Backstage Update on Pay Cut Offered by WWE to The New Level

The New Level’s, i.e., Kofi and Austin Creed’s, AEW debut at All In: London has revived discussions around the pay cut that WWE offered the former New Day that triggered their exit from the promotion this past May.

After debuting for All Elite Wrestling at All In: London as ‘The New Level,’ Kofi and Austin appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss their WWE departure, AEW signing, and more.

Following their exit in May, there were suggestions that WWE’s parent company, TKO, offered the former New Day duo a 50 percent pay cut. Kofi debunked that claim on The Ariel Helwani Show, revealing the pay cut was actually more than 50 percent.

Now, Conrad Thompson, co-host of the Grilling JR podcast, has claimed that he’s heard that the proposed pay cut was 75 percent. Here’s what he said [quotes via F4WOnline]:

“More than 90 days when we found out that New Day was no more in WWE, and there was lots of rumors and innuendos at the time that they were offered a 50 percent pay cut. The rumor and innuendo that I’ve heard is it was actually a 75 percent pay cut. And some of that was confirmed on on interview with Ariel Helwani. Now, they didn’t say 75, but that’s the number I’ve heard bandied around.”

It must be noted that neither Kofi nor Austin Creed has revealed during media interactions the exact pay cut they were offered. Meanwhile, The New Level’s AEW debut proved to be memorable, as Kofi and Austin captured the AEW World Trios Championship alongside Swerve Strickland at All In. They had their first title defense on last night’s Dynamite.