While they already do get a ton of well-deserved accolades, it might be years before the world truly understands just how influential The New Day truly has been. One of those ways has been harnessing their love of pop culture and cosplay to create plenty of unique ring attire. They weren’t the first to pull off all kinds of tributes to pop culture, but they have been the most prevalent and possibly clueing in the rest of the locker room into letting your geek flag fly.
Special kudos to the trio’s costume designer, Jonathan Davenport. He has put together practically all of their gear for the past few years and has also begun working with Ricochet and Apollo Crews. But when Davenport collaborates with The
New Day, it’s as they like to say “chef’s kiss.”
10 Rufio
It’s not much in the line of cosplay, but it’s also a sign of things to come for The New Day. Early during their original heel run, they wore basic but still very colorful gear. Possibly a gateway to show Vince McMahon what is possible, Woods had chunks of hair dyed red and done up to look like Rufio, the new leader of The Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg’s '90s classic Hook. It was a small taste of the fandom love that was to come, and it's still amazing to see.
9 The Wolfpac
The most recent run of Woods and Kofi as a tag team has been filled with pop culture reference after pop culture
reference. The latest was recently introduced by Xavier Woods at SummerSlam.
Having stolen Miz and Morrison’s Drip Stick 2000, the video game aficionado showed up not just decked out in red and black Wolfpac colors, but he was specially dressed as Scott Hall, complete with toothpick to hurl at anyone who got in his way.
8 Mighty Morphing Power Rangers
One of the zaniest pop culture references The New Day were able to pull off paid homage to the '90s Kaiju-meets-high school antics, The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Kofi was dressed as the green ranger and Woods as the white. Both colors were represented by the character of Tommy who was first a brainwashed villain before turning into a hero. He was able to bring down the Power Rangers with practically just a flute. Perhaps Woods should have been the green ranger, and dressed up Francesca II? Lince Dorado even got in on the fun with his own Megazord inspired gear.
7 Masters Of The Universe
During the early to mid-80s, seldom properties were hotter than than He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe. Whether it was on purpose or not, tying into Mattel’s own He-Man And The Masters Of The WWE Universe line or the new Netflix series, Kofi Kingston had sauntered to the ring in an outfit resembling the dark lord of Snake Mountain himself, Skeletor. He unfortunately ran into a real life He-Man, Bobby Lashley, who trounced him at Money In The Bank 2021. While there was a design made for Xavier Woods as He-Man, that outfit hasn’t been released yet.
6 Sonic The Hedgehog
While it was slightly more subdued, The New Day’s homage to video game company Sega at SummerSlam 2018 was no less awesome. The trio came to the ring to do battle with The Bludgeoned Brothers wearing the colors of Sega’a most popular mascots.
Big E was dressed in red paying homage to Knuckles The Echidna, Woods was the helicopter-tail flying Tails, leaving the fast and agile dreadlocked dynamo Kofi to be adorning blue ala Sonic The Hedgehog.
5 Final Fantasy XIV
Perhaps the groups most in-depth cosplay came when they were contacted to help promote the wildly popular role playing game, Final Fantasy XIV. At the same time, the team was tasked with hosting WrestleMania 33. Video game company Square teamed up with WWE and “ya boys” to create unique visions of all three members in various class gear from the online game. Even the hot dog cart The New Day used to ride out on was decked out with moogles from the game.
4 New Day Rocks / School House Rocks
Final Fantasy might be their most detailed; but the School House Rocks inspired gear The New Day Rocks is the most important. Instead of portraying characters from the old educational series, they emblazoned their gear with powerful African American leaders to help educate the masses with. Big E was once on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions show discussing the gear; hopeful that someone researched a figure from the gear like a Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to desegregate the all-white, William Frantz Elementary school in Louisiana.
3 Gears Of War
In a perfect match of marketing, WWE, and video games, The New Day were invited to become downloadable characters in the latest Gears Of War video game. To commemorate the occasion, despite being separated by the brand split, the trio all came into Survivor Series 2020 rocking the gear of their video game counterparts.
2 Brodie Lee
The wrestling industry lost a proud warrior and gentle soul when Brodie Lee passed away late in 2020. Heartfelt tributes were pouring out of every corner of the industry across both WWE and AEW.
All three members of The New Day were incredibly close with The Exalted One and not only paid homage with several others on their podcast, but they also all came to the 2021 Royal Rumble wearing gear inspired and adorned with the visage of the former Luke Harper.
1 Dragon Ball Z
The first cosplay is still the best and perhaps it’s because no one was expecting it. At WrestleMania 32, The New Day not only came out of a Texas-sized box of Booty-O’s, but they also came out dressed as Super Saiyan’s from the world's most influential anime, Dragon Ball Z. A cartoon all three men have espoused love for on their podcast.