Big E just revealed one of the wildest early pitches behind The New Day, and WWE was not about to let that name fly.
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE Champion said the group that eventually became The New Day was first pitched as a militant Black faction inspired by the Nation of Domination. The original lineup included Big E, Xavier Woods, Byron Saxton, and Abraham Washington. The real eye-opener was the name. Big E said they originally called the group “The Clan,” which stood for Citizens Liberation of American Nationalism.
“We originally called the group the Clan, and it stood for Citizens Liberation of American Nationalism. It was supposed to be this militant black group, much in the vein of the Nation of Domination.”
Big E also revealed that Abraham Washington was positioned as the group’s leader before WWE pulled the plug on the idea.
“So we were in FCW. It was me, Byron Saxton was still an active wrestler at the time, it was me, Saxton, Woods, and Abe. We all talked, but Abe was kind of positioned as the leader, and we had this group.”
For those not aware, Abraham Washington was ultimately fired by WWE after making a Kobe Bryant rape joke during a live broadcast. Big E even alluded to Washington’s habit of pushing things too far while talking about why fans never got to see the best of him.
“Abe was very much someone who unfortunately liked to push the envelope a little bit too much. I’m not going to talk about the reason he got fired, you could look that up.”
WWE clearly had no interest in moving forward with that name. Big E said the office shut down “The Clan,” so they changed it to “The Plan” by swapping out “Citizens” for “People.”
“That group initially, it was initially the Clan, then we became The Plan because the office said we’re not doing that.”
The idea never made it very far. Big E said they tried it for a few weeks in FCW before the office killed it completely and told them to move on. Later, the group was reworked on the main roster with Kofi Kingston added, but that militant version was eventually shelved too.
The New Day became one of WWE’s most successful groups ever, but Big E’s story shows just how different things could have been. Before the pancakes, unicorns, and tag team title records, WWE almost had a faction called “The Clan” with Abraham Washington leading the charge.
What do you think about WWE shutting down the original “Clan” idea for The New Day? Was that name dead on arrival, or could the concept have worked under a different label? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
