The New Day are the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history. But could their time as a team come to an end at the Royal Rumble?
It has been a long and winding road for the New Day since their debut in November 2014. They began as a babyface gospel group before the fans ultimately turned on them due to the corny nature of their gimmick. Then they turned heel and began their first reign as the best tag team in WWE. Finally, they went back to being babyfaces midway through their record-breaking tag team title reign. They dominated in the ring all while providing some of the most entertaining segments on WWE TV throughout 2016. But all good things come to an end, and it may be the New Day’s time.
The New Day lost their tag team championships to Sheamus and Cesaro almost immediately after they broke Demolition’s 478-day title reign. Now they’re sort of in limbo as they are out of the title picture and seem to have run their course as a group. But we may have gotten an indication of what is next for the New Day as of this past Monday on Raw.
Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods announced that they will all be entering the 2017 Royal Rumble. This is a change from previous years as the 2015 and 2016 Rumbles saw only Kingston enter the match. This made sense as he is known for his wild Rumble antics, so having Big E and Xavier there just to support him was logical. But with all of them set to enter the match this year, it opens up a lot of possibilities. One of those possibilities is we see the beginning of their inevitable breakup.
The New Day are not going to retire as a team. All three men have long careers ahead of them, but as a team they have nothing left to accomplish. And with the momentum they’ve gained by being part of the New Day, their singles careers should be able to blossom if all goes well. With the tag team titles finally in their rear view mirror and their comedy act having gone a bit stale, now is the time to break them up. The fact that they’re all in the Rumble together could be a sign that’s coming.
It may not necessarily be a full-fledged breakup during the Rumble, but it could be the first in-ring example of dissension among the group. While the Shield teased a breakup a few times prior to the 2014 Royal Rumble, they showed some of their biggest cracks when Ambrose attempted to eliminate a prone Reigns before Reigns ultimately eliminated both Ambrose and Rollins.
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Could we see a similar occurrence with the New Day? Could Big E toss his friends over the top rope for the sake of pursuing the Universal Championship? It’s certainly possible. After all, they look to be following a similar path as the Shield did. This past week on Raw we saw what could be the first sign of their potential breakup. And it’s all thanks to Titus O’Neil.
Titus said Xavier is the weak link in the New Day. And although Xavier said he would prove that isn’t true and went on to defeat Titus, it’s still notable. It’s one of the first times we’ve seen anyone acknowledge on-screen that the New Day might have a weak link. This could develop over the next few weeks and create tension within the group that culminates during the Rumble match.
The fact that every member of the New Day is going to be in this year’s Royal Rumble should definitely raise some eyebrows. With the group not having anything left to accomplish as a team, this could be the perfect time to break them up. The temptation of getting a Universal title opportunity could be all it takes for the New Day to fall apart.
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