Opinion: WWE breaking up The New Day is good for the tag team division and Big E
On Night One of the WWE Draft, The New Day finally split up after over five years of being together, as Xavier Woods (in his first match back in over a year) and Kofi Kingston, who won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, were drafted to RAW. Meanwhile, Big E was drafted to SmackDown and will now be a solo wrestler going forward.
While this wasn’t the dramatic and best way to break up The New Day, it was the right thing to do, as it helps the RAW Tag Team division, which is sorely lacking in depth. It also shows that WWE is fully committed to Big E as a singles competitor and paints a clear picture as to who might dethrone Roman Reigns as Universal Champion.
Let’s start with the RAW tag team division. While we don’t know what the landscape of the division will be until after Monday’s draft, Woods and Kofi give RAW a star tag team that can make the tag titles feel important again. While the Street Profits have had the longest reign as RAW Tag Team Champions, they really haven’t had any standout feuds or matches during their reign. Their only feuds since winning the titles have been with the Viking Raiders, which was mostly filled with “friendly competitions” as opposed to actual matches. The other rivalry was with Angel Garza and Andrade, who they have been feuding with essentially WrestleMania, sans the Viking Raiders feud during late spring/early summer.
With Woods and Kofi now on RAW, and the Street Profits most likely being moved to SmackDown (unless WWE plans to unify the tag titles), it gives RAW some fresh blood and new feuds. One feud that comes to mind is Retribution, now being led by Mustafa Ali. Ali and Kofi have a built-in story, as it was Kingston who took Ali’s WWE Championship opportunity last year at Elimination Chamber. Ali even referenced this on Twitter, as he simply posted “Hello Kofi”. With that feud and feuds with other tag teams that may be drafted between now and Monday, you automatically have an interesting tag division on RAW again.
What's next for Big E?
As for Big E, this move is even more important, as there is nothing in his way of becoming a singles competitor. When Kofi gave Big E The New Day’s blessing to become a solo competitor, many wondered what would happen once Kofi and Woods returned. Would The New Day go back to being a trio and Big E’s singles run ends before it even begins? Would Big E turn on The New Day or vice versa? Now that we seemingly have the answer to that question, the focus can now be on Big E and his future.
The most obvious route would be to continue to build Big E up as a serious threat until the Royal Rumble. You have Big E look strong in the Rumble match and ultimately win it, thus cementing him as a main eventer. Meanwhile, you have Roman Reigns run through the SmackDown roster and create his own stable. You have that stable makes Big E’s life a living hell on the Road to WrestleMania. You can even have The New Day show up to SmackDown via the “Brand to Brand Invitational” or whatever loophole WWE come up with next to help him out. Ultimately, the story would culminate at WrestleMania, where Big E dethrones Reigns and fulfills his prophecy and becomes Universal Champion.
So, while The New Day breakup didn’t go exactly as fans expected it would and it was anti-climactic, it was the correct decision and not only does it help the tag team division on RAW, but it clears one of the final hurdles for Big E on his road to becoming a main event star.