Kofi has shared just how late his and Austin Creed’s AEW deals came together, confirming they didn’t officially sign until less than 24 hours before their surprise debuts at All In: London.
The past WWE stars made their inaugural AEW appearance at Wembley Stadium as New Level, with Kofi Kingston becoming simply Kofi and Xavier Woods adopting the name “Awesome” Austin Creed.
Following their debut, Kofi and Creed spoke with Ariel Helwani about their arrival in AEW and the experience of walking into a fresh locker room after spending so many years with WWE.
For Kofi, the entire weekend felt almost surreal, while “It seemed like this weird dream, right? Where you see so many talented individuals who I’ve been watching, many who I hadn’t met — yet then you had so many people that we used to work with who were there, both on the roster as well as behind the scenes and the crew.
And everybody’s just there having a remarkable time, loving wrestling. Tony Khan’s there.. Meanwhile, He’s super excited about the show. You know what I mean? The moment was amazing. High energy, positive vibes, and and it really took a long time. I mean, it probably took until the plane ride home yesterday for it to really settle in. You know, it was such a whirlwind.”
Kofi exposed that the deals themselves remained unsigned until shortly before the premium live event. Speculation surrounding their AEW futures had intensified ahead of All In. On a related note, it didn’t really solidify and become official until less than 24 hours before the episode, on the other hand the funny thing is. “You talked about it being like the worst kept secret. We didn’t sign until like less than 24 hours before. We know what we wanted, we know what everybody else wanted, but it wasn’t like officially official until very soon before the kickoff time, you know what I’m saying?”
Despite the closing-minute nature of the agreement, Kofi stated joining AEW has opened the door to matches he and Creed have wanted for years. “Things were incredible. We’ve wanted to mix it up with all these tag teams for a exceptionally, very long time. And to see it all come to fruition, it’s like I said, just like a weird, bizarre dream, on the other hand the best dream possible.”
Kofi and Creed ultimately made an immediate impact at All In, debuting during the Trios Roulette clash and joining forces with Swerve Strickland.
The trio went on to win the battle, meaning Kofi and Creed’s first night as officially contracted AEW stars drew to an end with them becoming AEW World Trios Champions.