After taking the weekend to let the news that their lengthy, decorated, influential WWE careers were over — at least for now — settle in for themselves, their families, their colleagues and us fans, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods both posted statements on their departures last night (May 4).
Kingston and Woods’ colleagues across the industry, many of whom are also fans of the New Day duo, didn’t need time to process their responses. Some hadn’t even waited for Kofi and X to speak.
Reactions to their statements also started pretty much immediately yesterday, with their retired third leading the way. Big E responded to Woods on Instagram with:
You have inspired me for many years and continue to. What a blessing it is to call you family. Love you immensely. Your impact on this business is immeasurable. You turned your dreams into reality. A real life alchemist. You have been a blessing to so many people backstage, to your peers in the ring, and to fans around the world. What a run.
And wrote this in response to Kofi’s:
My brother, my family, to the grave. And beyond. A living legend. In and out of the ring. Love you dearly.
He was just one of many, however.
NOTE: Where people have quote-tweeted either Kofi or Woods’ statement, or in cases where the full message doesn’t display in the embedded post, we’ve copied their messages and linked to their tweet.
Kevin Owens [to Kingston]: Fantastic wrestler and an even better human being. Same can be said for Woods. Thank you guys for allowing me to join you guys for that one week…and seriously, I’m so sorry for turning on you.
Bayley [to Woods]: Thank you for everything. I’ve shared a locker room for you for the last 13 years and you were always there for us. Made us laugh, reminded us of our worth, and got us PAID to have fun with our friends. One in a million!
Nick Aldis [to Woods]: An amazing run for an amazing human being. Looking forward to seeing what’s next for you brother. ❤️
Charlotte Flair [to Woods]: ❤️
Dean “Mojo Rawley” Muhtadi: Thank you for the great times and big laughs my brother! UUDD [UpUpDownDown, Woods aka Austin Creed’s popular gaming brand/YouTube channel] was a huge testament to your business savvy and willingness to help the locker room. For so many talent, we needed those paychecks as they often paid the same as pay per view matches! Appreciate you bro!
Mansoor [responding to Kingston]: Kofi and @AustinCreedWins are our two GOATs, the locker room leaders (along with Jimmy and Jey) while we were over there and always looked out for us. I’ll never forget when you wore that MxM shirt on TV to support us. Here’s to many more memories exactly like this one!
Mark Andrews [responding to Kingston]: The man ❤️
