5. This All Started As Something A Whole Lot Cooler
Do you remember in July when Xavier Woods confronted Kofi Kingston and Big E after one of their numerous losses around that period? Do you remember Xavier Woods telling the two men that they were done waiting to be given opportunities, but would instead take them? Do you remember the trio scouting The Usos for the next few shows seemingly leading to some kind of rivalry over the Tag Team Title before quietly disbanding before anything of note could happen? One thing that should be easy to recall is how much cooler than The New Day shtick that story was. One of the biggest problems with The New Day is weve seen these cast of characters in a much more interesting and intriguing narrative. We got to see Xavier Woods channel his best Malcolm X, and it was pretty fantastic. We were getting to see a serious, villainous and more aggressive side of Kofi Kingston, which was a wonderful break from the same old Kofi wed been seeing since his debut in 2007. Finally we got to see Big E go back to being the bad ass he was during the early days of NXT, when he was doing the 5 count gimmick, which he always should have been. These three were banding together to right the wrongs that they perceived had been done to them. They wanted to take the opportunities that they felt theyd earned and were waiting for. They had real motivation and purpose, and they were aligning and changing their attitudes to get what they deserved. It was cool. Fast forward to November and we finally got to see the trio in action, and low and behold, everything interesting had been stripped away. They were no longer disgruntled talent hell bent on taking the opportunities they felt they were owed. Instead they were dancing, clapping, positivity preachers in sky blue attire. Can you say lame? We wanted Malcolm Xavier Woods, we wanted heel Kofi, and we wanted bad ass Big E! Can you really blame anyone that saw the initial direction of this grouping for not really being into the candy coated incarnation we are currently getting?
Matthew J. Douglas is an emerging screenwriter born in Toronto. A lifelong fascination with what makes a compelling story and the Toni Morrison quote "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." led the often opinionated Matthew to the life of writer. Matthew is also a lifelong WWE fan, and a self diagnosed Reality TV Junkie.
