Austin Creed & Kofi Break Silence On Leaving WWE Following Shocking AEW Debut

New Level Address WWE Departure And Detail AEW Trios Title Goals At All In Press Conference

Following their surprise debut at AEW All In 2026, newly crowned AEW World Trios Champions Austin Creed and Kofi (formerly Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston of The New Day) addressed their departure from WWE, their desire to elevate tag team wrestling, and the story behind their new entrance music.

Teaming alongside Swerve Strickland, the duo, now known as New Level, captured the Trios Championship in their very first appearance with All Elite Wrestling.

Creed And Kofi On Leaving WWE After Over A Decade

When asked during the post-show press conference about their decision to leave WWE back in May after more than ten years as a unit, Creed explained that the decision came down to evolving priorities and a desire to be part of AEW’s renowned tag team division.

“I always think about personalities in relationships. Different people have different personalities. Sometimes, personalities can grow. Sometimes they grow together and sometimes they grow apart. There is no bad, no good. You are excited about the opportunities you had, things you learned, but that relationship was no longer one that we felt we needed to be in. To be able to look across the pond and see what was happening here, especially with tag team wrestling. Yes, we’re pro wrestlers, but since I was a child, I wanted to be part of a tag team. To be able to come to a place that admires that and wants to cultivate that with legendary tag teams and young tag teams to where when the legendary ones are gone, the young ones are keeping the legacy going. That’s what is important to us. To be able to come here and do that is why we’re here.”

Kofi echoed Creed’s sentiments, emphasizing that their focus is entirely on the future and helping build the division.

“I can’t sum it up any better than that. I’m not one to really live in the past. I’m really all about looking towards the future. We just want to be part of the greatest tag team division in the history of wrestling. Being able to mix it up with these guys is what it’s all about. That’s why we’re here.”

The Meaning Behind Their New Theme Song By A$AP Ferg

Debuting to A$AP Ferg’s 2016 hit track New Level, Creed detailed why selecting the song was the perfect fit for their new chapter in AEW.

“Honestly, it works in every type of situation. We ourselves are on a new level, as AEW. We are bringing a new level of competition to the sport of professional wrestling. The song, New Level, obviously is called New Level, and it just makes perfect sense… So it all fell into place. There’s no such thing as coincidence, so when we realized this, that was the direction that we had to go.”

First Title Defense Set For Dynamite

New Level will not have much time to celebrate their championship win. The duo, alongside Swerve Strickland, will defend the AEW World Trios Championship against The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, and Myron Reed), which is scheduled for the September 2 episode of AEW Dynamite.