Kofi and Austin Creed turned one of wrestling’s worst-kept secrets into a far more revealing story on Tuesday, explaining why they rejected WWE’s proposed terms, why AEW became their only destination and how close their All In debut came to happening without finalized contracts.
During their appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Kofi confirmed that WWE wanted the pair to accept a pay reduction of “more than 50%.” Creed then supplied the colder detail: after they chose to leave, no company higher-up personally called, texted or thanked them.
This was not a scorched-earth interview. Both men spoke with gratitude about the careers WWE gave them. They also refused to dress up an offer they believed no longer reflected their value.
The Kofi and Austin Creed WWE exit began with two badly timed calls
Creed was at his child’s football game when an unfamiliar 203 number appeared on his phone. The timing made him briefly consider whether bad news was coming, but he dismissed the thought because he believed he and Kofi had continued pulling their weight.
Kofi received his call during his son’s birthday celebration at a RetroCade. He heard the proposed renegotiated terms, hung up and had to contain every emotion because the day still belonged to his child. He then called Creed, and the two quickly realized the same thing: the arrangement no longer worked for them.
They did not blindly leap into unemployment. Kofi reviewed his finances, spoke with an adviser and made sure his family would be secure. Once that practical fear was addressed, he said the freedom became exciting.
The ending, however, remained strikingly impersonal. Creed said there was “no call, no thank you, no text” from a higher-up once their decision was made. Money explains a failed negotiation. It does not explain why two long-serving performers could not receive a brief personal acknowledgment on the way out.
WWE’s offer was also a judgment of their value
Kofi said the proposed terms were unfair when measured against everything he and Creed still brought to the company. He pointed to their experience, their ability to help younger talent, their versatility as heroes or villains and their record of making different creative situations entertaining. He called them “Swiss Army knives.”
That description is difficult to dispute. They could carry comedy, hostility, promotional work, merchandise, long matches and short television segments without losing the audience. Asking them to take less than half of their previous pay was therefore more than a budget adjustment. It was WWE assigning a dramatically lower price to their future.
The interview did not include WWE’s explanation for the proposal, and Kofi did not provide the exact percentage. Those unknowns matter, but they do not make a reduction above half insignificant.
Kofi did not pretend compensation was irrelevant, but the Kofi and Austin Creed WWE exit was not only about a number. Their repeated message was simpler: “We wanted to work.”
In Kofi’s view, tag-team wrestling had stopped being a priority. Meanwhile, he watched the Young Bucks, FTR, Cope and Christian, Private Party and the rest of AEW’s division receive the platform to create the kind of matches he still wanted to have. Those shows made him jump out of his seat as a fan and wonder what he and Creed could add.
Why Kofi and Austin Creed spoke only with AEW
Creed confirmed they did not negotiate with another promotion. Even when Helwani raised other possibilities, including Japan, he returned to AEW’s tag division, the friends they already had there and the stories its teams were allowed to tell.
That decision can be questioned from a leverage standpoint, but it makes sense creatively. They were not conducting an open auction. They had identified the workplace that directly answered their biggest frustration.
The deal was still anything but guaranteed. Kofi said their AEW contracts became official less than 24 hours before All In, while Creed said their first conversation with Tony Khan occurred only about a week earlier. The negotiations were smooth, but the signatures did not arrive until they were in London and dangerously close to showtime.
They walked into Wembley as Swerve Strickland’s mystery partners and walked out as AEW World Trios Champions. It was an enormous first-night endorsement, not a nostalgia cameo.
Big E helped The New Level find its sound
Their reinvention also carried a piece of their past. Creed developed the idea of using A$AP Ferg’s “New Level” during their time away. The name connected their gaming roots, a new company to conquer and their promise to elevate tag wrestling.
When they needed a route to Ferg’s team, Kofi and Creed called Big E. His suggestions helped lead them to Peter Rosenberg, who made the necessary connection. The song was cleared less than 24 hours before their debut. Kofi called it “a miracle.”
Big E may be on a different professional path, but his role in that entrance says more than any forced reunion could. Their companies changed. Their bond did not.
AEW must now deliver the matches that brought them there
The Kofi and Austin Creed WWE exit is easy to understand after this interview. WWE proposed a severe reduction, the pair believed their experience had been undervalued and the creative future no longer matched what they wanted from wrestling. They chose uncertainty over staying somewhere secure and frustrated.
Their AEW debut validated the gamble for one night. It did not complete the argument.
If AEW gives Kofi and Austin Creed meaningful time against its best teams, The New Level can become a genuine final-act reinvention. If the company lets the surprise, the song and the instant championship become the entire story, it will waste the exact hunger that made them leave WWE.
WWE made its valuation clear. Kofi and Austin Creed declined it. What happens next will reveal whether AEW truly values them differently or simply knew how to stage a better welcome.
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I’m the quiet one until the bell rings then I’ve got takes. I live for WWE NXT and TNA, I want every promotion to succeed, and I will absolutely roast the bad decisions on sight (because someone has to). Anime taught me to respect long-term storytelling; wrestling taught me that sometimes the plan is “we panicked” and called it “unpredictable.” The Miz got me into all of this, so yeah I appreciate confidence, commitment, and the art of talking like you’re already the main event. Now I bring that same energy to the page as the main writer for Late Night Crew Wrestling because if you’re not here to be must-see and tell the truth, why are you here?!