Earlier this year at AEW All In 2026, former WWE Superstars Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods made their All Elite Wrestling debut. Going with Kofi and Austin Creed, the duo made their debut in the Trios title match.
Paired with Swerve Strickland, the three of them won the AEW Trios Championship before losing it to Adam Page, Bandido, and Brody King at AEW WrestleDream 2026. Now, Fightful Select has reported a major update on New Level's [Kofi & Austin Creed] AEW contract.
“New Level signed five-year AEW contracts,” Fightful Select said. According to the report, Kofi and Creed were pitched to join AEW and work with Strickland. It was also added that Strickland played a major role in bridging the relationship between the duo and AEW, as Tony Khan was hesitant to speak with them before their WWE contract was over.
Long before joining AEW as New Level, Creed and Kofi were known as The New Day in WWE. While popular babyface wrestlers almost throughout their careers, Kofi and Woods turned heel toward the final run of their careers.
Article Continues BelowAEW's New Level talk about their WWE salary paycut
Just days after making their AEW debut, Kofi and Creed of The New Level appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show, where they opened up in detail about their alleged WWE pay cut. “Compensation was definitely a big part, but more so, we wanted to work. We wanted to go out there and showcase our skills and showcase our talents. We wanted to do what we love. We love going out there and messing with fans, threatening to ground kids, and really garner reactions to people, and send them home with incredible memories they’ll never forget. I don’t know exactly what’s out there. I will say, it was more than 50 percent, which a lot of people don’t know,” Kofi said.