The New Day (professional wrestling)

The New Day
The New Day (from left to right: Xavier Woods, Big E, and Kofi Kingston) at WrestleMania Axxess in April 2016
Tag team
Members	Big E (on hiatus) Kofi Kingston Xavier Woods
Name(s)	The New Day
Billed heights	Big E: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Kingston: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Woods: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Combined billed weight	702 lb (318 kg)
Debut	July 21, 2014
Years active	2014–present

The New Day is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods. The stable is currently performing in WWE on the Raw brand. Kingston and Woods currently perform as a standard tag team after Big E suffered a cervical fracture of the spine during a match in March 2022.

One of the most popular and decorated teams in WWE history, The New Day holds several records, including the most reigns as SmackDown Tag Team Champions at seven, and the longest-reigning Raw Tag Team Champions at 483 days. As a team, they also hold the record for most WWE-branded tag team championship reigns at 12 (seven SmackDown, four Raw, and one NXT)—the only team WWE recognizes with more is The Dudley Boyz at 18, but this includes their eight Extreme Championship Wrestling and one World Championship Wrestling tag team title reigns. While performing as a trio, The New Day defend their tag team titles under the Freebird rule, with all three members being recognized as champions.

The stable was prominently formed by Xavier Woods with Big E and Kofi Kingston on the July 21, 2014, episode of Raw, but made their debut as The New Day on the November 28, 2014, episode of SmackDown. In April 2015 at Extreme Rules, they won their first WWE Tag Team Championship. Their second reign, which began at that year's SummerSlam in August, became the longest in the title's history, the first to last more than a year, and the last with the title being the sole tag team championship on WWE's main roster, as it was renamed Raw Tag Team Championship in September 2016 following the creation of the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. In December 2016, they set the record for the longest male tag team championship reign in WWE history at 483 days (surpassing Demolition's 28-year-old record of 478 days with WWE's original World Tag Team Championship) and at that time, the longest reigning champions for any WWE championship over the prior two decades; since then, both accomplishments have been surpassed.

After being drafted to the SmackDown brand in April 2017, the stable went on to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championship a record seven times; while part of the brand, Kingston also won the WWE Championship in 2019. In October 2020, Kingston and Woods were drafted to the Raw brand as The New Day, while Big E remained on SmackDown, separating him from the group. The stable briefly reunited on September 13, 2021, after Big E cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Raw to win the WWE Championship, thus transferring to Raw alongside Kingston and Woods. However, they separated again a month later after Kingston and Woods were drafted to SmackDown during the 2021 WWE Draft while Big E remained on Raw. Also in October 2021, Woods won the King of the Ring tournament. In January 2022, Big E would be moved to SmackDown, thus becoming a trio again with Kingston and Woods; however, an injury incurred in March has kept Big E out of action indefinitely. In December 2022, Kingston and Woods also began appearing on WWE's developmental brand NXT and won their first NXT Tag Team Championship, becoming the third WWE Tag Team Triple Crown Champions.

The early months of the stable as stereotypical black gospel babyface characters were marked by largely negative reactions from fans and critics alike, but after transitioning their characters into heels fanatically obsessed with the "power of positivity" in April 2015, they began to receive acclaim for their entertainment value, as well as for their in-ring performances.^[1][2][3][4] In 2015, the trio were collectively named "WWE Wrestler of the Year" by Rolling Stone, while also being recognized as the "Best Gimmick" of the year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.^[5][6] Additionally, they became the first trio to win the Pro Wrestling Illustrated award for "Tag Team of the Year", doing so in 2015 and 2016 (the first two wins in a row in this category for two decades). Their new-found popularity resulted in the trio reverting to babyfaces in early 2016, which they have remained since. The three, who are close friends in real life, also appear or work together outside of wrestling, notably writing the 2016 book The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It, and hosting a weekly podcast, Feel the Power (named after one of their catchphrases), since 2019. In 2021, The New Day topped WWE's list of the "50 Greatest Tag Teams" in the promotion's history.^[7]