Austin Creed has opened up about the decision he and Kofi Kingston made to leave WWE and begin the next chapter of their careers in AEW.
As seen at AEW All In: London 2026, the former New Day members made their highly anticipated AEW debuts under their new identities, Kofi and “Awesome” Austin Creed. The duo debuted as The New Level, immediately making their presence felt on one of AEW’s biggest stages.
Speaking after the event, Creed reflected on their WWE departure and compared their decision to the natural evolution of a relationship. He stressed that there was no need to characterize the situation as either good or bad, but rather that the time had come for both men to move in a different direction.
“I always think about this like personalities and relationships. Different people have different personalities. Those personalities can grow. Sometimes they grow together, sometimes they grow apart. There’s no bad, there’s no good. You are excited about the opportunities you had, the things that you learned, but that relationship no longer was 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 because yes, we’re professional wrestlers, but since I was a child, I wanted to be part of a tag team. I love the fact that I can be to my protect my brother and he can protect me.
“So to be able to come to a place that admires that, that wants to cultivate that with legendary tag teams, with young tag teams so when those legendary ones are gone, the younger ones are fulfilling the prophecy and they’re keeping everything going. That’s what’s important to us, so to be able to come here and do that, and that is why we’re here.”
Creed’s comments also highlighted the importance of tag team wrestling in their decision to join AEW. Having wanted to be part of a tag team since childhood, Creed pointed to AEW’s emphasis on cultivating both established and younger teams as something that appealed to him and Kofi.
Rather than expressing bitterness over their WWE exit, Creed characterized the move as the natural conclusion of one relationship and an opportunity to pursue something they believe better fits what they want from this stage of their careers.
Now competing as The New Level, Kofi and Creed have officially started their post-WWE chapter in AEW, with Creed making it clear that the promotion’s commitment to tag team wrestling played a significant role in their decision.
