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New Day Make AEW Debut With Swerve Strickland and Level Up at All In: London

Kofi and Austin Creed made their AEW debut Sunday afternoon at All In: London, when they entered the Trios Roulette Royale with Swerve Strickland.
Rick Ucchino|
Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston
Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston | Netflix

Know your worth.

That was the message that Kofi and Austin Creed, formerly known as Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, sent out to the pro wrestling world when they shockingly departed WWE back in May.

Multiple outlets reported that executives with WWE's parent company, TKO, approached the future Hall of Fame tag team about taking a pay cut roughly a year into a lucrative five-year contract extension. Former WWE Champion Kofi all but confirmed those rumors after news broke that both Creed and himself had been granted their release from the company.

"Do not ever compromise or accept less than your due when it comes to your worth. Find the courage to believe in yourself and fearlessly pursue your goals and dreams, because anything is possible," Kofi wrote on his X account.

Rather than tolerating the price of comfort and familiarity, Kofi and Creed chose to bet on themselves when asking for their release from WWE. Not only based off what they've already accomplished in professional wrestling, but what they believe they still have to offer at 45 and 39 years of age respectively.

The next chapter of their careers began Sunday afternoon inside a raucous Wembley Stadium in London, UK. For the first time in over 15 years, 20 in the case of Kofi, the artists formerly known as The New Day stepped into a wrestling ring that was not underneath the WWE umbrella when they debuted for top rival All Elite Wrestling at All In: London.

Swerve Strickland and The New Level enter Trios Roulette Royale

Swerve Strickland
Swerve Strickland | All Elite Wrestling

"Hangman" Adam Page, Brody King and Bandido put their AEW World Trios Championship on Sunday in a seven-team Trios Roulette Royal Match.

The Bang Bang Gang, The Conglomeration, The Death Riders, The Demand and The Dogs were the six known teams heading into the bout, with AEW President Tony Khan announcing that a wildcard trio would also compete during his call with the media late last week.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select confirmed Saturday evening what many had already speculated, that Kofi and Creed would be the ones to emerge alongside their former WWE colleague and longtime friend Swerve Strickland and enter the battle for the trios titles.

The Trios Roulette Royal started off on the Buy-In Show with only the six known teams having a chance to enter the bout prior to the match carrying over onto the pay-per-view portion of the show. Once the broadcast started, Swerve Strickland made his entrance alongside Prince Nana, before stepping aside for Kofi and Creed to make their way down.

Kofi and Creed are now known as The New Level, and as you can imagine, they received a tremendous ovation from the crowd inside of Wembley Stadium as they entered the Trios Roulette Royal.

Swerve, Kofi and Creed were all among the final six competitors in the over-the-top rope challenge. They faced off against Claudio Castagnoli and PAC of the Death Riders and Gabe Kidd of The Dogs. All three members of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly were eliminated surprisingly early, guaranteeing that new AEW World Trios Champions would be crowned.

Renowned escape artist Kofi utilized his athleticism, and an assist from Prince Nana, to survive elimination. Swerve would then take out Kidd, clearing the way for Kofi and Creed to clothesline The Death Riders over the top rope to win the titles.

Kofi and Austin Creed have now made history by becoming the first competitors in AEW history to capture championship gold on their first night with the company, and The New Level were far from the only ones to make a surprise appearance at All In: London.

Dr. Britt Baker made her long-awaited return to the company during the Buy-In. Read all about it by clicking on the link above.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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