Big E Details The New Day’s Initial WWE Heel Turn, Praises AEW Star’s Role

WWE

Big E has opened up on the New Day’s initial heel turn in 2015 following their debut, praising two former rivals for their role in the turn.

Before the New Day became arguably the greatest WWE tag team of all time, they were a floundering stable of three underused talents during their first few months on the main roster.

Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods redebuted as babyface preachers of positivity in December 2014, a gimmick that quickly saw the group getting negative reactions from live crowds.

Shortly after WrestleMania 31 in 2015, the New Day would turn heel, where they would become arguably the most popular act in WWE at the time, finding the majority of their success.

Big E Opens Up On New Day’s Heel Turn

Speaking to Front Row Report, Big E opened up on the initial heel turn, and whether it was a creative pitch or a pitch from the three of them.

He noted it was more of a collaborative effort, as everyone had begun realising the gimmick wasn’t working.

He said:

“It definitely was not creative. If it was up to creative I think we would have been broken up a long time ago and they’d have just moved on.

“Woods always wanted to be heel, and we felt like for this group to get off the ground, it’s really difficult to have babyface factions, especially a new babyface faction. Kofi was established, I had been around for a little bit on the main roster but I wouldn’t say I was that established, Woods was still pretty new.

“So we just felt like for the thing to work we had to be heels, and it was quite disappointing to be given the direction we were given after months of pitching things and going back and forth with the office, but we thought okay we’re getting vignettes, we have an opportunity here, it’s so rare to get vignettes. We did our best to make it work but it was clear the audience was not buying it.

“It was a collective decision because we realised this thing was a sinking ship as is, we felt like we all had the talent and knew there was something more here than we were allowed to show.

“If I had to point the finger at anyone it would be Woods, but Woods just enjoys being a heel, and rightfully so, but I think we all, Kofi and I too, we all quickly understood this was not working. We had given it our best to be these white meat babyfaces that go out there and preach the word of positivity, but it was just something that in 2014 at the time people were gravitating to.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

Big E Credits Cesaro & Tyson Kidd For New Day’s Heel Success

When New Day turned heel, they were in the middle of a rivalry with then WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, with New Day starting the rivalry as faces while Cesaro and Kidd were heels.

However, after two weeks in Europe, it was clear that the company needed to do a double turn with both the teams, which eventually happened on television.

Big E would go on to credit Cesaro and Kidd for their role in helping the office realise the group would be better off turning heel.

He said:

“I’ve got to give a ton of credit to Cesaro and (Tyson) Kidd, because we worked, they were heels at the time and we were babyfaces, and after WrestleMania we had the European tour with those guys and we got to do the double switch, because the crowd loved them in Europe.

“We had 12 dates over two weeks in Europe, and every night we’d go out saying ‘we’ll be the babyface, you’ll be the heels’, but within seconds we knew we were gonna flip it, because the crowd loved them and hated us.

“If it wasn’t for that, because the producers on the house shows write reports, and they wrote in the report that the crowd is loving Cesaro and Kidd as babyfaces and they’re hating us, we should be the heels.

“I think having that in our back saying we did two weeks trying it your way, it isn’t working, in fact it worked the opposite way. In wrestling the death nail is not when the crowd doesn’t receive you as you’re supposed to be in your assigned role of babyface or heel, the death nail is when they’re quiet.

“People care enough to boo us, there is something here. It doesn’t mean break us up or the ride is over, it just means we need to be more thoughtful, we need to turn, and once we were able to turn things really shifted for us.

“But if it wasn’t for Cesaro and Kidd I don’t think we ever get to a point where we can demonstrate that we’re better off as heels.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.

The New Day’s Future Following WWE Departure

The New Day is officially no more in WWE, with Big E now retired from in-ring competition, while Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods recently departed the company, ending the group after almost 12 years.

Kofi and Woods are set to become free agents in less than two weeks, with there reportedly being excitement in AEW about the pair potentially joining the company after they are free and clear.

Big E remains under contract with WWE, appearing regularly on their premium live event pre shows.

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• wwe
• New Day
• Cesaro
• big e
• tyson kidd

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