WWE and its parent company, TKO Group Holdings, asking talent to take pay cuts, leading to some departures, most notably the New Day, from the company has been a hot topic since the debut of Kofi and Austin Creed at AEW All In London 2026. Following the pay-per-view, and their signing with Tony Khan's company, Creed and Kofi, now known as the New Level, sat down for a series of interviews where they revealed WWE asked them to take a pay cut of over 50 percent.On Thursday, former WWE talent Ridge Holland, now known as Luke Menzies, revealed TKO asked him to take a 56 percent pay cut ahead of his release. According to F4WOnline's Bryan Alvarez, in a post to his X (formerly Twitter) subscribers, that's in line with what the New Day/New Level were asked to take."Ridge Holland revealed his requested pay cut was 56%, which I believe was almost exactly what New Day was asked to take," Alvarez said.On Thursday, Alvarez clarified that New Level's pay cut was "slightly over 50 percent," disputing claims in recent days that it was even higher. Back when news of their WWE departure initially broke following WrestleMania 42 in May, it was rumored the team was asked to take a 50 percent cut.Kofi and Creed debuted alongside Swerve Strickland as the former AEW World Champion's trios partners at All In. The team went on to win the seven-team roulette royal match, capturing the AEW World Trios Championships from "Hangman" Adam Page and Brodido. The team went on to wrestle their television debut for the company with a victory over The Rascalz on "AEW Dynamite" the following Wednesday.
