To coincide with the New Day's 10th anniversary, Big E recently penned a reflective biographical essay for "The Players' Tribune," covering everything from his childhood through the 2022 neck injury that ended his career. He revealed that early concept stages for TheNew Day were more akin to the Nation of Domination than a jovial threesome with their own cereal.
"Woods' initial idea for The New Day was to reboot the Nation of Domination. The Nation was a faction of Black militants. And while it had a lot of cool moments, and those guys are all legends," Big E explained. "Woods, Kofi, and I are not militants. But I think that just tells you what it's been like at times to be a young Black wrestler trying to make it. You pitch based on what you feel will get you on TV. And what you feel will get you on TV is probably what's gotten on TV before. And what's gotten on TV before is a very narrow definition of Blackness."
WWE's original vision for The New Day featured gospel-inspired vignettes with Woods preaching before a Black choir, inspired by Southern Black church imagery. Big E admitted he was partially to blame for that since he'd been experimenting with a sermon-like cadence that WWE's front office enjoyed. But he mentioned it didn't quite fit with what he or his teammates were all about.The trio slowly shed the gospel slant, eventually incorporating more fun, wacky elements of their personalities.
Even as the WWE acknowledges the incredible staying power of The New Day, their breakup continues to be teased on WWE programming. Woods and Kingston remain at odds as they rack up losses on "Raw," both in singles action and as a tag team.
