Vince McMahon felt 'genuine pain' when WWE fans rejected his gimmick idea
Speaking on the latest episode of the Feel The Power podcast, The New Day revealed how Vince McMahon was genuinely disappointed when the trio’s attempts to receive positive reactions from fans backfired in 2014-15.
Shortly after Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods formed The New Day, it soon became apparent that the WWE Universe was not going to cheer for the Superstars in the way that was initially planned.
Kingston recalled that, one night after WrestleMania 31, all three men had a meeting with McMahon, who told them that he thought the babyface preacher gimmick was going to be a success.
“He said, 'I really thought people were going to cheer for this thing.' All of us just start laughing because there’s no way that people are going to cheer three positive-preaching preachers in this day and age in the wrestling world. People aren’t coming to the show to cheer for religious… anything, really.
“We all start laughing and he was like, 'No, no, I’m really serious, I thought this was gonna be something that people would get behind.' And we’re like, 'Oh my God, he’s the only one who actually thought that this was going to be an accepted dynamic.'”
Xavier Woods added that McMahon had “genuine pain” on his face while the conversation took place, and the WWE Chairman ultimately decided to let them turn heel in April 2015 after a five-month struggle to get fans to cheer for them.
One of The New Day's former on-screen rivals, Fred Rosser (fka Darren Young), joined Sportskeeda's Korey Gunz to discuss his time with WWE, including his experience at WrestleMania 30, in the latest episode of The Rosser Rewind. Check it out below!