Big E isn’t sure we’d be seeing him as WWE champion right now and Xavier Woods as King of the Ring had it not been for KofiMania.
In his mind, fellow New Day member Kofi Kingston having fan support spontaneously spark a story that pushed him to become WWE champion in 2019 helped bring about what the group hoped for all along. They wanted New Day to be a faction where they could stay together and still be able to branch out into single programs.
“This is what we envisioned and we didn’t do any of that until KofiMania,” Big E said in a phone interview with The Post promoting his Survivor Series match with Roman Reigns on Sunday. “We just kind of operated as this weird three-man, Freebird-inspired group for so long in the tag division.”
Kingston, who has been with WWE since beginning in developmental in 2006, was a late add to the 2019 Elimination Chamber match after Ali went down with a real-life injury. WWE fans got behind him that night and for the rest of his run toward beating Daniel Bryan in an emotional match at WrestleMania 35 for his first world championship in the company.
“I think it definitely helped to open the eyes of the people who matter that, hey these guys can do more than be the eventual 30-time tag team champions or whatever we were destined to be,” Big E said. “We can do other things. We can do solo stuff.”
The trio, which debuted in 2014, has been split up on different WWE brands since October 2020. Big E was sent his own way as a single competitor, while Woods and Kingston remained a tag team. Since then, Big E won the Intercontinental championship in December 2020, Money in the Bank in July and beat Bobby Lashley in September for his first world championship. Woods fulfilled a lifelong dream by winning the King of the Ring tournament in October.
Big E called it “beautiful” seeing him and New Day continue to reach new heights this deep into their WWE careers without any of them having to turn on one another in a storyline.
“A lot of people who have been around this long can kind of peter out,” he said. “We could have sat in this position where we could put younger talent over and we’re just collecting paychecks. We’re somehow knocking out even bigger goals seven years and change into our run.”
Big E is thankful to Kingston going out in 2019 and showing how beloved he was as a singles competitor, having the emotional run as champion that helped open the door for him and Woods to have singles success of their own.
“I think that definitely helped show, oh, there is enough with the three of us for us all to get these opportunities,” Big E said. “I’m thankful for Kofi for having such a great run and such a great reaction and being so beloved.”