Backstage Details on New Level Match Timing at All In

It was a surprise that nearly every online fan knew was coming, but it went over huge anyway: Austin Creed and Kofi are back on TV; they are All-Elite and going by the name The New Level, and together with Swerve Strickland, they are the reigning AEW Trios Champions.

For fans who knew exactly what was up, there had been some talk that the timing in the trios match felt off. In the latest Fightful Select Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp addresses the timing of the match, noting that the plan was always for them to enter after the top of the hour. Once the rules were nailed down, the idea was always to hook viewers into the match on the preshow, but keep the New Level’s big debut on the pay-per-view part of the broadcast.

As The New Day, Kofi and Creed were one of the most successful WWE tag teams of all time, but they left when TKO recently asked them to take a pay cut of more than 50 percent. The New Level name references not just the next phase of their careers, but also their longtime love of video games and gameplay imagery. They signed their deals less than 24 hours before their debut.