New Day Beat War Raiders to Win WWE Tag Titles at WrestleMania 41 After Heel Turn

The New Day defeated The War Raiders on Night 1 of WrestleMania 41 on Saturday to win the World Tag Team Championships.

Kofi Kingston played his part in the victory by holding down Ivar's legs as Xavier Woods pinned him.

The New Day raced back up the ramp with the titles after their win.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle exchanged heated words with New Day before the win.

With the win, Kingston and Woods extended their all-time WWE record by becoming tag team champions together for the 12th time.

While New Day has long been considered one of the top tag teams in WWE history, Kingston and Woods went down an unexpected path in December when they turned on former friend and partner Big E.

During a 10th anniversary celebration for the group, Big E announced he would return to manage Kofi and Xavier in order to help them get back on the same page since they had been at odds for several weeks.

Shockingly, Kingston and Woods declined his offer and then accused him of walking out on them when they needed him most.

In reality, Big E suffered a serious neck injury in 2022 and still has not been cleared to return to the ring. Due to their lack of care and understanding regarding his condition, Kofi and Xavier instantly drew the ire of the WWE Universe and became hated heels.

With Big E out of the picture, Kingston and Woods refocused in an effort to become tag team champions once again.

In February and March, they had an impressive run of victories on Raw, beating teams such as Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro, and New Catch Republic.

That earned them a title opportunity against The War Raiders, who had beaten The Judgment Day's Finn Balor and JD McDonagh for the World Tag Team Championships in December.

On the April 7 episode of Raw, Kofi and Xavier introduced a steel chair into their title match against the Raiders, and after wrestling the chair away, Ivar used it, and the referee called for a disqualification.

Since New Day technically beat the Raiders, they were subsequently granted another title shot, this time on The Grandest Stage of Them All in Las Vegas.

The second time was a charm for New Day, as they beat The War Raiders at WrestleMania to win their first tag team titles on the main roster since 2021.

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