The New Day Cheats, Wins 12th Tag Title

At WrestleMania 41, The New Day further solidified themselves as the most decorated tag team in WWE history.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods defeated The War Raiders to win the World Tag Team Championship, securing their 12th tag title win across Raw and SmackDown and 13th overall. Their historic win came inside Allegiant Stadium on WrestleMania Saturday as the duo once again staked their claim as the top tag team in professional wrestling.

It was a long time coming, too.

Kingston and Woods’ victory surprisingly marks their first tag team title victory since 2020, and perhaps just as important, it is the first time they’ve held any tag team gold since turning heel on Big E last December. Their move to the dark side was one of the most memorable heel turns in recent WWE history, but the follow-up hasn’t been all that great.

The New Day has spent the past several months feuding on and off again with The War Raiders, so much so that it was a shocker this match even made it onto the WrestleMania 41 card. The dream scenario, for many fans at least, was for Kingston and Woods’ betrayal of Big E to lead to an in-ring return for Big E, a former WWE Champion.

ForbesWWE WrestleMania 41 Results: Jey Uso Wins First World TitleBy Blake Oestriecher

But that, of course, hasn’t happened yet. Big E said just this week that he’s still not cleared to wrestle following a devastating neck injury, and ultimately, he may never be given the green light by WWE. Until then, it’s Kingston and Woods continuing to wave the flag for The New Day, this time as one of WWE’s biggest heat magnets.

Their masterfully executed heel turn last December was badly needed after the duo hit a wall as babyfaces. While the momentum from that turn isn’t going as strong as it once was, their tainted World Tag Team Championship win over the War Raiders could be exactly what they need to right the ship.

In particular, it could be what Raw needs to reinvigorate its depleted tag team division.

With The Judgment Day on its last legs, the Creed Brothers not pushed as more than an ancillary act and A-Town Down Under largely disappearing from Raw, the red brand’s tag team division is remarkably thin. That is a stark contrast to SmackDown’s tag team division, which has been an overlooked and underappreciated success on Friday nights in 2025.

Part of the problem is that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H isn’t consistent with the way he pushes tag teams across the men’s and women’s tag team divisions. But The New Day, considered by many to be the best tag team in WWE history, is the right choice to be champions during the post-WrestleMania season.

That has been evidenced by the amount of heat they’ve received in recent months, even though the fans in Allegiant Stadium were surprisingly quiet, especially in comparison to how loud they were for Jey Uso’s title win. Although Kingston and Woods are not in their prime anymore, their status as 12-time world champions who are more hated than just about anyone in WWE right now bodes well for the immediate future of Raw’s tag team division.

A potential Lucha Brothers reunion, the return of the New Catch Republic and a possible push for the LWO could, much like The New Day’s win, turn things around on Raw. At the very least, Kingston and Woods’ victory is a nice first step in the right direction.

Now, of course, the follow-up is key after a major WrestleMania 41 win.