What Are AEW’s Long-Term Plans with The New Level Beyond 2026?

AEW hosted All In: London at Wembley Stadium this past Sunday. The shock of the pay-per-view was the AEW debut of Austin Creed and Kofi coming out to A$AP Ferg’s “New Level” as Swerve Strickland’s mystery partners for the Trios Roulette Royale. The legendary tag team hadn’t wrestled in months, despite being two of the longest-tenured people in WWE, shortly before their surprising departure from the company. Alongside Strickland, they showed they still have a lot left to give to wrestling; Kofi, the former WWE Grand Slam Champion, even brought his lifelong gimmick of being nearly impossible to eliminate from a battle royale. The brand-new trio was the last team to enter and walked out as the New World Trios Champions. What are AEW’s plans with one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history?

The new World Trios Champions celebrated and had an exclusive post-match promo that went over Kofi’s and Creed’s feelings of validation to come over from WWE to AEW, wrestle the way they want to, and win gold in their first AEW match. The fans chanted “New Level” in the same cadence they would chant “New Day Rocks.” ‘Awesome Austin’ said there was no better trio than him, the WWE Grand Slam Champion, and Strickland, and no better duo in wrestling than him and his long-time tag team partner. Adam Copeland and Christian Cage successfully defended their Tag Team Championships against Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks before Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, The Motor City Machine Guns, and Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR came out to the ring and joined the other tag teams. The 13-Time WWE Tag Team Champions would make their way inside the ring, further highlighting just how deep the AEW Tag Team Division is compared to WWE and other wrestling promotions worldwide. They should go after the Tag Team Championships and feud over some of the best tag teams in wrestling today while staying dominant in the Trios Division.

Some dream tag team matches should take place regardless of whether the titles are on the line. The one that stands out the most is The New Level taking on Cage and Cope. WWE had some backstage segments between The New Day and Christian and Edge, with The New Day as the heels and Christian and Edge as the faces. One thing AEW does well is hardcore-style matches, something Creed and Kofi haven’t been able to dabble in properly in WWE. We’ve seen how hardcore the lifelong Canadian friends could get since joining AEW, and we could see a similar side in The New Level should they want to pursue it. Both teams are adept at WWE-style entertainment wrestling, but the Canadian best friends can teach the newcomers a thing or two about AEW tag-team wrestling. They could reimagine how tag team wrestling works, drawing on their extensive histories with the top wrestling companies. ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ and ‘Captain Charisma’ were part of the boom in WWE tag team wrestling alongside Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley of The Dudley Boyz and Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy from The Hardy Boyz in the Attitude Era, while The New Day’s historically long feud with Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso of The Usos carried WWE’s tag team division in the PG Era. Cope and Cage could pass the torch down to Kofi and ‘Awesome Austin’.

FTR is another great tag team that could feud with The New Level. The Revival debuted on the WWE main roster against The New Day and won their debut match in 2019, eventually taking the SmackDown Tag Team Championships from them later in the year. The New Level could return that favor and win their debut tag team match on AEW television or PPV. The Young Bucks are another team that The New Level should feud against. Their offensive styles might differ, but both teams know how to blend wrestling with entertainment. AEW could capitalize on WWE’s missed opportunity of booking The New Level against MCMG. The two legendary tag teams could push the pace and put on an instant classic. One under-the-radar team that The New Level should feud against is The Hurt Syndicate. Both teams feuded during the Thunderdome era of WWE. They traded the Tag Team Championships on a couple of occasions. The New Day’s Big E even took the WWE Championship from Bobby Lashley with the Money in the Bank briefcase, and Kingston and Woods celebrated with their stablemate. Cedric Alexander might not be in AEW, but Lashley and Shelton Benjamin could try to get some revenge on The New Level; MVP could even hop back into the ring if he feels good enough to do so.

​The New Level and Strickland should hold onto the World Trios Championships for as long as possible. Strickland should go after some individual gold while Creed and Kofi cement themselves as the greatest tag team of this generation of wrestling. The concept might be boring and could easily go stale in the long run, but AEW should strike while the iron is hot with The New Level. It was the most impactful jump in wrestling in 2026, solely due to the fact that ‘Awesome Austin’ and the Grand Slam Champion were thought of as WWE lifers before their departure. It was almost, if not just, as impactful as when Cody Rhodes jumped ship from AEW to WWE in 2022.

​Creed and Kofi shouldn’t break up, at least not yet. They could go for their own individual gold in the future. One intriguing champion either man could go after right now is the new AEW International Champion, Kazuchika Okada. This has the makings of being the most entertaining and potentially best feud in AEW should it happen. The wrestling styles could mesh extremely well together. This means that the newcomers would likely have to go through most, if not all, of the Don Callis Family, but with the help of Strickland, ‘Awesome Austin,’ or the Grand Slam Champion, could have a legitimate chance of winning a singles championship by the end of the year. A feud with new AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley and The Death Riders would be intriguing since Creed and Kofi haven’t wrestled Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and PAC in a very long time. These matchups with familiar faces can make The New Level’s transition to AEW much smoother.

​Both men are capable of becoming World Champions. This could give Strickland a reason to break off from The New Level in the future and feud with them. All three men are capable of being great babyfaces or despicable heels. Creed and Kofi are household names in modern wrestling, have the microphone and in-ring skills to back that up, and have done their time in the business to earn a chance at that opportunity. “KofiMania” was the highlight of WrestleMania 35, and fans loved seeing Kingston as the WWE Champion. Woods never got that opportunity, but Creed could prove himself as a worthy World Champion title contender. Hopefully, AEW creative puts some sort of singles belt on ‘Awesome Austin’; WWE unforgivably never gave Woods that opportunity. It appears Tony Khan values Creed and Kofi more than TKO did, and hopefully that sentiment continues into the distant future. Wrestling fans can finally appreciate seeing The New Level on their screens once again.