Austin Creed said that The New Level didn’t really feel like it had arrived in AEW until Full Gear.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, a day after he and Kofi regained the AEW World Trios Championship with Swerve Strickland, Creed said the team is here to stay.
“Last night really felt like we finally arrived. We are here to stay. And we walked out 2 time trios world champions. Last night we made it clear that belong in AEW.”
Creed and Kofi became champions on their first night with the promotion. At All In on August 30 in London, the two made their debut as Strickland’s mystery partners and won the Trios Roulette Royal. For Creed, it took 76 days and a Texas Death Match to feel like he belongs in AEW.
Strickland and The New Level defeated Hangman Adam Page, Brody King and Bandido on Saturday at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Strickland won the match with a House Call on Page, who was unable to answer the referee’s 10 count. It was an extremely violent match, and Creed even brought a trombone wrapped in barbed wire to the ring.
Creed also noted the injuries he suffered in the match from the barbed wire, the glass and the tables. His hand was also burned from the explosion on his uppercut.
“Last night we survived a Texas death match. And now we have a new layer. A new place we can go to when we need it most and to survive here in this place we will have to be able to go there.”
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that the first title run for the trio, a 48-day reign that ended at WrestleDream on October 17, was never planned to be a long one. After that loss, Creed wrote on X that the trio was just getting started.