Backstage News On Original New Day Plans For WWE WrestleMania 38

The New Day were set for a big role at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

by Andrew Pollard
The New Day
WWE.com

Prior to Big E suffering a scary neck injury on this past Friday's episode of SmackDown, WWE had plans to fully reunite The New Day at WrestleMania 38.

As per PWInsider, E was to join up with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods at this year's Showcase of the Immortals, with the trio due to do battle with Sheamus, Ridge Holland and, err, Butch.

Despite having singles success on the Raw brand, Big E was recently moved to SmackDown and paired with Kingston while Woods recovered from a muscle tear. Said muscle tear took place in January, and Woods is expected to return to action shortly.

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This week's SmackDown seemed to put this six-man bout in motion, with Pete Dunne appearing on SmackDown as a protégé of Sheamus'. Given the new mantle of Butch, Dunne delivered a post-match beating to Kofi after the Celtic Warrior and Holland picked up a win over Kingston and E.

For those who missed it, Big E had to be stretchered from ringside following this contest, with him landing on his head after taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge at ringside. The powerhouse of The New Day has since updated his fans to confirm that he's fractured his C1 and C6 vertebrae, but that he thankfully will not require surgery and that he has not suffered any damage to his spinal chord.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.