WWE and AEW Rumors on New Day's Pay Cuts, Chelsea Green's Injury and Roman Reigns vs. Penta

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Rumors on New Day's WWE Departure and Possible AEW Arrival

More than three months after their shocking departure from WWE, it is reportedly still anticipated within pro wrestling circles that New Day are bound for AEW.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlePurists), Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods joining AEW has been "widely expected" ever since they decided to decline a 50 percent pay cut in May.

Meltzer added that The Young Bucks, who are AEW executive vice presidents and one of the company's top tag teams, have long wanted to do a program with New Day as well.

Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp was the first to report that WWE and New Day had agreed to part ways, and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) later added that Kingston and Woods decided to leave after being asked to restructure their contracts.

The exact details of the contract proposal had been unclear, but Meltzer reported that WWE wanted Kingston and Woods to cut their deals in half.

On July 29, Woods posted an animated video on X that seemed to represent him and Kingston breaking away from WWE and attempting to forge their own path elsewhere:

After wrestlers are released from their WWE contracts, they typically have a 90-day non-compete clause, meaning they cannot wrestle elsewhere until it expires.

New Day's WWE departure happened more than 90 days ago, which suggests Kingston and Woods are free to sign elsewhere if they haven't already.

If AEW is indeed their destination, the most likely scenario for their debut would be for them to show up at the All In pay-per-view in London on Aug. 30, likely after The Young Bucks' match against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage.

Green Reportedly Not Expected to Be Stripped of Title

Despite suffering an injury in her first televised match after winning the WWE Women's Championship, Chelsea Green is reportedly not expected to be forced to vacate the title.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestlePurists), Green is expected to remain champion and to return to WWE programming "imminently," although it won't be in a wrestling capacity yet.

After she and Tiffany Stratton lost to Fatal Influence in a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match on the Aug. 8 episode of SmackDown, Green announced in an Instagram post that she suffered a broken orbital bone.

At SummerSlam, Green competed in a five-way ladder match for the interim WWE Women's Championship. When the four other combatants fell off the ladders, Green pulled herself up and secured the title.

WWE women's champion Rhea Ripley is on the shelf with a knee injury, which created the need to crown an interim champ. With Ripley announcing last week that she underwent knee surgery, she could be in line for an extended absence.

That paves the way for Green to potentially have a long title reign, but her own health is now in question.

Many wrestlers have worked through orbital injuries in the past by wearing a protective mask, but that depends on the severity of the ailment.

If and when it is determined that it is safe for Green to wrestle again, she may be required to wear a mask as well.

Until then, Green can still bring value to SmackDown through her entertaining backstage segments, which is what got her over with the viewing audience in the first place.

Penta Reportedly Likely to Win WHC No. 1 Contender Tournament

Penta is reportedly expected to run the table in the World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 contender tournament en route to a title match against Roman Reigns next month.

According to WrestleVotes on Fightful Select (h/t Aidan Gibbons of Cultaholic Wrestling), the backstage belief is that Penta will win the tournament, and WWE views it "as a unique opportunity in the Mexican market, and they believe Penta is the correct choice to capitalize on that."

It was recently announced that Reigns will defend the world heavyweight title during the Sept. 14 episode of Raw in Mexico City. To determine his opponent, an eight-man tourney was created, featuring the best luchadores from AAA, Raw and SmackDown.

Penta won his first-round matchup against Laredo Kid this week on Raw, setting up a semifinal showdown with either Psycho Clown or La Parka.

When the bracket was first revealed, all signs pointed toward real-life brothers Penta and Rey Fenix meeting in the finals, with Penta being the clear favorite to win.

Since making his WWE debut in January 2025, Penta has become one of WWE's most popular Superstars, and he is fresh off a successful Intercontinental Championship reign.

If WWE wants the biggest reactions and the best atmosphere possible for the Sept. 14 Raw in Mexico, then it is difficult to argue against Penta being the right choice to challenge Reigns.