWE And TKO Reportedly Had Disconnect Over The New Level
The report suggested that WWE officials did not necessarily share TKO’s position regarding the departures of Kofi and Creed. WrestleVotes’ source claimed WWE’s parent company may have mismanaged the situation, adding that many within WWE did not want the former New Day members to leave.
“The person I spoke to today said, ‘You know what? Maybe TKO mismanaged this one.’ People in WWE never wanted to see them leave. A lot of people in that company had a lot of interaction with Kofi and Austin, and they loved them. They were beloved in that organisation. Everyone in that office in Stamford, a lot of those guys who worked with them, felt that was a big loss. It was a morale loss to have those guys depart.”
Kofi and Creed had spent more than a decade together in WWE as part of The New Day before leaving the promotion earlier this year. Their AEW careers have since started with championship gold, with The New Level and Strickland leaving All In as the new AEW World Trios Champions.
