Kofi Talks Unfair WWE Terms, AEW Tag Division As Motivators For Switching Promotions

Two of the most shocking WWE departures following WrestleMania 42 were those of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, who are now going by Kofi and Austin Creed following their debut at AEW All In: London. In the weeks that followed the news of them leaving WWE, it was also revealed they were asked to take massive pay cuts. Rather than take the cuts, which Kofi has revealed to be more than 50 percent, the men chose to leave.

The New Level offered more information about what led up to their decision, and AEW debut alongside Swerve Strickland as a trio, on the "Ariel Helwani Show." Kofi said they were going to be 100 percent honest and didn't mince words on their departure.

"We just thought that the terms that they wanted us to perform under were not fair, based on what we brought to the table," he said. "Based on what we're worth. Based on the knowledge and the prowess that we have as performers, as wrestlers and what we can give back to the younger people. What we can do from a point of entertainment. Going out there to garner reaction as good guys or bad guys, no matter the situation."

Kofi said they took a lot of pride in being "Swiss army knives." He said that compensation was a big part of things, but even more so, the team wanted to wrestle and showcase their skills.

"We love going out there and messing with the fans," Kofi said. "We love going out there and threatening to ground kids and really garner reactions from people and send them home with incredible memories that they never forget... We really take a lot of pride in being able to give the people their money's worth and what they came for, and we wanted to work."

In addition to knowing their worth and wanting to work in the ring, Kofi said they realized that tag team wrestling wasn't a priority in WWE. He said they "looked across the pond" and saw teams like the Young Bucks, FTR, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, Private Party, and the Dogs, all tearing it up in AEW, and wanted to be part of things.

"We see all these tag teams going out there and having bangers, and just sitting there thinking like, 'Man. What if we could be involved with that?'" Kofi said. "You watch AEW pay-per-views and I'm literally jumping out of my seat like a fan again. It excites me to watch that show. So, [Creed] and I were thinking, like, 'Hey, what if we could be a part of that? What if we could add ourselves into that mix as one of, if not the greatest tag team, in the history of this industry.' And be a part of something special that they've built over here at AEW, and that was really the determining factor."

Kofi said that going out to have banger matches and doing what they love is what this AEW run is all about for them. He said they didn't want to be frustrated at work, but to go out and have incredible, entertaining bouts. He said that manifesting and believing in yourself is the major message, to him, about their jump between companies.

"Being able to walk through the curtain at All In for AEW was like super emotional," he said. "I'm kind of getting emotional about it now because we just believed in ourselves."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.