The New Day Contemplating “Quitting” WWE: What Happens Now? (VIDEO)

Kofi Kingston came extremely close to realizing his WrestleMania dreams but at the very last moment, they were ripped away from him. The 11-year veteran ran the Gauntlet on the March 19 edition of SmackDown Live, wining all five announced matches.

Sheamus, Cesaro, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton were all pinned and Erick Rowan lost by disqualification. Kofi did everything he was asked to do and in the end, it wasn’t good enough. That’s because of the unannounced match against WWE champion Daniel Bryan, which Kingston lost. Once again, Vince McMahon has ruined everything for Kofi and The New Day. But now there’s a new twist to the story.

Big E took to Twitter on March 20 and voiced his frustrations. He was sincere, he was serious and most importantly, he was very believable. In an environment in which everyone watching knows they’re getting worked, this promo significantly blurred the lines between fact and fiction. 

But then again, that’s what WWE strives for these days. Kayfabe has been replaced by worked shoots, where no one knows what’s really going on. This is exactly what’s happened with Kingston and The New Day. However that does not mean that Big E’s words weren’t highly effective and extremely thought provoking.

Watch The New Day contemplating their future in WWE:

“We’ve had some time to contemplate what happened on Tuesday night and obviously Kofi’s performance and the aftermath and our reaction to all of that and a little bit of time too to reflect on I guess, kind of our careers and why we do this.

You think of this business to some degree being a meritocracy, that if you work hard, you show up early, you stay late, you do all the right things, you jump through all the right hoops, you’re respectful, you don’t break the law, that you get good at your craft, you really hone that, that you find a place with fans you separate yourself, you find a niche, you separate yourself from a character perspective, from an in-ring perspective, you do everything, you check all the boxes, you show up in shape, you do everything that’s asked of you in this business, that if you do all those things, you have a good chance of making it to the top.

But now we understand the game. We see what the game is, that people like us will only get so far. That you can climb the mountain, they’ll let you climb the mountain. But as far as getting to the peak and and staying at the peak, it’s not a thing that people like us—historically—and moving forward, clearly, can only get so far. So you know we’ve done a lot of cool things here. We’ve been able to do a lot things that we never could’ve imagined we could do. But clearly we are never meant to be more than this. And for people like us, that’s not enough. And it will never be enough.

So you know we gotta sit back and think whether continuing to be gone for 250 days plus a year is worth it, of missing the family time, of doing this to our bodies, you know, leave a piece of yourself in the ring that you can never get back, all the things that you give, if it’s worth it, when we can only get this far. So we got a lot of thinking to do. You know, obviously proud of Kofi, proud of us as a trio, proud of what we’ve done, but if this is all we ever will be? I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

WWE’s desire to be “real” has now taken on a life of its own and its surely being done by design. It’s difficult to imagine that The New Day would go out on their own with this Tweet. It’s possible that Big E wanted to stir things up but considering how much control WWE typically has over the talent and social media, it’s highly unlikely. But this promo does raise some interesting points. 

Perhaps the first glaring observation from many fans is the insinuation that Vince is treating The New Day unfairly because of their skin color. While the company has used this angle in the past, most notably with The Nation of Domination, it’s interesting to see this avenue pursued in 2019. Maybe it was just the way Big E chose his words when he said “people like us will only get so far.” Perhaps there’s a deeper meaning behind that than WWE is willing to explore, but only time will tell.

pic.twitter.com/ml7MhQwOGj

— Ettore “Big E” Ewen (@WWEBigE) March 20, 2019

But the real thrust of this promo is the idea that The New Day has done everything possible to succeed, yet they can’t go any further. While longtime pro wrestling fans will probably scoff at this notion and suggest that Kofi Kingston “man up” and just keep fighting back, what is the real point?

Kingston has indeed done everything Vince McMahon wanted him to do. He went though hell on SmackDown Live to get his shot and he’s done it more than once. Kofi asked Vince what he needed to do in order to get to WrestleMania. Vince answered, Kingston did it and then McMahon took it away from him again. In any other company, in any other profession, an employee would likely find no alternative at this point than to go somewhere else. 

It’s a situation that unfortunately happens far more than it should. A loyal worker puts in years of service, works hard to get a promotion and does everything necessary to earn it. But at the last moment, he’s out of the running without a second thought. All of the work he put in to get ahead was for nothing and his only recourse at that point is to take his experience and his ambition to another company with better opportunities. 

Watch Vince McMahon once again rob Kofi Kingston!

Obviously Kofi Kingston did not actually defeat five WWE Superstars in the ring and all of this is nothing but a storyline. But when taken in the context of a real world situation, which is what WWE wants, then suddenly The New Day considering their options makes perfect sense. But could this move backfire?

What if fans see this another way and use this promo against Kofi? Most of the time, when a  Superstar threatens to quit because he doesn’t get his way, that Superstar is a heel. After all, it seems like a loser’s way out. Why not stay and fight it out? Isn’t that what a hardworking, heroic babyface would do? Wouldn’t that babyface eventually win the day because of his refusal to give up his dreams? Kofi Kingston should fight his heart out and do everything in his power to achieve his goals. Right?

But he’s already done that. He’s done that and much more. So maybe this promo won’t backfire and fans will take The New Day’s side because they view The McMahon Family as being nothing more than a cutthroat bunch who continue to step on everyone because they can. Or maybe this is all leading to something much more bizarre down the road. Either way, the fans want Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania and they want him to win the WWE Championship while he’s there. Anything less could be a major disappointment.

 

Tom Clark can regularly be seen on Wrestling Rumors. His podcast, Tom Clark’s Main Event, is available on iTunes,YouTube, iHeart Radio, boinkstudios.com and live every Friday at 12pm EST on Wrestling Rumors Facebook Live