Report: Why WWE Split Up The New Day Revealed

On night one of the WWE Draft, the wrestling world was devastated after Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were drafted to Monday Night Raw, while Big E remained on SmackDown.

The trio had been one of the most popular factions in WWE in recent memory and many questioned why the company decided to separate the 10-time tag team champions.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE split up the group because the company wanted Big E to have a more serious character during his singles push.

If the former Intercontinental Champion should adopt a more serious tone has been debated ever since his singles run started back in July, but Big E previously told Bleacher Report: "If I were to come out a week later and you see me for five years pouring cereal on people's heads and log-rolling to the ring and suddenly I'm serious, to me there's a vast disconnect. Like, what's changed? Because you're no longer doing tags, now you're a different person? That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

"I think also it's about what makes me different, what makes me unique. We have guys that are taller than me and bigger than me. We have Bobby Lashley, you have your Brock Lesnar. We have these guys that can be serious and play that role well, and I don't want to ever be a lite version of anyone else."