The wrestling community was taken aback by the unexpected developments during The New Day’s tenth-anniversary celebration on the recent episode of WWE RAW.
Within this segment, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston called out Big E, criticizing their erstwhile teammate for putting his new lifestyle and romantic relationship before their comradeship.
In the end, Woods and Kingston decided to become antagonists, casting aside Big E from the crew. This moment followed several previous WWE teasers hinting that Woods would betray Kingston. However, the plot twist with Big E on Monday Night RAW diverged from the initial script.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this storyline has been under construction for several months.
Meltzer wrote, “Upon the arrival of Odyssey Jones, there were supposed to be hints of a feud, only to have Kingston and Woods turn villainous by picking Jones and publicly substituting E. However, after Jones’ dismissal, the entire plan was temporarily paused.”
Earlier this year, Odyssey Jones was let go by WWE in the wake of allegations of domestic abuse that were brought to WWE’s attention.