Eric Bischoff thinks AEW took the cheap way out with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods’ new branding. The former New Day members debuted as New Level at AEW All In 2026, but Bischoff believes the name leans too heavily on what they already did in WWE.
During 83 Weeks, Bischoff was asked whether recognizable wrestlers should use branding similar to their WWE characters after joining another company. He understood the business logic behind New Level, but made it clear that he would have given Kingston and Woods something completely different.
“I would rather try something completely different. I know why they’re doing it, and there’s an argument for that. There’s probably some logic to it that you can’t totally dismiss, but it’s like a hangover that won’t go away.”
Bischoff believes Kingston and Woods would be better off cutting ties with The New Day identity and creating something that can stand on its own. In his view, New Level is AEW trying to cash in on the value the team built in WWE.
“I think breaking clean from a previous character and establishing a new character—in this case, characters with New Level—is a smarter long-term approach than hanging on to the past, which is what they’re doing. They’re trying to draft off of the equity that the former New Day had in WWE. I understand it. I’m not criticizing it. I completely understand it from a business perspective. I prefer not to have to do that.”
Bischoff then called derivative branding the easy and cheap way out. He argued that people want original characters, not slightly changed versions of gimmicks they already recognize.
“Given a choice, if I think I have the option of creating something really new, unique and powerful—or effective, at least—I would opt to do that before I would take the easy way out, the cheap way out, and try to come up with something that’s a derivative.”
“People don’t like derivatives. They like authenticity. They like originals. When you have to be a derivative, it suggests that you don’t know how to become unique.”
Bischoff admitted that his opinion comes from making the same mistake during his time running WCW. Several former WWE wrestlers arrived with names and characters that resembled the identities they had left behind, and Bischoff learned that those knockoff versions rarely worked.
“When I say these things, some of it is based on experience. Some of it is actually based on the fact that I f—ed that s— up, and I learned from it. You would think other people would learn from it too and learn from what other people do and have success with—or don’t have success with. I’ve done it, and I’ve learned the hard way. It doesn’t work. There’s a better way.”
Bischoff still praised the energy Kingston and Woods brought to All In, but that didn’t change his problem with the New Level name. He believes AEW had a chance to reinvent both men and instead chose branding designed to remind everyone of The New Day.
New Level may be familiar enough to get an immediate reaction, but Bischoff believes that familiarity could prevent Kingston and Woods from creating a separate identity in AEW. Now they have to prove the act is more than The New Day with a different name.
Do you agree that New Level is the cheap way out, or was AEW smart to keep Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods connected to their WWE past? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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