The New Level have made a remarkably quick impact since arriving in All Elite Wrestling, and Austin Creed has offered a revealing explanation for why the group’s partnership with Swerve Strickland came together so rapidly. While the immediate reward has been the AEW World Trios Championship, Creed described the alliance as a practical plan to accelerate both his and Kofi’s transition into a new locker room, a new style of competition, and a new collection of opponents.
Creed and Kofi entered AEW with long-established reputations, extensive championship histories, and familiarity with Strickland that predated their current run together. But familiarity alone does not automatically create chemistry in a promotion with a deep roster and its own established rivalries. Strickland, a former AEW World Champion, reportedly recognized that the most effective way for the pair to make up ground was not to take a slow, isolated path through conventional tag team bouts. Instead, he saw the trios division as an opportunity to expose them to numerous teams almost immediately.
The strategy has worked in a very tangible way. Strickland and The New Level now stand as the AEW World Trios Champions, holding one of the promotion’s central team prizes while positioning themselves against a broad section of the roster. Their reign has also given Creed and Kofi an on-screen role that feels connected to the biggest stakes in AEW rather than a prolonged introductory period.
Strickland’s proposal centered on experience
Creed explained that Strickland framed the trios format as the most direct route to building familiarity with AEW’s tag team landscape. In his telling, the idea was not simply to collect championships as quickly as possible. It was to create meaningful repetitions against a variety of opponents and give The New Level a clearer understanding of the environment they had joined.
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“[Strickland] goes, ‘Look, if we jump in this trios [situation], you get a chance to wrestle, what, six, seven other tag teams right from the jump at Wembley. So logically, well, of course we want to put hands on everybody as quick as we can. And now by winning those titles, we beat a bunch of other very credible, very good tag-teams that AEW has to offer. And so it’s about making sure that we are getting the reps with all of these people on the roster, and having the most dangerous man in all of AEW at our side while we’re doing that, with Prince Nana as well.’”
That explanation illustrates why the presentation of this unit has felt so deliberate. Strickland is not merely lending his name to a pair of decorated newcomers. He is being portrayed as the calculating force who identified a competitive opening, understood how to use AEW’s team divisions, and turned a potentially difficult adjustment period into a championship run.
For Creed and Kofi, the benefits are clear within the story of their AEW arrival. Every title defense and every multi-team confrontation gives them more direct contact with wrestlers who already know the rhythms of AEW. Trios matches can demand rapid adjustments, especially when the field includes several teams with different identities, contrasting strategies, and existing familiarity with one another. Winning in that environment says more than simply surviving it.
The New Level have not arrived quietly
The phrase “getting reps” is important because it speaks to more than match volume. In wrestling, repetitions also mean learning opponents’ timing, discovering where rivalries can develop, measuring crowd reactions, and finding how a character or unit fits within the larger identity of a promotion. A trios championship program gives those lessons an immediate sense of consequence.
Creed and Kofi have hardly been presented as tentative figures waiting to find their footing. Their partnership with Strickland has put them at the forefront of the division, and the championship success has validated the decision to move aggressively. Rather than taking a background role, The New Level have become one-third of a titleholding group with a major name at its center and Prince Nana accompanying them.
Strickland’s presence is particularly significant. Creed called him “the most dangerous man in all of AEW,” a description that reflects both Strickland’s championship pedigree and the threat he brings to any multi-person contest. In trios wrestling, one star can alter the structure of a match, but the format also requires each member to be able to carry his share of the action. The New Level’s title victory established them as more than passengers in Strickland’s orbit.
Prince Nana adds another element to the act. With Nana at ringside, the champions have an experienced presence outside the ropes while Strickland, Creed, and Kofi handle the in-ring responsibility. That combination of a dangerous headliner, two accomplished partners adapting quickly, and a trusted manager has made the group one of AEW’s most notable championship acts.
WrestleDream presents a different kind of test
The plan that brought The New Level into the trios picture will face a major examination at AEW WrestleDream 2026 this Saturday. Strickland, Creed, and Kofi are scheduled to defend the AEW World Trios Championship against Hangman Page and Brodido in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match.
The match carries historical significance for the company. It will be the first time AEW has used the Two-out-of-Three Falls stipulation for a trios bout. That makes the contest more than another title defense; it is a format change that could place even greater emphasis on conditioning, strategy, and the ability to recover after losing momentum.
A standard trios match can be decided by one opening, one mistake, or one sudden sequence. A Two-out-of-Three Falls match asks considerably more of the competitors. A team that drops the first fall must regroup and win twice. A team that takes the early advantage must avoid complacency and maintain its control over an extended contest. The champions will not simply need to defeat Page and Brodido once. They may need to do it under shifting circumstances, with the challengers having the chance to adapt between falls.
That is especially relevant to Creed’s comments about gaining experience. The New Level’s alliance with Strickland was created to put them in demanding situations against as many credible teams as possible. WrestleDream offers an unusually demanding version of precisely that mission. The champions will be tested not only by the identity of their opponents, but by a stipulation never previously used for an AEW trios match.
A rematch with higher stakes and a longer road
Strickland and The New Level do have reason to enter WrestleDream with confidence. They defeated Hangman Page and Brodido at AEW All Out 2026 last month. That victory gives the champions a recent result over the same opposition, and it shows they have already found a way to overcome the challengers in a high-profile setting.
However, a previous win does not guarantee a repeat result, particularly with the stipulation changing so dramatically. Page and Brodido now have the benefit of having faced the champions once before, while the match structure at WrestleDream provides more room for adjustments and endurance to become deciding factors. The challengers do not need to duplicate whatever happened at All Out; they need to find a way to win two falls on Saturday.
For the champions, the defense is an opportunity to demonstrate that their success is not limited to an initial burst of momentum. A win over Page and Brodido in the first Two-out-of-Three Falls trios match in AEW history would strengthen the argument that the alliance has become a lasting force, not simply an expedient arrangement built for a quick title chase.
It would also further support Strickland’s original logic. His proposal was based on meeting teams quickly, building familiarity through direct competition, and doing so with championship stakes attached. Each successful defense adds another layer to that process. Each challenge creates another chance for Creed and Kofi to establish themselves in AEW while standing beside one of the promotion’s most formidable figures.
Champions with a purpose beyond the belts
Championships remain the clearest measure of success in professional wrestling, and the AEW World Trios titles are central to the group’s current identity. Yet Creed’s account makes clear that the gold was also part of a wider objective. The belts gave The New Level a platform, a demanding schedule of opponents, and an immediate reason to be considered among AEW’s leading teams.
Whether they remain champions after WrestleDream is now the key question. Hangman Page and Brodido represent a serious obstacle, and the Two-out-of-Three Falls structure ensures that the defense will demand more than a single decisive burst. Still, Strickland’s approach has already achieved a great deal: The New Level have been placed in the center of AEW competition, have faced credible teams, and have become champions in the process.
At WrestleDream, they will find out whether that accelerated education has prepared them for one of the toughest challenges the trios division can offer.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.