Real Reason The New Level Joined AEW (WWE News)

The New Level explain why they wanted to join AEW.

AEW All In 2026 The New Level Austin Creed Swerve Strickland Kofi
AEW

Having now formally become #AllElite, the New Level has opened up about why they chose to sign with AEW.

Speaking on a whole variety of topics during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show (via Wrestle Purists), the former New Day explained that AEW was the only company they talked to after deciding to leave WWE when presented with taking more than a 50% pay cut.

As Austin Creed put it:

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“We talked to AEW. Yeah [it was only them]. We have a lot of friends over there, a lot of good people who said a lot of good things about it. But again, I know we probably sound like broken records to go back to the idea of having such a robust tag division, and that being what our real focus is in this. It just made a lot of sense to us, because watching those matches, watching the stories they get to tell, nobody is really doing it like that for tag team wrestling. So, it really just makes a lot of sense for us in that respect. I genuinely believe that this is the best tag team division, possibly ever. That shot at All In of all the tag teams in the ring, that’s some of the greatest tag teams, I think, of our generation. So, possibly when we’re all done, maybe of all time. And when are we going to get a chance to do something like that again? When has anyone ever done that in actuality?”

Making their AEW debut at All In this past weekend, the New Level of Austin Creed and Kofi were the 'surprise' partners of Swerve Strickland in the battle royal for the AEW Trios Championships, with that team being the ones to win out, making Creed and Kofi the first wrestlers to win gold in their first-ever AEW match.

As for the shot Austin was referring to at All In, that was the image of Adam Copeland and Christian Cage, the Young Bucks, the Motor City Machine Guns, FTR, and the New Level standing in the ring following Cope and Cage retaining the AEW Tag Team Titles against the Bucks at Wembley Stadium.

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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 and Presenter, 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 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.