Former WWE Big E recently said the faction that became The New Day was nearly introduced as “The Clan,” a deliberately provocative name WWE rejected on sight, with Abraham Washington, a wrestler later fired over a live-broadcast Kobe Bryant joke, positioned as its leader.
The former WWE Champion shared the origin story during a recent interview, peeling back the layers on how one of WWE’s most popular groups almost looked nothing like fans know it today.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet , Big E explained that the original pitch was a militant Black faction modeled after the Nation of Domination. The name was an acronym with a loaded meaning.
We originally called the group the Clan, and it stood for Citizens Liberation of American Nationalism. It was supposed to be this militant black group, much in the vein of the Nation of Domination,” Big E said.
Abraham Washington Was Set To Lead The Group
According to Big E, the original lineup came together in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling) and featured himself, Xavier Woods, Byron Saxton, and Abraham Washington, with Washington tabbed as the frontman.
So we were in FCW. It was me, Byron Saxton was still an active wrestler at the time, it was me, Saxton, Woods, and Abe. We all talked, but Abe was kind of positioned as the leader, and we had this group,” he said.
Washington was ultimately released by WWE after making a Kobe Bryant joke during a live broadcast. Big E alluded to that history without spelling it out.
Abe was very much someone who unfortunately liked to push the envelope a little bit too much. I’m not going to talk about the reason he got fired, you could look that up,” he said.
From The Clan To The New Day
WWE shut the name down quickly. Big E said the office rejected “The Clan,” prompting the group to swap “Citizens” for “People” and briefly rebrand as “The Plan.”
That group initially, it was initially the Clan, then we became The Plan because the office said we’re not doing that,” he said.
The concept lasted only a few weeks in FCW before the office killed it entirely. The faction was later reworked on the main roster, with Kofi Kingston added, and the militant version was eventually snubbed before The New Day debuted with an upbeat, charismatic act that carried them to tag team title records.
The candid look back fits a stretch of revealing stories from Big E, who has also opened up about the management change that led to his New Day exit and detailed what his neck injury cost him on his WWE deal.