Turns out, that rumor about WWE trying to lowball talent was way worse than anyone thought, especially for Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed, now known as New Level. Kofi just spilled the beans, revealing WWE’s pay cut proposal wasn’t just 50 percent, like Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live reported back in May. Nah, man, he said on the Ariel Helwani Show, “I will say it was more than 50 percent. A lot of people don’t know it was more.” They tried to take *over half* their earnings from the guys who were killing it as New Day. Seriously, what were they thinking?
Naturally, Kofi and Creed weren’t having it. They turned down that ridiculous proposal and walked away from WWE, ending over a decade of incredible, successful runs. But here’s the kicker, folks: they didn’t waste a single second. Just this past Sunday, Kofi and Creed made their AEW debuts as New Level at All In, and you know what? They went out there and immediately won the AEW World Trios Championships with Swerve Strickland! Talk about hitting the ground running. It’s a bold move, and it’s already paid off in gold.
Appearing on TMZ Sports’ Inside The Ring, Kofi and Creed explained that the freedom to pursue outside projects was a huge factor in signing with AEW. Kofi put it perfectly, saying, “There’s a lot of things in there that are very, I guess, player-friendly, right… wrestler-friendly, you know, in terms of being able to go out and do what it is that you want to do.” Creed added, “It’s a crazy feeling because we have so many ideas and so many things that we want to do and try and see if we’re good at. So to be able to have, I guess, like the gates kind of open to allowing that space in your brain to get out and stretch its legs some, I think is going to be really fulfilling.” That’s the kind of creative control you love to see for talent who’ve earned it.
Netflix’s Raw Censorship: A Bloody Mess
Meanwhile, over in WWE, things got a little messy on Monday night’s pre-taped episode of Raw, and not in the way fans wanted. Netflix reportedly made the call to censor blood that resulted from Royce Keys and OTM’s attack of The Usos. False Finish claims this was “due to restrictions in several countries where the show is broadcasted.” So, when Keys and OTM jumped The Usos in the parking lot, fans watching on Netflix didn’t get the full impact, with the bloodshed pixelated. Even later in the show, when Keys and OTM went after Solo Sikoa, the blood was censored again. Triple H, the WWE head of creative, even had to post the uncensored version on X to show what really went down. It’s frustrating for fans who want to see the unedited action, but at least WWE is trying to get the real story out.
What’s Next for Wrestling’s Big Stories
So, what’s next? For New Level, it’s about how they leverage that newfound freedom and their AEW Trios titles. Can they keep this momentum going and become even bigger stars? For WWE, this Netflix censorship drama is something to watch. While it doesn’t figure to be a regular occurrence, fans are definitely keeping an eye on how future pre-taped episodes are handled. The wrestling world is always wild, and this week just proved it!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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