Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[The Thread Killer]

This Tweet has been getting a lot of mileage today: 

UFC was pretty infamous for making these exact kind of moves before TKO bought them, and since then? Yeesh.

[El-P]

The past regime released shitload of people during the pandemic, so it's not like WWE worried about optics before. But yeah, it's only gonna get worse. They released *two* injured wrestlers too btw (Zoe & Escobar, I believe).

[C.S.]

4 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

The problem I can see is that both of those guys have worked for WWE for so long, I don’t know if they would be able to make the change from WWE style to AEW style. There is a really big difference. And I will be honest, a lot of the stuff New Day has done recently has been pretty cringe backstage comedy, and light on actual in ring action. I’m not saying they couldn’t cut it in AEW, but I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that they would.

2 hours ago, El-P said:

What I've seen of Kofi Kingston years ago, that is when he wasn't 44 years old, is that he was a "very good 2010's WWE worker". See also, Matt Cardona or Nic Nemeth. And by that I mean : he was never that great of a worker and was wildly overrated in the grand scheme of things

1. Being a "good worker" is overrated.

2. Most of the "good workers" in AEW are wildly overrated as such.

New Day is about as no-brainer a signing as it gets for AEW.

I will agree with the the part about the backstage comedy though. While I liked it more than you did, that's not really in AEW's DNA. However, Kofi and Woods proved they could be effective serious characters when they turned on Big E. It's not their fault the "genius booker" didn't follow up on it. Not like they're alone in that either. See: Cena, John.

No one seems too concerned about what their new names will be. I think Kofi (his real name) and Creed (Woods' trademarked name) rolls off the tongue nicely as a team name. 

[sek69]

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

This Tweet has been getting a lot of mileage today: 

UFC was pretty infamous for making these exact kind of moves before TKO bought them, and since then? Yeesh.

I think what is especially jarring is that WWE is still trying to do the old "we're a family company" schtick while owned by a company that has made it abundantly clear they don't give a shit about anything like that. 

One thing they may not be realizing is this is probably speedrunning the end of the "everyone's dream is to go to WWE" era. 

[Johnny Sorrow]

The New Day are fucking great. There was a long time where they were one of the only acts in WWE that were actually over. When my nephew was young they were his favorite act by far, to the point where when he had lost interest he'd always watch a New Day match. They were so over that they were one of the only acts that clearly weren't reciting scripted shit and were creating their own shit.  If Kofi and Creed showed up in AEW I'd start watching some of their TV again and not just go to every show they play in Denver.

[El-P]

6 hours ago, sek69 said:

I think what is especially jarring is that WWE is still trying to do the old "we're a family company" schtick while owned by a company that has made it abundantly clear they don't give a shit about anything like that. 

One thing they may not be realizing is this is probably speedrunning the end of the "everyone's dream is to go to WWE" era. 

Yeah, this. This is why they are such a cult, because that's what they are selling, both to their audience and to their workers. The idea that you'll get your Mania Moment and such, which really doesn't actually exist nor means anything in real life. The worst thing that can happen to WWE is being seen as "one pro-wrestling promotion among others". For fans, it may take a while, if ever, because they won the branding war a lot time ago, because they had every advantages doing it (NY territory, money to buy all the stars from everywhere).

But for wrestlers... TNA was never strong enough, but a guy like Ospreay had said it before, he was a TNA kid. Thekla coming back from Japan wanted to be in AEW, that was her shit. With more time passing by and AEW being a strong alternative (and alternative is the key word, and that means stylistically also, hence the emphasis on yes, *good workers* and hell, actually *great workers*, and not understanding this is not understanding what AEW is nor what his audience wants), it weakens the perception of WWE being the only place to be. And it's not just a matter of "where to work", but also what value you put on yourself as a talent. Vaquer, Monroe, Keys, all taking *less money* just because they want to work for a THE logo ? Not smart. Especially when the "dream" is just a corporate myth that can be cut off at any moment, and more than ever before, and getting worse.

(not to mention the smell of the "dream", ethically speaking, but that's another matter)

[El-P]

https://www.postwrestling.com/2026/05/03/roman-reigns-no-longer-advertised-for-wwe-raw-appearances-in-june/

Restructuring deals, uh ? 

 

[DMJ]

- The New Day are a very good tag team and took a terrible gimmick and got it mega-over with the live audiences and sold a ton of merch through chemistry and personality. They'd be a good signing, even if only for a year or two. You bring back the trombone, you give them a "chant-able" name, you let them be them, and the live crowds are going to be engaged and loud (just like they always were in WWE) and that looks good on TV. Also, the fact that so many of their colleagues are tweeting support is only helping. The bullets that the "anti-WWE smarts" load in their guns against any former WWE talent coming to AEW are getting pulled out by every pro-New Day tweet that the Bucks or MJF or Mercedes or Swerve sends out.

While I agree that AEW has established itself as a place for great wrestling/great wrestlers, that doesn't just mean the Ospreays and Swerves of the world. Kofi and Woods are solid in-ring, safe workers, have good signature stuff, etc. This isn't AEW going out and signing The Ascension or The Highlanders or the Prime Time Playas or the Bloodline or Wyatt Sicks rejects, these are guys with experience who can hang with the best tag teams.*

- As for the Reigns thing, I'm guessing this is just another example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.



* I know it was across many years and some were singles and not tags, but Kofi and Woods had some good matches against Danielson, Cesaro (& Kidd), Mistico (I think? Not sure who was playing Sin Cara at the time), FTR, Shelton, Samoa Joe, etc. These are not guys who will need to have their hands held to get them through a good match. 

[El-P]

Dax fantasy booking...