More Details on The New Day Releases, Further Fallout

The shockwaves from the departures of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have intensified as further details emerge regarding the "TKO deals" that led to their exit. While it was initially reported as a standard release, internal sources and industry analysts, including Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline, have confirmed that both men were actually asked to restructure the long-term, million-dollar contracts they had only just signed in late 2025.

The new terms proposed by TKO were reportedly part of a massive initiative to shed millions of pounds in payroll. Despite Kingston and Woods being under contract until 2030, WWE management approached them with a request to take significant pay cuts. These "restructured" deals would have seen their annual seven-figure guarantees reduced in favour of a more incentive-heavy structure that the duo ultimately found unacceptable. Faced with the choice of staying on diminished terms or moving on, both Kingston and Woods chose to reject the offer and were subsequently granted their mutual release on 2 May 2026.

For Xavier Woods in particular, the contract dispute was further complicated by the ownership of his digital brand. While the name "Xavier Woods" is owned by WWE, Woods has spent years establishing himself as "Austin Creed" in the gaming world. The new TKO deal reportedly sought to exert more control over these external ventures, a move that would have restricted Woods’ ability to monetise his *UpUpDownDown* persona and other independent media projects. This corporate overreach, combined with the requested salary reduction, made the new contract a "non-starter" for the King of the Ring winner.

The fallout from these negotiations has sent a clear message to the rest of the roster: in the TKO era, no contract—no matter how recently signed—is considered untouchable. Kingston, who had been with the company for twenty years, was widely seen as a "lifer," making the aggressive request for a pay cut all the more jarring to his colleagues. As both men enter their 90-day non-compete period, the focus shifts to where the "Austin Creed" and "Kofi" brands will land next. With heavyweights in AEW already publicly pushing for their signatures, the rejection of TKO's restrictive terms may well be the catalyst for the most significant tag team debut in recent wrestling history.