WWE Raw Goes Nuclear: The New Day Get MONSTER Heat

WWE Raw saw The New Day booed out of the building after Big E betrayal.

WWE Raw The New Day Xavier Woods Kofi Kingston
WWE

Having effectively kicked Big E out of the New Day last week, this week's WWE Raw saw Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston get an extremely hostile reaction from those in attendance at Wichita's Intrust Bank Arena.

Upon arriving at the venue, Woods and Kingston were given the cold shoulder treatment by staff and superstars such as Otis, Tozawa, and Natalya. Later, visiting WWE Champion Cody Rhodes - who was at Raw to meet with Adam Pearce - told the New Day duo they should be ashamed of themselves, before the pair eventually made their way out to the ring.

Prior to heading out to greet the crowd, Xavier Woods commandeered a camera from long-time WWE cameraman Stu, and he and Kofi then received a monstrous amount of boos from the Wichita crowd. Volume-wise, this was the sort of reaction nowadays received by Dominik Mysterio, with it tough to hear the New Day over the raucous boos raining down on them.

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Now, of course, WWE likely sweetened the audio to emphasise and double-down on that negative response to Woods and Kingston, but there were certainly a lot of people in that crowd who had zero love for the New Day after how they treated Big E last week. As they tried to explain how they could've done a lot worse to Big E - such as taking a steel chair or a sledgehammer to the former WWE Champion - the New Day was drowned out by chants of "New Day Sucks!" and "We Want Big E!", to the point that Xavier and Kofi gave up and headed to the back.

WWE Raw The New Day Big E Kofi Kingston Xavier Woods
WWE

The Power Of Positivity, No More

With recent weeks and months seeing tensions rising between Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, a heel turn for one of the men - presumably Woods - seemed on the horizon for last week's 10-year celebration of the New Day faction. What most fans didn't see coming, though, was that this heel turn would involve both Woods and Kingston turning their backs on Big E.

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For those who may have missed last week's Raw, Big E was there to bring Woods and Kofi together, to bring unity back to the New Day, to remind them of what they've been through, and to offer his managerial services to his long-time brothers. What E didn't expect, is that this would lead to Xavier and Kingston shooting down the powerhouse, asking why he'd not been at their sides sooner, slamming the charismatic star for how he'd still not recovered from the broken neck he suffered in March 2022, and pointing out how Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Edge all returned after such neck injuries, so why hadn't Big E?

The result of this segment was not only a refocussed, more villainous New Day that's now just Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, but fans were also treated to one of the most memorable, emotional segments in recent WWE history. And as a result of the emotion felt during that, clearly Woods and Kingston are immediately set as huge heels who, if Monday night was anything to go by, will be getting booed out of buildings for the foreseeable.

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As for Big E, while last week had Xavier Woods state how E will never be cleared to wrestle again, that's only got fans speculating more on whether Big E may really be on the cusp of lacing up his boots once more. Now, that remains to be seen, of course, but a kayfabe comment like that from Woods certainly makes things interesting where it pertains to Big E and a potential return to the ring.

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.