New Day Recall Bringing Kofi Kingston Into the Group, Big E.’s Reservations About Adding Kofi

– On the first edition of their “Feel the Power” podcast, the New Day discussed their origins and bringing Kofi Kingston into the stable. Xavier Woods recalled how the group found its seeds in a group in developmental that also included Bryon Saxton and Abe Washington, while Big E. explained why he had some initial reservations about bringing Kingston on board.

Highlights from the discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

Woods on bringing Kofi into the group: “So, I sat and thought about it for a few weeks, and that’s when I realized this idea we had in developmental called ‘The PLAN,’ it was the People’s Liberation of American Nationalism. It was me, [Big] E, Saxton, and Abe Washington. The New Day’s kind of an evolved thought from that. But it was essentially people who were not happy with their position in the company and wanted more from themselves, and from their job. And so that’s when I went and talked to E. about it. And we kind of shot a bunch of things, and pre-tapes, and kicking back and forth ideas. And that’s when it really hit me, like, ‘None of this is really clicking, none of it is really working.’ And it’s like, ‘I think we need a third person for this to actually work.’ And he’s like, ‘Who?’ And I said, “I think we need to get Kofi.’ For me, like I said, it was like, ‘[sigh] This is either gonna absolutely destroy my career, or it’s gonna be the best thing ever.’ So that’s when we went and talked to you, and you were down. And that’s when the Hustle started.”

Kofi on the conversation: “Do you remember that conversation? I remember it like [it was] yesterday. I was sitting on a crate, and when you guys came up and you started having the conversation with me, everything just kind of clicked. That was what I wanted, that was the change that I was looking for. It’s just like a flashback of me sitting on that crate and you guys both coming up to me and explaining this whole idea, and just like, ‘We can make this work.'”

Big E. on having reservations about Kingston being in the group: “I remember having a conversation with you, Woods, beforehand. You were all in on Kofi. My only reservation was, I thought we needed to be heels for it to work. And I thought, ‘They will never turn Kofi heel. He’s the Ricky Steamboat,’ is actually how I think people from the office described you. ‘He’s a babyface his entire career, he’s just that’ — in a good way. That’s how people described you. So that was my reservation.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE’s Feel the Power with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.