9 Times WWE Turned Treasure Into TRASH
7. The New Day's Heel Turn
If the WWE creative boom really is permanently in the rear view mirror as of writing in 2026, it's reasonable to suggest that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods' heel turn on Big E was the era's last great moment.
A shocking, devastating and transgressive piece of television, the decision made by Kingston and Woods to clamp their best friend as an act of spite rather than love was bold in its execution and ambition. Within weeks - and that timeframe is criminal enough - only the former was true.
The wrestlers had performed their roles impeccably; the goosebumps raise just thinking of the face Woods pulls as he collects his patronised thoughts and loads them like a bullet into a gun pointed at his disbelieving and bewildered brother. The heartbreak that Kofi - always the mellowest of the trio - doubling down feels no less unthinkable. But these are split seconds preserved in amber, not iconic clips that kickstart the second life of an all-time WWE act.
Some backstage segments in the weeks that followed correctly positioned them as locker room pariahs, and there were some half-decent appearances in front of live crowds to soak up the boos, but the failure to exploit the heat at its absolute hottest foreshadowed the dropping of the ball.
The pair won their thirteenth (and as of writing, final) tag gold in the company at WrestleMania 41 in a drab match with The War Raiders, and in old money WWE, that would have marked the start of their run proper. Instead, it was a listless peak that played out to a silent stadium just four months after they'd created an earthquake that should have pulled the place apart.
When Grayson Waller turned up in NXT and cut a worked shoot promo about how the main roster had let him down, he referenced his time with the two as the waste it was. Golden tickets such as that one had rusted, as had Kingston and Woods' desire to remain with the company when offered paltry new deals. AEW awaited, with Triple H left to accept their departure as a symbol as one of his biggest ever fumbles.