Wrestling Fans Heartbroken Over WWE Star Kofi Kingston's Sudden Departure

For the better part of two decades WWE superstar Kofi Kingston has been a fan favorite for wrestling fans everywhere and enjoyed plenty of success in and out of the ring. But on Saturday, his time with the company came to a sudden end.

According to Sean Ross Sapp, Kingston along with his longtime tag team partner Xavier Woods both mutually decided to part ways with WWE. Kingston's time in WWE ends in his 20th year as a full-time competitor in the company, which included dozens of titles and iconic moments in wrestling history.

For WWE fans, the departure was a moment of deep sadness mixed with concerns that WWE made a big mistake:

"It's kind of shocking tbh. I thought Xavier and Kofi would be there forever," one user remarked on X.

"The fact that the New Day… of all teams , asked to leave WWE, says a hell of alot about the current state of not only the tag division , but the company in general 🤔. Legit never thought I would see news about Kofi and Xavier leaving.. but here we are," wrote another.

"They've been a part of so many storylines over the years, what a loss. Hope wherever they land, that they continue to shine," a third wrote.

"I said this many times, the only thing that can kill WWE is TKO and/or WWE itself. Guess what they are doing right now. This is happening while AEW just watches from the back laughing their asses off."

"Its sad to see New Day leave, but it also re-ignites their fire to new challenges and matches to look forward to."

Kingston's WWE Tenure

While Kingston's time in WWE is best remembered for some of his incredible feats of athleticism, his crowning achievement came in 2019, when he defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 to win the WWE Championship. With his win, Kingston became the African-born WWE Champion in history.

His run as champion lasted around six months and afterwards he was largely relegated to tag team action with his longtime tag partners and friends Big E and Xavier Woods as part of the iconic "New Day" stable.

At 44 years of age, Kingston hasn't indicated that he intends to retire any time soon though. There are more than enough wrestling promotions out there that would be happy to give him and Woods a home.

We probably haven't seen the last Kofi Kingston.

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 12:03 PM.