Big E Reveals The New Day Was Originally Pitched As A Nation Of Domination-Style Faction In FCW

The New Day as fans know them — pancakes, positivity, and championship reigns — nearly never happened. Big E appeared on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet and shed light on how radically different the group’s origins were, revealing that the original creative pitch for the faction drew inspiration from the Nation of Domination, the militant heel stable that rose to prominence in the late 1990s.

Big E traced the concept back to the group’s early days in FCW, WWE’s developmental territory, where the initial version of the faction included Xavier Woods, Byron Saxton, and Abraham Washington alongside Big E himself. The makeup of that early lineup alone underscores just how far the eventual New Day drifted from its starting point — Saxton, of course, went on to become a familiar face on WWE television as a commentator rather than an in-ring performer, and Washington never made it to the main roster in any significant capacity.

The Nation of Domination connection is a striking one. That group, most associated with Faarooq and a young Rocky Maivia — before he became The Rock — was built around a confrontational, us-versus-them identity that placed racial politics front and center. A modern reimagining of that template would have been a sharp departure from the exuberant, fan-friendly characters Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods eventually inhabited.

Instead, The New Day debuted on the main roster in 2014 as a gospel-inflected babyface act that was soundly rejected by crowds before WWE pivoted them to heels — a turn that paradoxically made them beloved. They went on to become one of the most decorated trios in company history, holding the SmackDown Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions and building a fanbase that stretched well beyond hardcore wrestling audiences.

Big E’s comments offer a rare look at how close WWE came to taking a completely different road with three of the past decade’s most popular performers.