The number behind Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed’s WWE exit may have been even more brutal than anyone realized. Conrad Thompson says he heard WWE wanted the future New Level members to take a staggering 75% pay cut before they walked away from the company.
Kingston had already revealed during The Ariel Helwani Show that WWE’s proposed reduction was greater than the 50% figure that had been circulating. He stopped short of giving the exact percentage, but made it clear WWE wanted him and Creed to give up more than half of what they were making.
“I don’t know what’s out there, but yeah, I will say it was more than 50%! A lot of people don’t know it was more.”
Now Thompson has put a much bigger number on the table. While discussing Kingston and Creed’s AEW arrival on Grilling JR, Thompson said he had heard the actual proposed cut was 75%.
“We got to talk a little bit about this because the entire internet wrestling world was talking about it well more than 90 days ago when we found out that New Day was no more in WWE. And there was lots of rumor and innuendo at the time that they were taking a 50% pay cut. The rumor and innuendo that I’ve heard is it was actually a 75% pay cut.”
Kingston himself has not confirmed that 75% figure. What he has confirmed is that WWE wanted more than 50% of their pay cut, which means Thompson’s claim would fit within the range Kingston already acknowledged. That number also adds more context to why Kingston and Creed decided they were better off leaving WWE instead of accepting a new deal. Kingston previously explained that the terms being offered didn’t match what he and Creed believed they still brought to the company.
“We just thought that the terms that they wanted us to perform under were not fair based on what we brought to the table, based on what we’re worth, based on the knowledge and prowess that we have as performers, as wrestlers, what we can give back to younger people, what we do from a point of entertainment.”
Money was a major part of the decision, but Kingston said it wasn’t the only thing that pushed them toward the exit.
“Compensation was definitely a big part, but more so, we wanted to work. We wanted to go out there and showcase our skills and showcase our talents. We wanted to do what we love.”
Jim Ross then gave his own theory about why WWE would offer Kingston and Creed such a dramatically reduced financial package. Ross said he believes WWE may have simply reached a point where the people running television had run out of things for the longtime team to do.
“Probably. Yeah, probably. Because it seems to me—my assumption, making an ass out of you and me—my assumption was that the powers that be that are handling television and so forth ran out of things for them to do in their mind.”
Ross then suggested that offering them significantly less money could have been one way for WWE to make an exit more likely.
“So, the only way we can get them to leave is to offer them this financial package that is significantly less than they’re earning now.”
Ross made clear that was his assumption and not something he claimed to know as a fact about WWE’s contract strategy. Whatever the intention was, Kingston and Creed weren’t willing to take the deal. They left WWE and have since surfaced in AEW as New Level, making their debut at AEW All In. Ross believes AEW landed two valuable additions.
“It’s a good hire and they’re going to be great additions to the team.”
He also believes their experience will help AEW’s younger wrestlers behind the scenes.
“They’re, like I said, good guys. They’ll be a positive influence in the locker room because AEW’s got a lot of young guys.”
A 50% pay cut was already a massive number, but Thompson claiming the real offer may have been closer to 75% changes the picture completely. Kingston has only confirmed that it was more than half, but if Thompson’s number is accurate, WWE was asking two of its longest-tenured stars to continue working for just a fraction of their previous pay—and they decided walking away was the better option.
Do you think a 75% pay cut would have made leaving WWE an easy decision for Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed, or should they have taken the deal and stayed? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
