Big E Pitched to Cost Kofi Kingston at 2025 Royal Rumble as New Day Heel Turn Follow-Up Falls Short of Expectations

The end of the New Day as fans knew it came on the December 2, 2024 episode of WWE Raw, and now Big E is opening up about what he had hoped would come next — and why it didn’t quite land.

On that Raw, the iconic faction officially disbanded when Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods turned on Big E, calling him out for abandoning them during his lengthy injury absence and then returning with the expectation of sliding back in as their manager. It was a moment years in the making, given that Big E had been sidelined since March 2022 following a serious neck injury that kept him out of in-ring competition.

Big E has since admitted that he pitched an idea to continue the story in a meaningful way at the 2025 Royal Rumble — specifically, that he would cost Kofi Kingston at the event. However, he’s also acknowledged that the overall follow-up to the New Day heel turn didn’t unfold the way he and those involved had envisioned.

It’s a candid admission that speaks to the challenges of executing long-term storytelling in WWE. The New Day’s disbanding was a genuine shock given the group’s decade-plus run as one of the most beloved acts in the company’s history, and the expectation was that the fallout would carry significant momentum. The fact that Big E himself feels the angle didn’t reach its potential is telling, and it raises questions about what the next chapter looks like for all three men going forward.