Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods Among New Round of WWE Releases

Some shocking news on a Saturday, as reports have surfaced that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have now departed WWE.

Folks online started to notice that The New Day had been moved to the WWE alumni section of the company's website, and it has now been confirmed by both Fightful Select and BodySlam that they have now left WWE after calling the company their home for well over a decade.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful has said the decision for them to leave was mutual, meaning they were not strictly a roster cut, but it still comes as a surprise that one of the most accomplished groups in WWE history has rather unceremoniously walked away.

New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods have mutually decided to part ways with WWE, Fightful Select and @Cory_Hays407 of Bodyslam have learned pic.twitter.com/4D8U0vDz5S
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) May 2, 2026

"Immediately, the situation was met with shock among WWE wrestlers," Ross Sapp later wrote on Fightful Select. "Many echoing the sentiments that they believed both men were WWE lifers, especially Kofi. However, that was quickly followed up in numerous cases with the belief that nobody is a WWE lifer anymore."

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are guaranteed first ballot Hall of Famers and WWE — as cliché as it may sound — is entering a new era without them. And judging by some of the reactions online, WWE's loss may be AEW's gain.

Two-time AEW Men's World Champion MJF took to his Instagram story to write, "It’s a new day, yes it is.” Old rival and one-half of the current AEW Men's World Tag Team Champions, Cash Wheeler, has also seemingly chimed in about the New Day situation.

pic.twitter.com/n7VZxycxPs
— Daniel “Cash” Wheeler (@CashWheelerFTR) May 2, 2026

It is not hyperbolic in the slightest to say that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are one of the greatest tag teams in modern pro wrestling history, and Ross Sapp says they will both garner heavy interest on the open market.

"Those we spoke to claim TKO tasked WWE with shedding millions of dollars in payroll, which led to a huge set of releases and departures over the last week. Kofi and [Woods] both make well into the seven figures, and are expected to get immediate interest everywhere. We're told there were already major names pushing for Kofi and [Woods] within AEW, which is not much of a surprise."

The New Day's departure comes less than a year after both men agreed to lengthy contract extensions that would have tied them to WWE well into 2030. There reportedly is a 90-day wait period tied to their release agreement, meaning it'll be some time before they pop up anywhere else under new personas.

Kofi will still be able to use his legal first name should he choose to do so, but the names "Kingston" and "Xavier Woods" are both owned by WWE.

In the meantime, multiple outlets have also reported that JC Mateo and Tonga Loa of Solo Sikoa's MFTs have departed the company as well. They were both written off in an injury angle on SmackDown a week ago and did not return to the show this past Friday night.

It's not clear if any more talent releases are on the horizon, or if things are finally going to calm down a bit. More than two dozen stars departed the company a little over a week ago, including Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Kairi Sane and The Wyatt Sicks. We'll continue to monitor this situation and bring you more information as it becomes available.

Full list of WWE talent releases as of 5/2/26:

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods | WWE.com

Kofi Kingston

Xavier Woods

JC Mateo

Tonga Loa

Aleister Black

Zelina Vega

Kairi Sane

Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy)

Nikki Cross

Joe Gacy

Erick Rowan

Dexter Lumis

Alex Shelley

Chris Sabin

Santos Escobar

Zoey Stark

Alba Fyre

Apollo Crews

Andre Chase

Dante Chen

Tyra Mae Steele

Chris Island

Tyriek Igwe

Trill London

Sirena Linton

Luca Crusifino

Malik Blade

Tyson Dupont

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