WWE's New Day Take A Knee Before Their SmackDown Match

A dignified show of support.

Kofi Kingston Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

WWE stars Kofi Kingston and Big E took a knee before their match against Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro on this week's episode of SmackDown.

Neither Michael Cole nor Corey Graves drew much attention to what the New Day boys were doing, but the pair dispensed with their usual hip gyrations and pancakes in favour of kneeling mid-ring and raising their right arms into the air.

This, obviously, was a dignified show of solidarity with the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.

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WWE, to their credit, didn't shy away from the gesture despite choosing not to make a big deal of it on television. An image of Kofi and Big E protesting injustice can be seen as the first pic from their match in SmackDown's photo gallery on the promotion's official website.

Various WWE Twitter accounts, including those for company content on FOX and the UK's BT Sport, also showed New Day's entrance as it happened on TV. Practically every thumbnail from their appearance shows the tag-team on one knee in the centre of the ring.

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Fans on social media echoed their own support for the team's decision.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.