The first night of the WWE Draft was bittersweet for New Day, who were reunited as a trio for the first time in over a year, all scored big wins, ended the evening with championship gold, then had their members split between Raw and SmackDown.
In one of the biggest surprises of the night, the returning Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Title but were then drafted to Raw, leaving Big E going solo on the blue brand.
What's next for #TheNewDay? #WWEDraft#SmackDown@WWEBigE@TrueKofi@AustinCreedWinshttps://t.co/GoqzgnYXyL
— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020
It started off as a night of celebration for the reunited faction when Big E defeated Sheamus in a cracking no holds barred, falls count anywhere match. Later on, Woods and Kingston regained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a seventh time when they beat Cesaro and Nakamura.
But as the trio celebrated in the ring, Stephanie McMahon came out to conclude the night’s Draft picks, breaking the hearts of wrestling fans around the world when she announced the trio would be going their separate ways.
Injuries aside, this will be the first time the group have been spilt since their formation back in 2014 – a lifetime in the WWE Universe.
After a shaky start as babyfaces upon their formation, New Day turned heel and, ironically, saw their popularity skyrocket. After turning babyface again they never looked back, going on an amazing six year run that has included multiple tag team championship reigns and the 2019 craze Kofimania, which saw Kofi Kingston become the first African-American WWE Champion is history.
It remains to be seen what WWE has planned for the trio now they have been split between brands. Given that Big E is solo on SmackDown and Kofi and Xavier have just snared tag team gold, it would seem likely that a big solo push for Big E is imminent, potentially with a WWE Universal Title showdown against Roman Reigns on the cards.
Make sure to keep updated with ITRwrestling.com and join us for live coverage of Raw on Monday for the second half of the Draft.